COURSE OVERVIEW:

Welcome to the Lean Foundation & Language course. This program will equip you with a clear understanding of Lean as a philosophy, a system, and a practical set of tools for eliminating waste, improving flow, and creating greater value for customers. You will explore the origins of Lean thinking, the logic that drives its methods, the language that defines its concepts, and the behaviours and cultural elements required to sustain Lean within any enterprise. This course also examines Lean’s relationship to other improvement methodologies and the foundational principles that enable organisations to streamline processes and strive for continuous perfection.

This course begins by examining what Lean is, the core sources of waste, and the logic of Lean as a systematic approach to increasing customer value while reducing non-value-adding activities. You will explore where Lean is found in modern organisations and how Lean extends beyond tools into the enterprise, the people, and the culture. This section also clarifies what Lean is not, highlighting common misconceptions, and explains what makes Lean so special as both a production system and a management philosophy. You will learn the Lean pedigree, including how Toyoda and Ohno created a new means of production that transformed global manufacturing. This section also examines Lean’s improvement cousins—including Total Quality Management (TQM), Six Sigma, Theory of Constraints (TOC), Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), ISO-9000, and Business Process Management (BPM)—and how BPM acts as a significant enabler of Lean goals.

The next learning area focuses on the foundation of Lean and the language that supports it. You will explore the Lean basics and how to create the structural and cultural foundation needed for Lean deployment. This section introduces customer value, how to analyse the value stream, how to maintain flow, and how to pull work through the system. You will also examine how organisations strive for perfection by eliminating waste, improving systems, and building learning cultures. This section explains the Just-in-Time process, why Lean is fundamentally about the customer, and how the KISS principle (Keep It Simple and Straightforward) reinforces Lean behaviours. You will also explore how measurement systems must align with Lean principles so that improvement efforts are supported rather than hindered by performance metrics.

The final learning area focuses on the three key Lean language concepts:
• Muda (Waste) – activities that consume resources but add no value.
• Mura (Unevenness) – inconsistency and variability that disrupt flow.
• Muri (Overdoing/Overburden) – excessive strain on people, equipment, or systems.

Understanding these three forms of inefficiency provides the foundation for identifying improvement opportunities and applying Lean methods effectively across diverse industries.

By the end of this course you will be able to understand Lean philosophy and terminology, identify sources of waste, analyse value streams, support flow and pull systems, align behaviours with Lean culture, and use Lean concepts to drive continuous process improvement and customer-centred performance.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

By the end of this course, you will be able to understand:

·       What Is Lean?

·       The sources of waste

·       The logic of Lean

·       Where is Lean?

·       How Lean is in the enterprise, the people and in the culture?

·       What Lean is not?

·       What makes Lean so special?

·       The Lean pedigree

·       How Toyoda and Ohno set out to develop an entirely new means of production?

·       Lean and its continuous process improvement cousins

·       Total Quality Management (TQM)

·       Six Sigma

·       Theory of Constraints (TOC)

·       Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)

·       The ISO-9000

·       Business Process Management (BPM)

·       How BPM is a significant enabler for Lean, and directly facilitates Lean goals and practices?

·       The foundation of Lean

·       The Lean basics

·       Creating the foundation of Lean

·       Customer value

·       How to analyse the value stream?

·       How to maintain flow?

·       How to pull through the system?

·       How to strive for perfection?

·       The just-in-time process

·       How it’s all about the customer?

·       The KISS principle

·       The measurement systems reinforcing Lean behaviours

·       What is Muda (Waste)

·       What is Mura (Unevenness)

·       What is Muri (Overdoing)

COURSE DURATION:

The typical duration of this course is approximately 2-3 hours to complete. Your enrolment is Valid for 12 Months. Start anytime and study at your own pace.

ASSESSMENT:

A simple 10-question true or false quiz with Unlimited Submission Attempts.

CERTIFICATION:

Upon course completion, you will receive a customised digital “Certificate of Completion”.