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About the Centre

LERC is one of the Business School's major research centres, with around 20 staff and a track record of innovative Research, Executive Education and Innovation & Engagement activities. It was founded by Professor Peter Hines and Daniel T Jones in 1994. The centre is part of the Business School's Logistics and Operations Management (LOM) section and is a contributor to the EPSRC Cardiff University Innovative Manufacturing Research Centre.

 
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Main Activities of LERC

Our research focuses on the application and meaning of lean thinking in a variety of different contexts and environments.  Projects tend to be collaborative nature, often involving a number of organisations who come together as a network with common issues that the particular research programme addresses.  In addition, projects can be funded (or part funded) by a government research council, such as the EPSRC, or European research bodies. When considering undertaking a research project we will normally need to ensure that it addresses one or a number of ‘research questions’ linked to our research themes.

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Aims and Mission

Our mission is to be a world class lean thinking and supply chain research centre, dedicated to:

  • Developing a greater understanding of lean thinking
  • Developing pioneering, leading-edge lean thinking research tools and techniques
  • Helping organisations achieve world class performance through the application of lean thinking principles and techniques
  • Disseminating lean thinking knowledge through a broad range of education programmes and executive courses and through communicating to the broader management population
 

What is Lean Thinking?

The term ‘lean’ was popularised in the seminal book ‘The Machine that Changed the World’ , which clearly illustrated - for the first time - the significant performance gap between the Japanese and western automotive industries.  It described the key elements accounting for this superior performance as lean production - ‘lean’ because Japanese business methods used less of everything - human effort, capital investment, facilities, inventories and time - in manufacturing, product development, parts supply and customer relations.

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Latest News

Current Vacancies at LERC
Job opportunities at LERC

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MSc Lean Operations Information Seminars
To find out more about the 2009-11 MSc in Lean Operations programme, why not attend one of its information seminars?

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Lean Leadership Workshop
Starting in October 2008, this brand new workshop for senior managers explores the ingredients of successful lean leadership

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Events

  • 2008 Conference networking
    Networking at the Lean Annual Conference.
  • 2008 Conference
    LERC Conference 2008 'Innovations in Lean Thinking' Guest speakers John Bicheno, Cardiff Business School, Steve Briault, Rubicon Associates, Dr Richard Schonberger, Schonberger & Associates and V S Mahesh, Buckingham University.
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Recent Publications

LERC has a strong research base which contributes to the exceptional quality of the teaching and student experience.