Lean manufacturing or lean production, often simply  lean , is a systematic method for the elimination of waste ( Muda ) within a manufacturing system.oyota's view is that the main method of lean is not the tools, but the reduction of three types of waste: muda (non-value-adding work), muri (overburden), and mura (unevenness), to expose problems systematically and to use the tools where the ideal cannot be achieved.