Lean Enterprise Research Centre

Our mission is to research, apply and communicate lean thinking.

The Lean Enterprise Research Centre's (LERC) mission is to research, apply and communicate lean thinking. LERC has been at the forefront of development of lean thinking through its research and its focus has broadened from manufacturing to all sectors, including services. Recent work has focused on Sustainable Lean - that is, how lean thinking can be implemented in a way that ensures lasting change.

Any organisation that is looking for methodologies that improve the quality, cost and delivery of their operations would find the work of this centre useful.

Executive education

Our executive education programmes range from 1 day courses right up to a 2 year part time masters level. Our short courses are run on both an open and bespoke basis.

Innovation and engagement

Innovation and engagement activity concerns projects where we work with organisations in transferring lean oriented knowledge for them to use directly in their operations or strategy. This can be linked to either research or education.

Details of the Lean Competency System (LCS), a unique workplace based lean qualification system developed by LERC researchers, are available on the LCS website.

Our research focuses on the application and meaning of lean thinking in a variety of different contexts and environments.

Projects tend to be of a collaborative nature, often involving a number of organisations who come together as a network with common issues that the particular research programme addresses.