What is Lean Management?
Lean Management is an approach to process optimization that aims to minimize waste and harmonize processes. The term originates as “lean management” from the English-speaking world and can be translated into German as “schlankes Management.” This method finds its origin in the Toyota Production System, which focuses on designing stable process organizations. These form the basis of the achieved quality level of Toyata products.
The goal of Lean Management is to avoid every form of waste, errors, and unnecessary costs in all areas of the company while simultaneously achieving the best possible quality. All activities necessary for value creation should be optimally coordinated and redundant tasks eliminated. To do this, both the customer's perspective must be considered to meet customer demands for availability, individuality, quality, and pricing, and the company's perspective, which must operate profitably and improve competitiveness.
By implementing process definitions, interface descriptions, clear responsibility structures, early reactions to errors, and simple organizational methods, stable processes with a high customer focus are created.
10 Principles in Lean Management
In the literature by Graf-Götz and Glatz, there are 10 design approaches for implementing Lean Management
- Align all activities to the customer (customer orientation)
- Focus on your own strengths
- Optimize business processes
- Continuous improvement of quality (Continuous Improvement Process, CIP)
- Internal customer orientation as a corporate mission
- Personal responsibility, empowerment, and teamwork
- Decentralized, customer-oriented structures
- Leadership as service to the employee
- Open information and feedback processes
- Attitude and cultural change within the company (Kaikaku).
