What is a lean system?

Hello,

I have learned a lean system is adopted in especially automobile manufacturing company, such as Toyota. But a lean system which appears below sentence does not seem same meaning of such sytem. Would someone help me to understand the lean system?

By the way, this is from FAQ of the medical device company who is going to reduce their head count.

Question:

After we get our head count down to the desired level, can we deploy a lean system for obtaining approval for replacement head count going forward?

Answer:

By early 2008, we will no longer have a centralized process for approving head count, and we expect the process will be much more lean going forward.



Thank you always,

Higurashi

Quote:

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Originally Posted by higurashi

Hello,

I have learned a lean system is adopted especially in automobile manufacturing companies, such as Toyota. But a lean system which appears in the sentence below does not seem to match the same meaning above. Would someone help me to understand the lean system?

By the way, this is from FAQ of the medical device company who is going to reduce their head count.

Question:

After we get our head count down to the desired level, can we deploy a lean system for obtaining approval for replacement head count going forward?

Answer:

By early 2008, we will no longer have a centralized process for approving head count, and we expect the process will be much more lean going forward.



Thank you always,

Higurashi

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It seems to be the same use to me, Higurashi, except that the second example seems to deal more with personnel. Toyota has trimmed the fat in production, including 'just in time" delivery systems.

'head count' must refer to the number of employees, right?

It seems the company is streamlining all, many [?] of their processes including the abandonment of the "centralized process for approving head count".

Riverkid,

Thank you for your quick reply.


'head count' must refer to the number of employees, right?

Yes, the comany is going to reduce the number of their employees.

So, "lean system" in the sentence I wrote means "Just-in-time system" or simply "slim" system, doesn't it?

Thank you,

Higurashi

Quote:

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Originally Posted by higurashi

Riverkid,

Thank you for your quick reply.

You're welcome, H.

So, "lean system" in the sentence I wrote means "Just-in-time system" or simply "slim" system, doesn't it?

Yes, but I think it goes further to include any "efficiency" program.

Thank you,

Higurashi

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