This is a tricky question; many practitioners are quick to confuse lean activities with traditional cost reductions. While lean and TPS related activity must reduce costs to be effective, they are implemented differently than traditional cost reduction activities. In lean thinking, waste is always sought to be eliminated, people are always considered, and only sustainable and perene solutions would be considered.

For example, a traditional labor cost reduction may mean that a manager decides to cut their staff by a (more-or-less) arbitrary percentage to reduce their labor spend. A labor cost reduction in a lean environment means that jobs have been studied and waste has been identified. Once the waste had been reduced or eliminated, the staffing will be reduced to match the new work content.

To answer this question, the candidate should show that they understand that lean activities are focused on engaging team-members and reducing waste for sustainable results, rather than just cutting costs for a short-term benefit.