Lean manufacturing, lean enterprise, or lean production, or often simply, "Lean”, is a production practice that
considers the expenditure of resources for any goal other than the creation of value for the end customer to be
wasteful, and thus a target for elimination; “value” is defined as any action or process that a customer would be
willing to pay for.
For many, Lean is the set of "tools" that assist in the identification and steady elimination of waste. As waste is
eliminated quality improves while production time and cost are reduced. Lean maintenance is used to drive
waste out of the manufacturing process by reducing or eliminating production time lost to machine failures.
Lean Maintenance is a prerequisite for success as a lean manufacturer that provides a holistic approach to the
function of maintenance. As lean concept has been taking hold in the manufacturing sector, there is an
increasing realization that maintenance must not be viewed only in narrow operational context dealing with
equipment failures and their consequences. Rather, maintenance must be viewed in the long-term strategic
context and must integrate the different technical and commercial issues in an effective manner. However, Lean
Maintenance approach cannot just be a mirror image of a lean production approach because the business
dynamics of asset maintenance and those of production are fundamentally different. In order to deliver
“productivity without waste,” or efficiency, in asset maintenance, there is a need of a different version of
“Lean”; one that takes into account the unique business dynamics of the area that the businesses work in.