Final answer:
The key objectives of lean production include maximizing efficiency, reducing waste, and aligning production with customer demands, addressing critical production questions regarding product choice, process, output, pricing, and labor.
Step-by-step explanation:
The primary concerns and objectives of lean production are to improve efficiency and quality while reducing waste and costs in the production process. Lean production aims to address several fundamental questions: What products should the firm produce? How should these products be produced? What production process should be used? How much output is needed? What price should be set for these products, and how much labor should be employed? Focusing on these elements helps ensure that production is optimized to meet customer needs while maintaining high levels of productivity and profitability.
In lean production, the long run production differs from short run production in that long run allows for adjustment of all factors of production, providing greater flexibility to respond to market demands. In the short run, however, certain factors are fixed and cannot be changed quickly. Therefore, understanding the differentiation between short run and long run production is crucial for effective lean production strategies.
Lean production also emphasizes producing goods and services efficiently to meet people's needs and wants, considering what goods will be produced, how they will be produced, and for whom they will be produced. It entails a careful balancing act of various production elements to maximize efficiency and align with the market demand.