Exploring Lean Service - How to implement lean in a service context

Sammanfattning: The lean production concept has triumphed over traditional mass production (Krafcik, 1988) and is recognized as the new paradigm for production (Bartezzaghi, 1999). Given the success of lean production it has over the past two decades moved into the area of service. This transcendence to service is not fully understood, as it is not quite clear how to apply a manufacturing concept in a service context. Nonetheless, the application of lean service has manifolds outpaced the knowledge within the research field. This thesis aims to understand how to implement lean in service context by exploring operational success factors and challenges affiliated with lean service from an organizational perspective. This thesis develops eight operational principles of how to implement lean service and further we uncover that people, undoubtedly are the single most important factor to successfully operate in a lean fashion. Academically, the main contribution lies within the appendix and the developed list of success factor and challenges in regards to lean service.