The human dimension of "Lean"

It is well-known that high competitiveness and the changing market environment require organizations to quickly adapt to changes while reducing costs and ensuring the quality of their products and services. Being competitive in this environment involves revising traditional management methods, which is why we increasingly hear about 'Lean', not only in industrial sector companies but also in the service sector. Companies implementing this methodology seek to gain in terms of competitiveness, as 'Lean' is ultimately a method that helps the company focus on achieving the strategic objectives of the business.

However, beyond the more corporate definition of eliminating or reducing everything that does not add value in the production process or in the activities that are developed, it is important to consider the more literal meaning of the term. 'Lean' means streamlined. So let's be that in our organizations, let's be attractive to our customers and our employees! This is one of the keys to the success of any organization.

Companies that embrace this philosophy clearly understand that their core is people. 'Lean' gives workers a leading role, as it seeks to involve them in this work philosophy. The reason is quite clear: the worker is the first to observe certain problems that can be solved, problems that, with the application of a set of techniques provided by 'Lean', allow achieving more with less. Thus, the fundamental principles of this philosophy, in addition to eliminating activities that do not offer value, are respect for people and customer satisfaction, factors that guarantee the health and safety of companies and, therefore, their success, factors that say a lot about the values that govern them.