Lean manufacturing is an enterprise management concept based on the constant search, reduction or elimination of losses. Losses are understood to mean those actions, processes or operations that consume resources (human, temporary, material, etc.), but do not add value to the end or intermediate consumer.

Lean manufacturing changes the approach to managing the enterprise’s efficiency from extensive (working more and faster) to intensive (working more efficiently, that is, doing only what is necessary and not doing what can be done without).

Professionals with lean competencies will be able to increase the efficiency of departments or enterprises as a whole without attracting large investments. The relevance of lean management methods is growing because traditional management methods have already reached their peak, further business development will increasingly focus on intensive development and lean improvement methods.

This area includes a variety of skills related to the development and adjustment of artificial intelligence systems, the adjustment and tuning of robots, the development of programs for controlling production processes and individual machines.

Automation and robotization rapidly penetrate into all areas, including manufacturing. It is expected that in 15-20 years, machines will replace a person in most routine operations that do not require creative skills. Therefore, the need for specialists with these skills will grow in all sectors. It is these specialists who will have to ensure the massive arrival of machines in all sectors of the economy.

Automation of production will eliminate the human factor and increase labor productivity where routine operations are present that do not require special training and creative skills. Specialists will be in demand not in the main production, but in the field of servicing and tuning machines, robots and systems that make algorithmic decisions.

The ability of a specialist to combine (summarize) particular facts into a big picture, build hierarchical levels for understanding various situations (economic, political, business) and making long-term decisions. An important quality is the understanding of how a change in one element will subsequently affect other elements.

The importance of systemic thinking is increasing due to the acceleration of changes in life, the need to learn new professions, as well as the growing interpenetration of various areas in each other (social networks, economics, politics, production, etc.).

Specialists with systemic thinking skills will be able to solve such problems, make strong long-term decisions in the context of rapid changes in the economy, diagnose large technical and social systems, make decisions on eliminating the root causes that hinder development, and this skill will allow for the integration of various project teams into a single working organism.