20 Years of Lean Lab: Study Discovers Previously Unknown Milestone in the Application of Lean Management in the Laboratory

The year 2021 marks an unprecedented milestone in the application of Lean in laboratories. Twenty years ago, the world's first Lean Lab project became publicly known. Since then, thousands of projects have followed to establish Lean in laboratories. A comprehensive study by Geniu examined the benefits that Lean can bring to laboratories. With astonishing results.

"The application of Lean Management has developed into the standard for laboratory optimization in recent years," says Dr. Wolf-Christian Gerstner, Managing Director of the laboratory-focused consulting firm Geniu. "Those who want to achieve their goals faster with minimal effort cannot ignore the Lean Management techniques established over the past decades. This realization has gained acceptance in recent years." Many also know that the fundamentals of Lean were developed by Toyota and only many years later were named "Lean Management" by a group of professors from the USA.

However, many are unaware whether Lean Management in laboratories, briefly called "Lean Lab," is a relatively new "fashion topic" or has been used in laboratories for a longer period. This was also an important question for Dr. Gerstner, who has been deeply involved in optimizing laboratories using Lean techniques for more than a decade. "For decision-makers in laboratories who want to introduce Lean Lab, it is very important to know how reliably Lean techniques improve efficiency, throughput time, and quality in laboratories." To answer this question, it helps to know how long these techniques have existed and whether they have proven effective over the years, explains Dr. Gerstner. "Therefore, we spoke with people who have followed the development of Lean in laboratories over the past decades. We found out both where and when the first Lean Lab project was carried out and in which laboratory segment."

An additional important indicator for decision-makers when implementing Lean is the potential benefits it can bring to laboratories. This question was also empirically investigated in a comprehensive meta-study. More than 100 articles on Lean Lab published in the last 20 years were analyzed in detail. "The study showed that Lean Management has dramatically improved work in many laboratories over the past 20 years," says Dr. Gerstner, who led the "20 Years of Lean Lab" study. "If approached correctly, Lean Management can significantly enhance productivity, throughput time, and quality in any laboratory—whether routine or development—and regardless of industry."

In the coming months, Geniu will publish a series of articles around the theme "20 Years of Lean Lab." Interested parties can register at www.geniu.com for the study. A comprehensive presentation of the study results will take place on Thursday, November 18, 2021, at 2 p.m. during Geniu's "Lab Excellence Forum" (registration for the live webinar at https://www.geniu.com/de/20-jahre-lean-lab). "I am especially pleased that we can welcome a Lean pioneer to the Lab Excellence Forum," says Dr. Gerstner. Another program highlight is the presentation of the "10 Lean Lab Pioneers" identified during the study.