TABLE OF CONTENTS Production is not the application of tools to material, but logic to work.
Peter Drucker
A capable process operating at Internet speed is useful only if the order reaches a capable and flexible factory that can turn it into a product in a reasonable time with acceptable efficiency and quality. Because factory efficiency has been the target of so many improvement efforts, it would seem that very little change is required to provide the needed flexibility. But the value grid is complex, and the secret of flexible factories, as it turns out, rests not in robots and fancy computer systems but in how the factory manages and organizes its work.
As we discussed in our introductory chapter, not all regions understand and implement lean the same way. Western manufacturers, for example, have implemented the structural shell of the Toyota Production System, choosing the parts that aided their quest for lower cost. Efforts have focused on reducing the head count in assembly the main element in labor productivity and increasing automation in weld and paint. Consequently, Western manufacturers have achieved structural and technological changes, such as less incoming inventory and more flexible automation. The structure of lean production is in place: just-in-time supply feeds into a workload-leveled assembly line for maximum efficiency.
But the hard side of lean production the structure and technology is only half the partnership needed to implement flexible production. The soft side of lean production the workforce is the other half, and many manufacturers have neglected...
