MY LEARNING OF LEAN BASICS

I had the good fortune of coming across Dr. Muralidharan, Managing Director of Value Enablers, Bengaluru, India. Though he is probably half my age, he awakened in me the fact that mere decades of experience is no substitute for real knowledge. He spoke about the rapid obsolescence of knowledge and the need to refurbish our minds on a daily basis. He made me realize that what worked 40 years ago may not work today. And how learning has to be a never ending process just by changing our way of thinking. He introduced the concept of LEAN to me.

For a very long time, LEAN, to me, was just one of the many tools used in improvements in manufacturing. I believed it was just a jargon for improving operating efficiency about which every seasoned engineer was already aware of.

LEAN MURALI (as Dr. Muralidharan is fondly known) changed my perception of LEAN. I now know that LEAN is not merely a tool but a concept that changes our way of thinking. It is no longer "Lean Tools" but “Lean Thinking”.

I realized how much I had missed during my long years at work. I want budding young professionals to benefit from my mistake. Hence I have decided to share what I have learnt. I intend posting a brief article every week till I cover all that I have learnt from LEAN MURALI.

I must caution you that this is not a writing from an expert but a sharing from a learner to those who wish to know the elements of LEAN. So, Lean experts can as well save their time by ignoring these posts.

So, bye, until next week.

LEAN MURALI, my mentor in understanding LEAN, has a magnificent mission. His mission is to help one million young professionals become Lean Champions. Towards this, he conducts a weekly one hour online Knowledge Sharing Session where he explains Lean, Six Sigma concepts in a simple manner that is easy follow. He believes that spreading knowledge to hungry minds is no less than donating blood or feeding the poor. This is absolutely FREE and anyone can participate. Those interested in these free live sessions can opt to register through the following link:

https://tinyurl.com/freelean

You can also share this link with any of your friends who may be interested and can benefit from it.