The use of the term "Lean", in a business or manufacturing environment, describes a philosophy that incorporates a collection of tools and techniques into the business processes to optimize time, human resources, assets, and productivity, while improving the quality level of products and services to their customers. Becoming "Lean" is a commitment to a process and a tremendous learning experience should you attempt to implement Lean principles and practices into your organization.
     The term Lean in the manufacturing environment also refers to the Toyota Production system established by the Toyota Corporation. Within the organization, four prominent gentlemen are credited with developing the system: Sakichi Toyoda, who founded the Toyoda Group in 1902; Kiichiro Toyoda, son of Sakichi Toyoda, who headed the automobile manufacturing operation between 1936 and 1950; Eiji Toyoda, Managing Director between 1950 and 1981 and Chairman between 1981 and 1994; and Taiichi Ohno, the Father of the Kanban System.
     The importance of Lean Manufacturing System is better comprehended when its impact of change on economics is thoroughly understood. The manufacturing engineering philosophy is pivoted on designing a manufacturing system that perfectly blends together the fundamentals of minimizing cost and maximizing profit. These fundamentals are Man (Labor), Material and Machines (Equipment) - called the 3Ms of manufacturing. A well balanced 3M results in
     • Maximum utilization of Man - skilled and/or unskilled
     • Optimal module size - cellular and/or plant
     • Smooth traffic flow - of materials, man, automotive
     • Minimum total manufacturing cost - of products produced
     • Reduce investment
     • Reduce labor requirement
     • Utilization of more productive equipment
     • Disposition of less productive equipment
     • Flexibility to be contemporary / keep pace with market / customer changes
     • Increase Return On Net Asset