The paradigm of value delivery and the continuous improvement philosophy.

Talking about Lean, undoubtedly, means talking about Toyota and its special way of ensuring success in delivering value –almost permanently– through a very special production system model, known as TPS or Toyota Production System.

Thanks to the official dissemination of TPS around the world, many organizations have been and still are using this system –with little success in many cases– due to the strong discipline involved in developing the various aspects of the work philosophy for the organization.

This philosophy is known as Lean, and its fundamental purpose is to create value for customers and reduce –if possible eliminate–, anything that does not generate value to the creation or provision of a product or service (waste), in order to constantly raise productivity, efficiency and quality, as well as reduce costs and optimize processes and expenses.

This clearly requires making a significant change in the organization’s culture and way of thinking, in order to find –through deeper analysis and exploration– ideas on how to improve and, especially, optimize the desired processes of the organization without leaving aside the knowledge, experience, and feedback from partners who are part of the processes. This optimization and improvement focuses on 3 main aspects, which are part of the Lean philosophy and must be faced to enhance value delivery and continuous improvement: muda (waste), mura (variation), and muri (overload).