I often struggle with an answer to this question. I do not find it easy to explain what I do. I am a facilitator and instructor for Lean Manufacturing. What? Is that manufacturing for skinny people? Well, no.
Lean refers to many activities that are designed to decrease Lead Time, the time it takes from order placement to order fulfillment. In order to decrease that time, waste inherent to a process has to be identified and eliminated, or at least decreased. There is a lot of waste in just about any process! Too much inventory, excessive inspection, unnecessary washing processes, unclear transportation routes, unnecessary handling, those are all examples of waste. They may be necessary in the current process; Lean practitioners try to find ways to eliminate these wastes and create leaner future processes.
It is very interesting work. No two processes are ever identical, and my job is never boring.
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