What about the future?
Lean manufacturing is simply about removing wastes, those activities and processes that don't add to a product's value. In practice, as businesses find the next better way to do things, helping them to improve profitability or reduce prices, what they are actually finding are ways to remove wastes.
It seems to us that increasing numbers of businesses are understanding and enthusiastically embracing the tools and techniques of Lean manufacturing. More importantly, they're making it work for them and their customers. Some may risk having to play Lean catch-up just to stay in business.
How it all started
Lean manufacturing was developed by the Japanese automotive industry, principally Toyota, following the challenge to re-build the Japanese economy after World War II. They realised that if they were to take on the US auto giants of Ford, General Motors and Chrysler they would have to work smarter.
Lean manufacturing is simply a continuously progressive way of producing what the customer wants, when they want it, at a price they are prepared to pay and using least resource.
The development of Lean was little known or understood outside Japan until the 1970's. Britain gained early experience of Lean manufacturing from the establishment of Toyota, Nissan and Honda plants in the UK.
Nevertheless, until the 1990's it was really only the automotive industry that had adopted Lean manufacturing. Since then it has spread into aerospace and general manufacturing, consumer electronics, healthcare, construction and, more recently, to food manufacturing and meat processing.