LEAN Production issues in the organization of the company - the first stage

Today’s market determinants and most importantly, very dynamically changing customer requirements significantly shortened the product life cycle. This situation reflects in companies by common extension of the assortment offered and personalised serial production. The result of a flexible approach to market changes is the implementation of LEAN concept, which, both in terms of management and production aims to develop efficiency within an organisation, which will then enable quick and dynamic response to changes in the environment. The popularity of LEAN concept (in management and production) among managers comes from its universality and a wide range of instruments used to maximise the use of existing potential. The main assumptions of LEAN concept are aimed at the maximum use of an organisation’s resources, defining the activities necessary to execute an order and identifying the areas generating losses and then minimising them and eventually eliminating. LEAN concept is based on flagship-main tools for identification and modernisation of processes, the difficulty in using them results from the need to recognise and select the most effective ones that meet the expectations of a given organisation. The article presents issues related to the first stage of implementing LEAN concept in a company’s structures, i.e. identification of opportunities and selection of appropriate tools.