Lean Manufacturing

From the Mechanical Side to the Dark Side of Lean…

Avatar photo By Jon Miller Published on May 5th, 2006

This week started with an article about the top 5 reasons for using 3P. Requests from readers took us deeper into SMED and jidoka – all aspects of Lean manufacturing and machines. Without planning it the theme for the week was the “mechanical side” of Lean manufacturing.
Next week I will be blogging on the theme of The Dark Side of Lean. Monday through Friday we will examine how Lean manufacturing can be bad for people. I will introduce some of my own experiences, as well as perspectives from other people who have examined Lean production critically and found it to less than kind to human beings. I invite all of you to share your views on the dark side of Lean production.
The highlight of the week will be an interview with Darius Mehri, author of Notes from Toyota-land on Thursday May 11th. Darius brings a very different view of TPS from what most of us know. He spent three years in Japan as an American engineer working at a Toyota group company. Darius has many shocking tales to tell. I expect a very interesting discussion.
Join me next week for a brief but terrible journey into The Dark Side of Lean.

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Jon Miller

Jon has dedicated his 25+ year career to the field of kaizen, continuous improvement, and lean management. Jon spent the first eighteen years of his life in Japan, then graduated from McGill University with a bachelor’s in linguistics.

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