The concept called “lean management” or “lean thinking” is most commonly associated with Japanese manufacturing, particularly the Toyota Production System (TPS). Much of the TPS way of thinking is based on the work of quality guru W. Edwards Deming, who taught, among other things, that managers should stop depending on mass inspection to achieve quality and, instead, focus on improving the production process and building quality into the product in the first place. So what is meant by “lean thinking”? Simply put, lean means using less to do more. Lean thinking is not typically associated with health care, where waste — of time,.
