With help from the Lean Community, we made the new Third Edition of the Lean Lexicon even more valuable and useful. Starting with improvement ideas from Community members like you, we researched and added 21 definitions to the latest edition of this popular and indispensable reference book.

The expanded Third Edition, featuring 58 illustrations, defines 187 key lean terms from A3 Report to Yokoten.

The new definitions include Lean Consumption and Lean Provision, the groundbreaking ideas on using lean principles to build a new producer-consumer model described in Lean Solutions by James Womack and Daniel Jones. True to the Lexicon’s description as a “graphical glossary,” we included consumption and provision maps. Here’s the complete list of new terms:

Unlike most other business glossaries in print or online, the Lexicon is focused exclusively on lean thinking. It also makes abundant use of illustrations and examples, and was compiled with input from managers and engineers who are implementing lean.

To make the book as useful as possible, LEI’s research included surveying the Lean Community about what concepts and terms were most confusing. Time-related terms were among those that topped the list of responses, so the Lexicon devotes several pages and illustrations to terms such as cycle time, takt time, and value-creating time. Other major entries include: