ABSTRACT
Many people think that lean originated in Japan. However, the history of lean actually began in 1926. At that time, Henry Ford published his book Today and Tomorrow. Henry Ford was the owner of Ford, the affordable and most popular automotive brand in the United States. This chapter explains in detail the continuous improvement practices, including one-piece flow, just-in-time (JIT), and other lean tools. After losing in World War II, Japan began to rise. Rather than importing cars from Ford and other suppliers, Japan began to produce their own cars. One of the Japanese automotive products is Toyota. According to Deming, if quality became a control force for culture, it would encourage efficiency, productivity, reduce costs, and in turn, allow companies to reduce price and attract more market share, increase profits, and customer satisfaction. Lean is Toyota Production System adjusted to be used on all companies in any industry.
