By Leftlane Staff
Friday, Nov 4th, 2005 @ 9:53 am

In 1990, a book titled “The Machine that Changed the World” predicted that Toyota ’s production system — called “lean manufacturing” by the authors — was destined to revolutionize automaking. The authors asserted that Toyota’s philosophy of waste reduction was as historic as the invention of the assembly line. Last year that prophecy became a reality, as Toyota’s North American factories built 1.44 million vehicles — 107 percent of Toyota’s theoretical capacity. “Toyota just saves and saves in a million little ways and then uses that money as a club against its competitors,” said Jim Olson, a former Toyota executive. In contrast to Toyota’s plant utilization, GM and Ford factories used only 86 percent of their rated plant capacity last year.

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