Lean is no longer just for manufacturing

For some time, Lean Manufacturing has been making its way into various non-traditional Lean industries. These have included mining, parcel delivery, business administration and many others.
Now, Lean is making a big push into hospitals and laboratories. Administrators of these facilities have long recognized the growing demands doctors, nurses and other care providers are facing in this new age of medicine. Saddled with the responsibility to find a solution, many administrators have looked to the manufacturing industry for answers.

Lean is now one of the hottest approaches to facility management, why not hospitals and laboratories?    Lean provides an approach to working that has benefits in any workplace, not just manufacturing. The priciples of being organized (5S), continuous improvement (Kaizen), and managing the flow of materials (Kanban) and help any workplace be more productive and safer.