Written and maintained by CASRAI Editorial Board
Last updated
A lean laboratory is a lab that applies lean methods to find and remove waste, meaning steps that add no value to the result a customer (a patient, physician, researcher or internal user) is waiting for. The best-documented use is in clinical laboratories, where a 2024 systematic review of seven studies reported a 71.6% reduction in turnaround time. No standard certifies a lab as “lean”.
Definition and scope
In a clinical-laboratory introduction published by the Society for Health Systems, Coons (TechSolve) defines lean as “a systematic approach to shorten the time between customer (patient, physician, nurse, other) request and service delivery by identifying and eliminating sources of waste (non-value-added activities).” The same source dates lean’s application to healthcare to the late 1990s.
The US EPA describes lean production as a set of methods that includes 5S, Kaizen, cellular manufacturing, just-in-time and Kanban, total productive maintenance, Six Sigma and 3P. “Lean laboratory” is therefore a label for applying that toolbox to a lab, not a named standard or accreditation scheme.
Three kinds of activity
Coons sorts activity into value-added, non-value-added, and a third group that is non-value-added but necessary, such as regulatory steps. The third group is not removed. The source says to look for ways to improve those steps while still adhering to the regulations. The same source states that non-value-added activities typically account for 75-95% of the total time needed to provide a service, the lead time.
How a lean laboratory effort runs
Coons lays out five steps:
- Develop a burning platform for change.
- See the waste.
- Develop the lab’s specific plan.
- Implement changes.
- Measure, monitor and sustain.
Value stream mapping is the usual tool for steps 2 and 3. It maps activities and information flow together with data such as first-time quality, cycle time and batch size, in a current-state map and a future-state map. Mapping the whole stream is meant to avoid “cherry picking” isolated fixes. Rapid improvement events then produce results over a one to five-day period. For the healthcare method in detail, see value stream mapping in healthcare.
Kaizen, per the EPA, focuses on eliminating waste and improving productivity, aiming at sustained continual improvement in targeted processes. Teams check whether each step adds value toward the goal of the process, and steps that do not are treated as waste.
The eight wastes, read as lab supply and workflow language
Coons lists eight types of non-value-added activity, with the definitions below.
| Waste (Coons) | Definition |
|---|---|
| Defects | Work that contains errors, rework, mistakes, or lacks something necessary. |
| Overproduction | Making more, earlier, and/or faster than is required by the next process. |
| Waiting | Idle time created when material, information, people, or equipment are not ready. |
| Not utilizing employees’ knowledge, skills and abilities | The waste of not leveraging people’s full talents and capabilities. |
| Transportation | Movement of patients and materials that adds no value. |
| Inventory | Any supply in excess of what is required. |
| Motion | Movement of people that does not add value to the product or service. |
| Extra processing | Additional effort that adds no value to the product or service from the customer’s viewpoint. |
The inventory definition is the one that touches supply decisions: on this definition, stock is waste only to the extent it exceeds what the work requires. The source frames the problem as excess, not as stock itself.
Related methods
5S is the best-known entry point. The EPA says lean helps organizations learn to reduce waste, unplanned downtime and in-process inventory. CASRAI’s 5S methodology guide covers the five steps; this page does not repeat them. Kaizen, Six Sigma and the other methods listed above sit alongside 5S rather than replacing it. A lean effort also has to coexist with a lab’s quality management system and its written procedures; the standard operating procedure entry defines the latter. Lean’s treatment of excess inventory connects to the planning in a waste minimization plan.
Where it matters for labs and supply decisions
- Lead time. Because non-value-added activity typically accounts for 75-95% of lead time, the sources direct effort at the waits and handoffs around the work, not only the analytical steps themselves.
- Supply. Under the inventory definition above, supplies beyond what the work requires count as waste. A current-state map is the place where that excess becomes visible.
- Regulated steps. Required checks stay. The “non-value-added but necessary” category exists so that regulatory work is improved, not cut.
What the evidence shows
A 2024 systematic review in PLoS One (Cherie et al.) screened 1,261 records and found seven original studies: four in pathology laboratories, two in emergency departments and one in microbiology. Value stream mapping was the most common lean method. Interventions included barcoding, process redesign, workflow optimization, added staff and moving the sample collection room closer to result distribution. Turnaround time fell from 11,660.2 to 3,308.7 minutes, a 71.6% reduction. Because the studies were few and defined their outcomes differently, the authors could not run a meta-analysis, so the figure describes those seven studies rather than a guaranteed effect elsewhere. The review’s abstract gives a different overall figure of 76.1%; the 71.6% used here is the one the paper’s discussion and table totals support.
Common misunderstandings
- “Lean means cutting staff or steps.” The sources define waste by value to the customer, and keep necessary regulatory steps.
- “There is a lean lab standard.” The EPA lists methods, not a certifiable standard for laboratories.
- “One template fits every lab.” Coons warns that a cookie-cutter approach leads organizations to conclude that lean does not work for them; step 3 is a plan specific to the lab.
- “Lean is the same as 5S.” 5S is one method in the lean toolbox.
FAQ
What is a lean laboratory?
A laboratory that uses lean methods to identify and eliminate waste, defined as non-value-added activity, so that the time between a request and delivery of the result shortens.
What is the difference between lean and 5S?
Lean is the overall approach to removing waste. 5S is one of the methods the EPA lists under it, alongside Kaizen, Six Sigma, Kanban and others.
Does lean apply to research laboratories?
The laboratory evidence cited here comes from clinical and pathology settings. The EPA presents the methods for organizations generally, and Coons’s rule that the plan be specific to the lab applies in any setting.
How long does a lean improvement event take?
Coons describes rapid improvement events producing results over a one to five-day period, within a longer five-step program that ends in measuring and sustaining the change.
Sources
- Coons JA (TechSolve). Beginning the Lean Improvement Journey in the Clinical Laboratory. Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers, Society for Health Systems. https://www.iise.org/uploadedFiles/SHSNew/Tools_and_Resources/Search_by_Category_Details/Beginning_the_Lean_Improvement_Journey_in_the_Clinical_Laboratory.pdf. Checked 2026-10-29.
- Cherie N et al. Improving laboratory turnaround times in clinical settings: a systematic review of the impact of lean methodology application. PLoS One 2024;19(10):e0312033. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11486360/. Checked 2026-10-29.
- US EPA. Lean Thinking and Methods: Kaizen and Lean Thinking and Methods: 5S. Checked 2026-10-29.
