Lean Manufacturing: a concept towards a sustainable management

Abstract: In this paper, we will analyze the concept of lean manufacturing, starting from the example illustrated by TPS (Toyota Production System) which is renowned for its focus on the reduction of the original Toyota seven waists in order to improve overall customer value, in spite of the existence of varying perspectives on how this is best achieved. The steady growth of Toyota, from a small company to the world's largest automaker (Bailey, 2008) has focused its attention on how it has achieved this success. It is a starting template that was also developed by other automotive makers, and not only. We will also identify the main elements of lean philosophy and propose a typology of the fundamental concepts of lean, using data analysis from research findings across studies on lean manufacturing and lean production published in the past two decades.