This white paper was prepared for use with customers who are seeking government funding for the introduction of lean manufacturing principles in their daily work environment. It is further tempered by specific examples and issues that are common to customers of AIM Computer Solutions, that is, automotive production suppliers of component parts and sub assemblies. Note that the software tied to this white paper is designed to direct the user of the software toward lean practices, delivered in a very practical format, and immersed in the workflow based manufacturing framework used in the best in class automotive supplier community for years. Industry specific examples of the benefits of Lean are provided. Although the paper references 25 automotive suppliers for the project study group, the restriction came from external boundaries. In reality, the total population of suppliers who could benefit from this approact is closer to several thousand.