Japanese Lean Production versus World Mass Production

“The basic and fundamental differences amongst the nations and territories of the world are rooted in the inherent rule of government and the associations the government has with its people. . . In so far as, if the associations are relatively close, prosperity in all forms of human evolution should be at hand; for, if the association is by principle of counteracting parties, the growth and stability of the individuals of the country is in question.” These words from a very wise philosopher deliver the overwhelming resolution of the theme of this book, Japanese Lean Production versus World Mass Production. The book provides a concrete foundation on the relationship between lean production and mass production and how lean production is shown to be a better technique within the automobile industry. A further review will allow for the facts to be born out. The book begins with an overview of the three techniques discussed in the book, craft production, mass production, and lean production. Craft production is characterized as having a highly skilled and decentralized work force who use “general-purpose machine tools” and yield low volumes of production. Generally, with craft production costs do not drop with production, consistency is not achievable, and new technology can not be created. This lead to an improved system called mass production. This technique perfected by Henry Ford replaced craft production in the early 1900’s. Mass production uses relatively unskilled workers to attach interchangeable parts together to create the automobile. Division of labor made this technique feasible and beneficial. Ford also used vertical integration to supply the necessary parts of the vehicles. Over time, decentralization became necessary. Overall, mass quantities were created at a low cost, but at the same