Lean thinking involves more than just eliminating waste; through its five guiding principles-value, value chain, continuous flow, pull production, and perfection-its successful applications are commonly found in the manufacturing sector. Although its application and benefits to companies is no longer contested, it is rare to find works that consolidate applications of lean thinking in sectors that are unconventional, such as healthcare and government. Cases on Lean Thinking Applications in Unconventional Systems allows readers to broaden their view on lean thinking applications and visualize insights for research. It presents case studies and applications of lean thinking within several different industries. Covering topics such as emergency care units, standardized work, and national humanization policy, this case book is an essential resource for engineers, hospital administrators, healthcare professionals, IT managers, government officials, students and faculty of higher education, researchers, and academicians.

In agricultural production, one of the sectors that stands out worldwide for its economic and social relevance is milk production. Although food items tend to be produced in complex systems composed of several agents and with processes connected to supply chains, the dairy supply chain is seen as relatively simple and includes three main stakeholders: dairy production, processing and packaging, and retail. However, this simplicity of chain management changes in a scenario in which milk production is concentrated in a high number of small-scale producers, who occupy areas where other crops are less viable. At this point in the literature, there are few works that consolidate studies that address the daily production chain, in particular dealing with aspects of good milk manufacturing and quality practices, environment, dairy farming 4.0, and management of the dairy production chain. Cases on Managing Dairy Production Chains discusses the relevance and topicality of the themes and their applications in one of the main production chains, such as milk, and allows researchers to visualize new insights for research in the various aspects of applicable management. It further presents cases in dairy segments and investigates their applications, entrepreneurial strategies, and innovation in management areas. Covering topics such as cooling systems, raw materials, and sustainability indicators, this case book is an excellent resource for agriculturalists, managers, engineers, extensionists, students and faculty of higher education, librarians, researchers, and academicians.