Implementing lean manufacturing concepts is essential for companies in the manufacturing and service industries to survive in the very competitive global marketplace. A key point is to eliminate waste while delivering value to the customers. Thus, graduates from engineering programs such as manufacturing, industrial and systems engineering and engineering management must be able to focus and ap...

Every company strives to come-up with innovative products that satisfy customer requests efficiently and effectively. The principles and working methods of Lean thinking have been suggested in literature for companies to optimize stakeholders’ interests throughout their product development (PD) process. However, the application of the Lean PD remains unclear from practitioner’s perspective. As ...

We describe the implementation of a care pathway for patients with fractured neck of femur (NOF) using Lean and Six Sigma principles. After introduction of the Lean pathway, 32 patients out a total of 86 (37%) with fractured NOF were admitted to the Trauma Ward within 4 hours of presentation to the hospital; prior to implementation this was 16 patients out of a total of 59 (27%). Post-Lean an e...

This chapter focuses on providing a methodology for lean thinking based investment planning from the perspective of cellular or hybrid manufacturing systems. The chapter has been divided into three parts. First part provides a general explanation of why lean thinking is so beneficial for managing manufacturing processes and obtaining sustained improvement. This part then moves to the aim of cel...

Lean manufacturing has been widely adopted by many production companies. Apart from the operational difficulty associated with conversion from a traditional, functional based operation, adoption of Lean manufacturing involves significant organizational transformations. It requires formation of work teams, comprised of multi-skilled workers. The work teams are preferably self directed and need t...

A small furniture production company has integrated lean tools and sustainability concepts with discrete event simulation modeling and analysis as well as mathematical optimization to make a positive impact on the environment, society and its own financial success. The principles of lean manufacturing that aid in the elimination of waste have helped the company meet ever increasing customer dem...

Lean thinking is a method for organising complex production processes so as to encourage flow and reduce waste. While the principles of lean thinking were developed in the manufacturing sector, there is increasing interest in its application in health care. This case history documents the introduction and development of Redesigning Care, a lean thinking-based program to redesign care processes ...

The Toyota Production System (TPS) has been widely studied and copied by various companies to improve several of their processes. However, many of them have not been successful due to the fact that only the tools and tactics have been focused and the core underlying principles have been overlooked. There are examples of a few companies which have achieved cost savings and operational efficienci...

Applicability of lean principles to construction might seem to require that construction’s differentiating characteristics be softened or explained away. This is the strategy employed by those who advocate making construction more like the manufacturing from which lean thinking originated. Following that line of thought, successive waves of implementation would leave ever smaller remainders tha...

Industry 4.0 and its application in the business has been focus of attention by academy, for ability to establish principles flexibility connectivity along shop floor. Meantime, because a lean wave 1990’s, most western industry adopted principles, techniques tools production, whose results were quickly captured, guaranteed adoption worldwide. Thus, with view turning traditional manufacturing co...