The Lean principle user guide for Finnish industries with the case study of Vaisala Oy

This product-based thesis deals with the use of Lean principle in Finland. The goal was to create a guide, which serves as an introduction to Lean principle for Finnish company executives. The guide was created with the help of the theory and case study used in this thesis. The subject of this thesis became from author’s interest towards Lean. The initial thought was to explore how common it is in Finland, and after researching this, it became clear Lean was not as widely used as previously expected. Biggest problems regarding Lean in Finland results from poor understanding and misuse of Lean. Best way to approach the subject was to create a guide that can highlight and correct these problems for achieving successful Lean implementation. Theoretical framework of this thesis consists of two chapters. These chapters deal with Lean thinking and Lean management. Lean thinking chapter explains what Lean is and what are the key factors of Lean manufacturing. Lean management chapter describes Lean from executive’s and management’s point of view and is more based on strategy. The fourth chapter gives a company example of successful use of Lean in a Finnish organization. This company example aimed to highlight the factors that made a Finnish company thrive with Lean. Also, the creation of the guide is explained in this part. The guide consists of suggestions on how to approach and use Lean as a Finnish company executive. It also describes the biggest problems Finnish companies usually make when trying to implement Lean. Creation of the guide began in September of 2022 and was completed in In March of 2022. The guide was created with Canva. All the information in the guide come from theories, conclusions, research and other sources used in this thesis