Elements of Lean Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Elements of Lean Paper - Essay Example We can therefore refer to lean manufacturing as a business model as well as collection of tactical methods which emphasizes on waste elimination and at the same time delivering quality products that are cost effective on timely basis. In this study we are going to explore the elements and core disciplines of lean manufacturing and services in software development organization. The previous emergence of Agile software development methods as well as the lean principles have brought about the thinking of lean for the interest of the software community (Kaikkonen et al, 2014). Based on lean thinking, five principles are revealed by Kaikkonen et al (2014) in the discussion of lean principles. These principles also happen to be the core elements of lean in software development, the elements are; flow, value, value stream, pull, and perfection. These elements are relevant in the creation of a lean enterprise with the concepts of value as the heart of lean thinking. With value stream, value adding and wasteful activities are necessary for bringing a product or even service into existence. This is achievable when focus is put on improvement efforts. When value adding activities are carried out smoothly, the element of flow comes in. This is to mean that at every given point of the value stream, maximum value from the perspective of the product is added. Another el ement in this case is the pull; it simply means that any upstream process would not result as product of goods and services until a signal to do so is issued from the downstream. These three principle elements and the other two generate massive gains in the software development organization. Elements required by the organization to move towards the lean environment are waste and value as they happen to be the heart of lean thinking (Kaikkonen et al, 2014). Based on lean, value is viewed from the perspective of the customer as anything they appreciate. On the general business perspective it can be typically