Lean manufacturing

Rebranding as "lean"[edit]
John Krafcik coined the term "Lean" in his 1988 article, "Triumph of the Lean Production System".^[23] The article states: (a) Lean manufacturing plants have higher levels of productivity/quality than non-Lean and (b) "The level of plant technology seems to have little effect on operating performance" (page 51). According to the article, risks with implementing Lean can be reduced by: "developing a well-trained, flexible workforce, product designs that are easy to build with high quality, and a supportive, high-performance supplier network" (page 51).
Middle era and to the present[edit]
Three more books which include JIT implementations were published in 1993,^[24] 1995,^[25] and 1996,^[26] which are start-up years of the lean manufacturing/lean management movement that was launched in 1990 with publication of the book, The Machine That Changed the World.^[27] That one, along with other books, articles, and case studies on lean, were supplanting JIT terminology in the 1990s and beyond. The same period, saw the rise of books and articles with similar concepts and methodologies but with alternative names, including cycle time management,^[28] time-based competition,^[29] quick-response manufacturing,^[30] flow,^[31] and pull-based production systems.^[32]
There is more to JIT than its usual manufacturing-centered explication. Inasmuch as manufacturing ends with order-fulfillment to distributors, retailers, and end users, and also includes remanufacturing, repair, and warranty claims, JIT's concepts and methods have application downstream from manufacturing itself. A 1993 book on "world-class distribution logistics" discusses kanban links from factories onward.^[33] And a manufacturer-to-retailer model developed in the U.S. in the 1980s, referred to as quick response,^[34] has morphed over time to what is called fast fashion.^[35][36]
Methodology[edit]
The strategic elements of lean can be quite complex, and comprise multiple elements. Four different notions of lean have been identified:^[37]

1. 
   Lean as a fixed state or goal (being lean)
   
2. 
   Lean as a continuous change process (becoming lean)
   
3. 
   Lean as a set of tools or methods (doing lean/toolbox lean)
   
4. 
   Lean as a philosophy (lean thinking)
   

The other way to avoid market risk and control the supply efficiently is to cut down in stock. P&G has completed their goal to co-operate with Walmart and other wholesales companies by building the response system of stocks directly to the suppliers companies.^[38]
In 1999, Spear and Bowen^[39] identified four rules which characterize the "Toyota DNA":

1. 
   All work shall be highly specified as to content, sequence, timing, and outcome.
   
2. 
   Every customer-supplier connection must be direct, and there must be an unambiguous yes or no way to send requests and receive responses.
   
3. 
   The pathway for every product and service must be simple and direct.
   
4. 
   Any improvement must be made in accordance with the scientific method, under the guidance of a teacher, at the lowest possible level in the organization.
   

This is a fundamentally different approach from most improvement methodologies, and requires more persistence than basic application of the tools, which may partially account for its lack of popularity.^[40] The implementation of "smooth flow" exposes quality problems that already existed, and waste reduction then happens as a natural consequence, a system-wide perspective rather focusing directly upon the wasteful practices themselves.
Sepheri provides a list of methodologies of JIT manufacturing that "are important but not exhaustive":^[41]

• 
  Housekeeping: physical organization and discipline.
  
• 
  Make it right the first time: elimination of defects.
  
• 
  Setup reduction: flexible changeover approaches.
  
• 
  Lot sizes of one: the ultimate lot size and flexibility.
  
• 
  Uniform plant load: leveling as a control mechanism.