ABSTRACT
Lean is for all farms, small scale and large scale, that are open to change. For those open to change, Lean is the additional gear that provides increased earnings and greater employee satisfaction – without needing investment. Working with wastes has proved an eye-opener to the employees. Many farmers have standardized their procedures and continuously discuss “Best Practice” with their colleagues in an effort to improve. Farmers meet in groups to share experiences, and they are closely linked to companies and institutions that conduct trials and studies of production methods. In agriculture, the word customer means the consumer at the refrigerated counter. The customer can also be the company that buys the grain, or the slaughterhouse. However, in Lean terminology the word customer has another meaning, as the farmer himself can be both the supplier and the customer in a process or value stream.
