In a highly dynamic world, due to technological, economic, political and social changes in the environment, it has been recognized that the production systems play a critical role in the competitiveness of an organization. In this research the authors propose the integration of lean thinking in managing a production system using the technique of discrete event simulation using Petri nets as the support methodology in the process of decision making. Decision making in a lean production system is a complex process because it has static (structural) and dynamic (operational) characteristics and a set of waste presented in it. This paper presents the design of a set of structures that represent different stages in a production process of tires and that is it possible to prove that the design of a model, using the methodology of Petri nets, helps to have an effective and efficient decision making for waste disposal, this thanks to the properties of such nets to model discrete events and analyse the dynamic behaviour of the system. Finally the simulation allows analysing a set of parameters through a systemic indicator OEE (Overall Equipment Efficiency) and demonstrate that the implementation of methods, techniques and tools proposed in the lean production theory generate synergy in the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]