Lean Manufacturing – THE TOYOTA WAY Lean manufacturing is an approach to manufacturing developed in Japan. Toyota, the Japanese automaker, was the company that invented lean manufacturing. The main purpose of lean manufacturing is to reduce the amount of resources used in production. In this way, lean manufacturing uses less factory space, materials, inventory, suppliers, labor, capital and time. Lean manufacturing reduces costs, increases efficiency and production, and improves motivation. Lean manufacturing involves using a set of practices designed to reduce waste and improve productivity and quality. KAIZEN – CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT Kaizen is the most important concept in Japanese management. It means continuous improvement in every aspect of life, including social, work and home life. For it to be effective a wide range of production techniques and working practices must be adopted. This approach holds that not a day should go by without some kind of improvement being made, no matter how small, and without achieving the lean goal by eliminating all waste that adds cost without adding value. Kaizen teaches individual skills for working effectively in small groups, solving problems, documenting and improving processes, collecting and analyzing data, and self-managing within a peer group. It places decision making in the hands of workers and requires open discussion and group consensus before implementing any decisions. Kaizen is a total philosophy that aims for perfection and supports the Toyota Production System on a daily basis. Eliminating waste in business practices is an important part of Kaizen. Waste is any activity that increases costs without adding value to a product. Waste could be time wasted while staff wait to begin their tasks; time wasted when workers move around the workplace unnecessarily; the irregular use of a machine. Companies that adopt the Kaizen approach train and reward workers to continuously research waste and suggest how it could be eliminated – group consensus. In Kaizen, great attention is paid to customers. Customer needs and requests are vital. By implementing Kaizen many companies have not been laid off by the decline of economies which may be due to institutional factors. It improves motivation because it is important that everyone shares the concept and vision. It's all a company philosophy. KANBAN – TEACH Kanban is the Japanese word for the everyday term “teach”. Kanban is a signaling system for triggering an action. The Kanban system was created by Toyota due to the need to maintain the level of improvements.