Progressteh, Ltd. gave interview to Natalya Bekhtina “At First Hand” Talk-Show at Radio Russia. The interview has concerned Lean or as more frequently mentioned Lean Technologies, and the history of this trend development.

Anton Zhiganov began the talk by defining more exactly the term wording: “Lean does not mean technologies. This is the philosophy of management, its approach, culture. However in most cases our people call it as Lean Technologies. This is maybe more convenient, but the paradox is that Lean is the culture improving not the techological process, but the logistics process, the management process. The direct meaning of this term is “spare”, “thin”, “slim”, i.e. with “no frills”...

And as for the history of this phenomenon, the term was first coined by Japanese, or more exactly by Toyota. At the beginning of the past centure Toyota started implementing the elements of that is now known as Lean philosophy. This philosophy has been formed for the past centure by crystallizing from small elements just like a mosaic.

Toyota has started building its system when proceeding to car production. It started building its system by applying the ”Just in Time” (JIT) procedure – in the right quantity, at the right time, just in the right place. Toyota has been improving its productiopn for the last sixty years...