In their most basic form, what do lean techniques aim to do?

Lean techniques fundamentally focus on identifying and eliminating waste within processes. Waste can take many forms, including excess inventory, waiting time, unnecessary transportation, over-processing, defects, and underutilized talent. By systematically reducing or eliminating these wastes, lean methodologies aim to streamline processes, improve efficiency, and enhance overall value to the customer without increasing costs.

The essence of lean thinking is to create more value with less work by optimizing the flow of work and maximizing the efficiency of resources. This principle is foundational to achieving the objectives of lean management and ultimately enhances the organization's ability to respond to customer demands.

In contrast, while managing suppliers effectively, standardizing production processes, and increasing profit margins can all be beneficial practices in operational management, they do not capture the primary intent of lean techniques. Lean focuses specifically on the waste elimination aspect as its core principle, making it a unique approach in operational excellence.