The Real Meaning of Lean

Are You Expendable?

This leads to another, somewhat disturbing, realization: managers and supervisors, by the very nature of their activity, are classed as NVA. We cannot, of course, have organizations without those positions, but in Lean we need to need to be mindful of the real goal to provide the lowest cost, highest quality for the customer in the quickest time. Any supervisor or managerial activity that is not supporting that goal should be examined to see if it can be reduced or eliminated.