Lean Manufacturing is a customer focused total business strategy derived from the Toyota Production System. The key thrust of lean manufacturing is oriented toward achieving the shortest possible cycle time by eliminating waste from all business processes. The technique often decreases the time between a customer order and shipment, and it is designed to radically improve profitability, customer satisfaction, throughput time, and employee morale. Lean Manufacturing has been successfully applied to repetitive, job shop and custom manufacturing applications.

The characteristics of lean processes are:

• Highly customer focused
• Single-piece flow production
• Just-In-Time materials/pull systems
• Short cycle times
• Quick changeover
• Continuous flow work cells
• Connected processes machines, equipment, tools and people
• Less space and resources requirements
• Multi-skilled cross trained employees
• Flexible workforce
• Empowered employees
• Everyone involved with continuous improvement
• Highly organized and safe work areas
• Improved quality with major reductions in defects

Lean warehousing and distribution is all about applying lean manufacturing principles to key warehousing functions such as receiving, put-away/storing, replenishment, picking, packing and shipping. Lean warehousing and distribution focuses on reducing waste, improving productivity, increase space utilization and meeting customer demand.

LEAN Engineering provides a wide variety of services. Included among these services are training, on-site facilitation, consulting and ongoing support to ensure the transfer of knowledge and experience to the organization and create a self sustaining culture of continuous improvement with lasting results.