Aug 8 2012
Surprising Statements on The History of Lean
See on Scoop.it – lean manufacturing
Sometimes the internet gives you the most surprising set of statements about a topic. Here are a few from this article:
- “Lean training came out of an industry program known as Six Sigma.” Oh yeah?
- “Six Sigma refers to the levels of training […] where different color belts are awarded, similar to judo.” So each color of belt is a sigma? And the sigmas have nothing to do with process capabilities and defects?
- “Kaizen […] became known in the United States after World War II, when Japanese manufacturing techniques were being closely examined following the war.” This is the first I hear of Americans going to study advanced manufacturing in Japan in 1945. I thought we were the ones who had sent expert to teach things like TWI or SQC to Japanese manufacturers.
- “The Kaizen methods […] recently have been incorporated into the broader philosophy of lean manufacturing.” And I thought Kaizen had been part of Lean since day 1!
See on ezinearticles.com
Aug 13 2012
Drives & Controls: Linear systems are produced in `batches of one`
See on Scoop.it – lean manufacturing

Festo has implemented a manufacturing system that allows it to produce parts for linear handling systems economically in batch sizes of just one item. At its global production centre for electric and pneumatic drives at St. Ingbert-Rohrbach in Germany, the company has introduced a “one piece flow” method of assembly, based on Toyota’s production system.
See on www.drives.co.uk
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By Michel Baudin • Press clippings • 0 • Tags: Lean manufacturing, One-piece flow, Toyota Production System