Summary

In this chapter, you have learned the basics behind Lean Thinking and its emphasis on adding value by eliminating waste. You now know that there are eight common forms of waste: waiting, overproduction, extra-processing, transportation, motion, inventory, defects, and unused human talent and intellect. And you have learned the five foundational principles behind Lean Thinking, including value, value streams, flow, pull, and perfection.

You should understand why value is always defined by the customer. With that understanding, you also know that the concept of design to value includes the specification of requirements and designs that maximize value as defined by the customer.

You've learned that a value stream is the set of all specific actions required to bring a product or service to the customer and that there are three critical value chains the organization must identify and analyze. These include value identification tasks, information-oriented tasks, and physical...