There is an old saying that hanging a sign on a cow that says "I am a horse" does not make it a horse. There is a real danger that Agile Manufacturing will fall prey to the unfortunate tendency in manufacturing circles to follow fashion and to relabel everything with a new fashionable label. The dangers in this are two fold. First, it will give Agile Manufacturing a bad reputation. Second, instead of getting to grips with the profound implications and issues raised by Agile Manufacturing, management will only acquire a superficial understanding, which leaves them vulnerable to those competitors that take Agile Manufacturing seriously. Of course this is good news for the competitors!
One sure way to fail with Agile Manufacturing is to hang a new sign up. Get smart, resist the temptation, and put the paint brush away.