Lean Principles: What Are They and What Do They Do?
You might have come across the phrase ‘lean principles’ in many different fields or industries and be unsure as to what exactly they are and what they do. In short, lean principles are concerned with reducing waste and improving value to customers. Here are just a couple of the basics about lean principles, what they are, their functions and how you can incorporate them into your life and work. What are Lean Principles? Lean principles are a concept that has been around for many years. The Venetian Arsenal is a good example of the early use of the principles, especially material flow. Instead of building an entire ship in once place on the docks, just the hull was built. The ship was then moved onto the next location for the next part of building, until the completed ship left the arsenal. This allowed multiple ships to be built at once, creating a constant flow of movement, material and production, almost like a giant assembly line on the water. In 1914, Henry Ford introduced t...