Manufacturing Translation

Although the history of interchangeable parts goes back to the Warring States period (fifth century BCE), the modern use began in the late eighteenth century and quickly gained currency. A hundred years later, Henry Ford put into practice key assembly line concepts still studied to this day. In the mid-nineteenth century, Taiichi Ohno, Sakichi Toyoda and Kiichiro Toyoda were key in developing the Toyota Production System, which has come be known lean manufacturing, incorporating such elements as just-in-time, the kanban and the elimination of muda (waste).