Erik Gillet, former global head of operational excellence for financial accounting at Credit Suisse, revisits the five principles of lean applied to services and explores whether the traditional lean wastes are relevant in a service environment.

Richard Bosworth, chairman of What If Forums, analyses the main differences in applying lean in a manufacturing site and a service environment, providing two case studies of companies that were successful in this endeavour.

Sarah Lethbridge, senior research associate at Cardiff University’s Lean Enterprise Research Centre, shares her idea of how important a role standards play in delivering a successful continuous improvement programme in services.

The concept of lean is increasingly being applied in various types of service industries.

Brenton Harder reviews Anne Ponton’s Lean Six Sigma: Coach me if you can.

Lean is context dependent – have no doubt!