The Toyota Production System

The Toyota Production System (TPS) guides the design, man-ufacture and delivery of Toyota's products by maximizing labor productivity, business efficiency and by minimizing waste. Whilst within Toyota the term "Lean" is not used as a label to describe how the business operates, "Lean" and “Just-in-Time” manufacturing are terms that describe what Toyota do. Theses methods and ideas were originally developed as a manufacturing philosophy, however they are now being ap-plied to almost every industry and type of operation.