1. LEAN-FUN-001 — Lean Manufacturing Foundations, Principles, Waste Identification, Research Questions and System Diagnosis

Description

This theme establishes the theoretical and methodological foundations of Lean Manufacturing and provides the starting point for systematic lean research. It covers lean philosophy, customer value, value-added and non-value-added activities, the Toyota Production System, the eight wastes, Muda–Mura–Muri, process observation, Gemba analysis, system boundaries, research problem formulation, operational definitions, baseline assessment, and selection of appropriate lean indicators. Particular attention is given to distinguishing Lean Manufacturing as an organizational and production philosophy from the isolated application of individual lean tools. The theme also addresses lean maturity, organizational readiness, barriers, critical success factors, contextual differences between SMEs and large organizations, and the influence of management commitment and organizational culture. This foundation allows researchers to establish a defensible baseline before proposing interventions or attributing improvements to lean implementation.