LEAN concept is a philosophy and methodology for gradually building an organization’s culture that supports continuous improvement. LEAN involves a long-term approach to daily work that encourages small, incremental changes in process operations to improve both quality and efficiency.

The roots of LEAN

LEAN has its roots in the Toyota production system, which started after World War II. Toyota developed the five principles of Lean management to decrease the number of process steps that were not producing value. As a result, the practice became known as the Toyota Way. By adhering to these LEAN principles, Toyota made significant improvements in cost efficiency, cycle time, and productivity.

The primary objective of LEAN

The primary objective of LEAN is to create value for the customer by optimizing resources and creating an uninterrupted workflow based on near real-time customer demands. In addition, the approach seeks to minimize or eliminate all waste of resources, effort, and time by documenting each step in a business process and then removing or reducing steps that do not create customer value. The concept of LEAN is rooted in manufacturing, but it has been adapted to fit almost every industry.

The core principles of the LEAN

The five core principles of the LEAN approach used as the guidelines to improve processes are:
1. Identify customer value.
2. Map all value streams.
3. Create an uninterrupted workflow.
4. Operate with a pull system.
5. Achieve continuous improvement.

Thailand LEAN Award

Last year (2022), Siriraj Hospital swept all of the top prizes, “Thailand LEAN Award 2022 – Diamond Level” and “Thailand LEAN Award 2022 – Popular Vote” from the most prestigious prize for LEAN Management in Thailand, “Thailand LEAN Award” which is given to organizations that successfully applied the Lean Management Approach efficiently and effectively in the manufacturing sectors and service sectors! The Diamond Level has previously been granted to only two organizations in Thailand. Siriraj Hospital is the third organization and the first healthcare organization in Thailand to win this top-level award!