Lean enterprise is a practice focused on value creation for the end customer with minimal waste and processes.
This process enabled large amounts of standardized products to run through assembly lines while still being able to produce more variety and compete against Ford's single offering.
It's worth noting too that kaizen, the process of continuous improvement, was developed in the 1950s by Eiji Toyoda along with the Toyota Production System (TPS).
New innovations in lean enterprise moved away from electronic manufacturing to internet and software technology.
For internet and software enterprises (by tradition), the Lean startup variant of lean enterprise enabled them to remain competitive with new technologies and services that are rapidly coming out to market without exclusively resorting to mergers and acquisitions, and being able to retain internal innovation ecosystem competency.