Lean project management: How can tools from lean manufacturing be applied to project management?

Abstract

Lean manufacturing was developed to reduce the amount of resources needed to make something. Labor hours, materials, and time spent waiting is all something that is costly for any company trying to make a buck. By using some tools from lean manufacturing and combining it with some tools from project management, the possibility of improvement is shown in this thesis. By performing an interview the theory is related to a real-life work situation. The theory is presented with a discussion, especially the lean theory is discussed to make it clear how it could be implemented in a different setting than what it was intended for. In the final discussion part of the thesis the different tools are discussed alongside with the findings in the interview, improvement to their current usage of Kanban as well as implementation of the tools presented in this thesis is advocated for.