From JIT to Seru, for a production as lean as possible

Lean Manufacturing is not especially new. It derives from the Toyota Production System or Just In Time Production (JIT), but even before from Henry Ford and other predecessors. Based on analysis of mass production systems in USA, Toyota engineers began to incorporate Ford production and other techniques into the JIT approach: they recognized the central role of inventory. JIT is fit for a stable, but not volatile, business environment such as that which the electronics industry belongs. That means short product life cycles and fluctuating production. Seru Seisan, a new production organization, was developed to cope with this environment. Outside Japan, however, few people in the academic and practical area are aware of such production management mode. This work gives an interpretation of the evolution from JIT towards Seru Seisan such as to attract the interest in this labor organization that appears to be promising. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.