by Allan Ung Recession or boom, companies need to sharpen their competitive edge by applying Lean Management principles to cost reduction - that is, the elimination of non-value-added activities or waste from the value stream processes. Be Lean In the Lean Management philosophy, all activities in an organization are grouped into two categories: 1. Value-added (VA) activities, and 2. Non-value-added (NVA) activities. In the context of Lean Management, VA and NVA activities