What characterizes a lean production system?

A lean production system is characterized by its focus on ensuring smooth production flows to eliminate inefficiencies. At the heart of lean production is the goal of maximizing value for the customer while minimizing waste. This involves streamlining processes, optimizing workflows, and continuously improving operations to reduce any form of waste—be it time, materials, or resources. By focusing on smooth production flows, a lean system helps to create a more responsive and efficient environment that can adapt to changes in demand without suffering from excess inventory or bottlenecks.

In contrast, maintaining large inventories would conflict with lean principles, as excessive inventory can hide inefficiencies and create waste. Similarly, creating sales forecasts based solely on inventory levels can be counterproductive in a lean framework, which emphasizes real-time production adjustments over relying on forecasts. Lastly, using multiple cost pools for expense allocation, while important in certain contexts, does not encapsulate the essence of what defines a lean production system; it does not directly address the elimination of waste and the enhancement of efficiency that are crucial characteristics of lean methodologies.