1. Introduction
The aim of this report is to outline a review of the existing literature on "Lean" between June and September 2005. This report presents a summary of the key points from the literature, with an emphasis on drawing out some conclusions of what this implies for those organisations undertaking Lean projects in the public sector.
The review starts by looking at theoretical developments in the concept of Lean. Section 2 of the report defines the key terms of Lean and associated tools that are used in this review. Section 3 provides an overview of the key points from the literature detailing the implementation of Lean in manufacturing during the 1980s and 1990s and also more recent literature looking at the implementation of Lean in the service and public sectors. The section also highlights the key points from the literature, which can be considered to inform developments in the public sector. There is a strong emphasis on research in health services, which is the main public sector area where there is a significant amount of literature. Section 4 provides brief information on some of the tools, techniques and approaches that are associated with Lean.
Within this report there is a number or a set of numbers in brackets that follow the key points from the literature. These numbers should be cross-referenced to the specific data source listed in Appendix 2 to determine the source of information.
Appendix 1 outlines associated tools and techniques (both those directly part of the Lean approach and those related) which were considered in the literature search. Appendix 2 of the report describes the approach adopted by the researchers to determine the relevant articles and the key points from the selected literature. A "Data Extraction Sheet" ( DES) for each source listed in Appendix 2, which provides more details on each piece of literature, is available on request from the Scottish Executive.