ABSTRACT
Before beginning, we must pay attention to terminology, over which, we have to admit, there is a lack of real consensus. People have talked about “Japanese Production”, then about “Just in Time Production”, “Pulled Flow” or “Zero-stock Production”; now the word is “Lean Production”, “Just Sufficient Production” or “Waste-free Production”. People have also talked of “Olympic Zeroes” (failure, defect, delay, inventory and paper), of inventory-less or “just sufficient” inventory production… In parallel the concepts of Total Quality and Total Maintenance were introduced and, encompassing similar notions either totally or in part. What is the link between these various admonitions, all directed toward the same goal of efficient production, that is maximum productivity at lowest cost? That in itself is also a fuzzy notion, which can only be approached through performance indices and evaluated with respect to competitive situations.
