The 8 wastes (muda), value stream mapping, just-in-time production, 5S workplace organization, and kaizen — the Toyota Production System's core toolkit for eliminating waste and creating flow.
Lean manufacturing traces back to the Toyota Production System, built on a philosophy of making only what the customer needs, when it's needed, while systematically removing anything that doesn't add value. This module works through the 8 wastes (muda), value stream mapping and process cycle efficiency, just-in-time production and pull systems, 5S workplace organization, and kaizen as a culture of continuous, incremental improvement.
By the end of this module you should be able to explain why many manufacturing value streams show a process cycle efficiency under 10% — and why lean's strength at eliminating waste and creating flow is a genuinely different, complementary skill from Six Sigma's strength at reducing statistical variation, covered next in Module 3.