THE MACHINE THAT CHANGED THE WORLD

This book is based on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) 5-million-dollar 5-year study on the future of the automobile. Designated the International Motor Vehicle Program (IMVP), the MIT study explored the differences between mass production and lean production in the automobile industry. Lean production, pioneered by Eiji Toyoda and Taiichi Ohno at the Toyota Motor Company in Japan, combines the advantages of craft and mass production, while avoiding the high cost of the former and the rigidity of the latter. Toward this end, lean producers employ teams of multiskilled workers at all levels of the organization and use highly flexible, increasingly automated machines to produce volumes of products in enormous variety. Lean production (a term coined by IMVP researcher John Krafcik) is "lean" because it uses less of everything compared with mass production. Also, it requires keeping far less than half the needed inventory on site, results in many fewer defects, and produces a greater and ever growing variety of products. Lean production changes how people work. Most will find their jobs more challenging and will become more productive, but, at the same time, they may find their work more stressful. Lean production calls for learning far more professional skills (than in mass production) and applying these creatively in a team setting (rather than a rigid hierarchy). This book is organized in three sections. The first, "The Origins of Lean Production," traces the evolution of lean production. The second, "The Elements of Lean Production," looks at how lean production works in factory operations, product development, supply-system coordination, customer relations and as a total lean enterprise. Finally, in the third section, "Diffusing Lean Production," the authors examine how lean production is spreading across the world and to other industries and, in the process, is revolutionizing how people live and work. Also examined are the barriers that are preventing companies and countries from becoming lean. Creative ways leanness can be achieved are suggested.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0892563508
• Corporate Authors:

  Macmillan Publishing Company

  866 Third Avenue
  New York, NY  United States  10022
• Authors:
  • Womack, J P
  • Jones, D T
  • Roos, D
• Publication Date: 1990

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; Figures; Tables;
• Pagination: 331 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Automobile industry; Definitions; Economics; Impacts; Jobs; Production
• Uncontrolled Terms: Lean production; Mass production
• Subject Areas: Economics; Highways; Society; Vehicles and Equipment; I10: Economics and Administration;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00610205
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0-89256-350-8
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jun 30 1991 12:00AM