Throughout this article we will refer to the process of creating a lean company. Lean companies are not born; they are made. Companies are made lean by the constant process of seeking out and removing redundancies, wasted motion, and wasted resources. The first step to becoming a lean competitor is to question everything that happens every day at your company. By continually asking why steps are taken and what value each step adds, it is relatively easy to optimize your operations. With larger companies, we break the process down into functional areas and begin the task of becoming lean through gradual and constant improvement within each department.