Lean Manufacturing is a manufacturing system and philosophy that was originally developed by Toyota and is now used by many manufacturers throughout the world. At Toyota the system is referred to as the Toyota Production System very well described in the world famous New York Times best seller – ‘The Toyota Way’.

The term Lean is very apt because in Lean Manufacturing the emphasis is to cut out the “fat” or waste in the manufacturing process. Waste is defined as anything that does not add value to the customer. It could also be defined as anything the customer is unwilling to pay for.

Lean is not a tool, it is a way of doing anything. It doesn’t only applies to manufacturing, but can be a made a way to live life by. So, by this post I would try to spread some knowledge about Lean. So, what better than a way to spread the knowledge than giving out a list of best available resources with a little description.

So, here are the ‘TOP LEAN Resources on the WEB’

1. Lean Blog – This is the Lean Blog. The name itself is self explanatory. This blog is totally dedicated to the concept of lean. Spreading the knowledge of lean with the utmost seriousness and live real life simple examples is their way to let you know the message. This is just fantastic.
2. Learn Lean Blog – Now this is what is aimed directly at teaching the concepts of Lean to those who are virgins in the case of lean and to those who are novices. It has some really good explanations for the concepts dealt with. The real life Case studies from various different industries is the point of attraction that you should consider visiting this site. So, if you want to learn from practical experience of someone else, then here is the place to go.
3. BB Basics Llc – This is a Lean consultant’s blog that will lead you on the well trodden path to success in lean by sharing with you the experiences of the consultant himself. Although the primary aim of the blog is to make people aware of the fact that the person is a consultant, he gives out some interesting suggestions again with his own examples of failure and success.
4. Lean Manufacturing Secrets – Now this is what I was searching for the last so many days but got only yesterday after googling ‘Lean Manufacturing Best Practices’. Here is the best place to find some places and ways to implement in your own company / factory. It gives some examples like – ‘Going One piece Flow’ and ‘The theory of Constraints and Lean Manufacturing’.
5. Lean Enterprises Blog – The latest and the most refreshing Lean Blog on the blogging circuit is the Lean Enterprises Blog by Rahul Rai, Lean Faculty Fellow in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at California State University at Fresno. He has put up some interesting interpretations of the same old Lean concepts by putting up some interesting illustrations, one being the structure of the DNA as a representation of a ladder for continuous improvement – Kaizen.

So, all you have got to do if you want to know about Lean is that just go and visit one of these blogs and fetch all the pool of free and generous knowledge poured in by these Lean Leaders.