Final answer:
Lean manufacturing is the term describing the elimination of waste throughout a company, focusing on efficiency and minimizing waste. Just-in-time production, closely related to lean principles, involves timely material delivery to reduce inventory costs. Other concepts like Six Sigma and Total Quality Management also contribute to quality and efficiency but are not synonymous with lean manufacturing.
Step-by-step explanation:
The term that describes eliminating waste throughout a company is Lean manufacturing. Lean manufacturing is a business philosophy that focuses on reducing waste and improving efficiency across all processes within a company. The core idea is to maximize customer value while minimizing waste, creating a lean operation that produces only what is needed when it's needed.
In contrast, Just-in-time production, which was adopted by American car manufacturers in the 1980s, refers specifically to the logistics strategy that arranges for materials to arrive exactly when they are needed in the production process, thus reducing inventory costs. Just-in-time production can be seen as a component of lean manufacturing, but it is not synonymous with it. With just-in-time delivery, quality control can be higher and cost reductions can be seen as there's a decreased need for storage space and risk of holding defective inventory.
Six Sigma is a quality management methodology that aims to reduce defects and variability in manufacturing and business processes through statistical analysis. Total quality management (TQM) is a holistic approach to long-term success that views continuous improvement in all aspects of an organization's operations as a process and not as a short-term goal.