ABSTRACT
The Lean Business Delivery System (LBDS) is an ongoing journey in the pursuit of waste elimination and error reduction. A key concept in Lean is to avoid batching and focus on one-piece flow. In many cases this might seem counterintuitive; however, this main principle is very important to understand if business managers want to achieve success. An integrated framework is required to ensure that Lean initiatives are successful. The components for this integrated structure include: visual management; product, information, and material flow; management process; measurable targets; standards; and process focus. A key to success and to understand Lean at the core is to commit to one-piece flow. Batching is a system and batching systems are fraught with batching problems. A learning organization is a system that continually improves and sustains its ability to learn. Some of the learning organization components are: personal mastery, mental models, shared vision, team learning, and systems thinking.
