Lean’s focus on waste may be its defining element. To reduce waste, it must be identified, understood for what it is, and then eliminated through process change. Time is a major emphasis. Engineers want to eliminate wasted time and time that does not add value. They want to make process changes that reduce operation time.
Lean’s waste lens is most effective when focused on repetitive, transactional work. The process is studied, judgments are made on value-adding vs. non-value-adding activities, and then good thinking is applied to eliminate those activities that customers won’t pay for.