Toyota's 'Lean' Success

Washington DC May 3, 2007; The AIADA newslettter reported that auto industry experts and consultants who prescribe to the no-waste business regimen known as lean manufacturing, are cheered by Toyota's recent leap to become the world's number one carmaker.

The publicity about Toyota becoming No. 1 will create another burst of energy to lean, even though surveys have shown that just 19% of companies that have tried it are happy with the results.

According to USA Today, when lean succeeds, it creates efficiency by eliminating seven types of waste, ranging from raw materials to worker time. It took decades for lean to catch on in manufacturing, but it's moving more rapidly into the service sector.

The ideas of lean probably date to Eli Whitney in 1800, but it has its modern roots in the Toyota Production System of the 1950s and 1960s, when Toyota was preparing the groundwork for its assault that culminated last week when it sold 2.35 million vehicles in the first three months of 2007 vs. GM's 2.26 million, the first time Toyota won a quarterly volume title.