Coping with Variety : Flexible Productive Systems for Product Variety in the Auto Industry

Certain observers of the automobile industry consider that "lean production" is the one best way for the car makers to implement a productive organization in order to provide consumers with the variety of products.

The authors do not agree with this assertation.The present volume will attempt to demonstrate that.

First, product variety is not directly associated with lean production, in part because it already existed in the Western countries before the Toyota production system had ever made its appearance here; second, other industrial models are capable of managing product variety as is lean production, not only are there many examples of this in the past, but in contemporary America and in Europe, other systems are already in use; third, the Toyota production system itself has not yet been finished, it is still changing.

The contributors to this volume participated in the programme "Emergence of New Industrial Models" (1992-95) organized by the international scientific network GERPISA.