See everything you need to know about Lean Thinking and its 5 principles

Lean Thinking is a process that can be part of the culture of any company, generating more results and boosting its growth.

Generally, lean thinking is most popular among the manufacturing and engineering industries. However, its 5 principles can be applied in any type of business.

Want to know more about Lean Thinking and its 5 principles? So, check out the topics will cover in this article:

• Origin of Lean
• What are the pillars of Lean?
• What is Lean Thinking?
• What Is the Goal of Lean Thinking?
• What are the 5 principles of Lean Thinking?
  

Origin of Lean

Lean originated in Japan. It was created by Toyota's engineer and head of production, Taiichi Ohno, in the period after World War II.

Throughout the 50s and 60s, Taiichi Ohno developed a management system that aimed to produce a very high quality product at the lowest cost and in the shortest time possible. These goals were achieved through the elimination of waste.

This system became known as the “Toyota Production System” and later served as an inspiration for the emergence of the Lean methodology.

Initially, Lean was applied only in the manufacturing and engineering industries and brought extraordinary gains in productivity and product quality.

What are the pillars of Lean?

The Toyota Production System is supported by two pillars: Just in Time and Jidoka.

Just in Time

Just in Time is a system that seeks to produce, quickly and without the need to build up stock, the exact quantity, according to demand, of a product. In this way, it avoids waste, unnecessary stock, extra costs and ensures that the product reaches its destination on time.

Jidoka

Jidoka is a concept that means "automation with a human touch". It aims to give machines and operators an ability to identify problems in the production process and stop work immediately.

In this way, employees can observe the problem and identify its causes and consequences. With this knowledge, this problem can be solved and avoided.

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What is Lean Thinking?

The first question I ask you is this: do you know what it is and what's the objective of the implementation of the philosophy of lean thinking? If you don't know, I'll explain now.

Lean thinking, as the name itself says, is a way of thinking of a more organized, optimized and improved productive environment. Its main objective is to identify the value of its products or services, through the perception of customers.

What is the goal of Lean Thinking?

The objective of this philosophy is to eliminate waste, reduce the number of failures, increase inventory turnover, reduce costs and improve customer service and customer relationships.

A lot, isn't it? This shows the importance of thinking lean, that is, it is not just a vanity, it is a necessity!

You are certainly reading this article to know which are the 5 principles that guide this thinking.

So, before identifying them, I will give a little "spoiler": they help in understanding the customer's need, developing a continuous flow, in order to generate and add value to the process

Now that you know a little more about lean thinking, it's time to talk about the 5 principles. Are you ready?

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What are the 5 principles of Lean Thinking?

The 5 principles of Lean Thinking will serve as a guide for a company to enjoy all the benefits brought by this methodology. Being them:

1. Specify value from the point of view of the customer (Value)

When talking about value, it is a basic question to start producing something, whether it is a product or a service.

Basically, value means what the customer is willing to pay, that is, who defines the value is the customer and not the company. Weird isn't it? Yeah! In the middle of production, what matters is what the customer needs.

However, there are also activities that do not add value to the product and which customers are not willing to pay for, but are necessary to the processes.

But what if these activities aren't necessary for the process and the customer isn't willing to pay? What can I do? For this question, you have a short, thick answer. Discard! That's right, throw it away.

This is considered a waste and has to be eliminated so that it does not negatively interfere with the processes.

Thus, in order to avoid much waste, it is up to the company to understand and absorb what the customer needs and to look for the best way to serve it.

2. Align the activities that create value in the best sequence (Value Flow)

You need to create a single, more rational flow of value. For if it isn't in this way, it doesn't add value and doesn't have an ideal flow for the implementation of the Lean. And I'm sure you already know the importance of this philosophy.

But which tool can assist in the implementation of this value stream? The answer is simple: the Value Stream Mapping (VSM).

Basically, it is a strategic business tool that makes it possible to see the macro of production. It identifies the bottlenecks and delays in the productive processes, seeing which are the steps that do not add value.

3. Perform these activities without interruption (Continuous Flow)

This is one of the most difficult steps to perform successfully. It is characterized in creating a continuous flow of activities that create value to the product. That is, to produce without pauses, without interruptions, to be able to meet and surpass the expectations of the client with greater speed.

Let me give you a practical example: imagine a train in motion, having a single pre-set path to follow. Now imagine a wagon of this train getting off the line. This will result in a number of negative effects, e.g. line breakdown, transportation delays, and customer complaints. The process as a whole is affected.

So you can't have within the productive process a wait, a rework or something that increases Lead Time (the period between the beginning of an activity and its end).

hat's the importance of having a continuous flow, to optimize production, satisfy customers and consequently generate profit for the company, because the more money, the better!

4. Whenever someone asks for them (Pulled Production)

The fourth principle is related to the following situation: production has to meet 100% of the customer needs. It's the customer who must pull the production and not the company that must push what has been produced for the customer.

Currently, the principle of pulled production is much needed, as the number of competitors has increased significantly. With this, a more "personalized" production is necessary, in the way the customer wants, so that it has more competitiveness in the market.

But what about the competitors? It is extremely necessary to keep an eye on what they are producing, what they are offering in the market, to try to overcome them.

5. Increasingly effective (Perfection)

Companies constantly seek and find some problem in the process as a whole, whether that problem is minor or not, this is always to ensure the improvement of the product or service.

This incessant search is to improve more and more continuous improvement of the process as a whole. This creates greater customer satisfaction, loyalty, and of course, having positive effects for the company's financial.

As the American football coach Don Shula said, "If you do not look for perfection, you will never achieve excellence."

And this process always seeks to achieve operational excellence, always improvinga and perfecting not only the processes themselves but also people, products, etc.

Do not settle for the great, seek perfection!

Anyway, be creative, get out of a bubble and win the world!

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