Teaching Lean Process Design Using A Discovery Approach

Operations and industrial engineering practice have been transformed over the past 20 years by the principles of lean thinking. Womack and Jones [15] describe lean thinking as an antidote to muda, meaning waste. Lean thinking helps to create a value stream throughout the supply chain by eliminating waste. Lean design is guided by general principles, which are translated into practice using tactics such as creating manufacturing cells. The design process is complicated because in reality not all waste can be eliminated, particularly in complex processes that extend across organizational boundaries. To be effective designers, students need to understand how variability affects process dynamics and to combine this knowledge with analysis of process data.