By Eugene Bradley Jr. Lean times call for "leaner" boats and what better to employ than Lean Shipbuilding, which is known as a proven approach that shipyards can use to improve shipbuilding efficiency. It has the advantages of reducing defects while remaining responsive to change. How does this differ from the traditional method of shipbuilding? Broken down into three steps these components deal with: Push vs. Pull; Batch and Queue vs. Continuous; and Top Down vs. Bottom Up. Each element builds on the others to make Lean Shipbuilding work. Therefore, when trying to implement Lean Shipbuilding, the whole concept should be implemented rather than just a few important pieces. The Lean Shipbuilding Model will then be introduced.