ABSTRACT
Industrial production may be organized according to a set of principles, or philosophies. Major determinants of the philosophy chosen are the character of the production and the context in which the company operates. New philosophies develop over time. A number of them have gained recognition and spread across the world, but eventually many become fads. The choice of production philosophy has a great impact on the technology, the organization and the personnel policy chosen, and it will have a profound influence on the performance of the company as well as on the working conditions of the employees. Few industrial companies are strictly organized according to a generic philosophy: normally, they constitute a mixture of several philosophies. The purpose of this chapter is to highlight and make a clearer distinction between different production philosophies. The characteristics of four generic production philosophies are summarized and presented in order to offer guidance in the choice and evaluation of production philosophy with regard to the resulting ergonomic consequences.
