The automotive industry went through a major change in its production methods
and advanced in its technologies rapidly over the last 50 or more years. Organizations
made changes in their production processes in order to reduce cost, improve quality,
deliver more dependably, have more flexibility, and to increase innovation (Scully &
Fawcett, 1993). They were successful in each area over that time period. If the
automobile industry was successful over a period of time in making changes and
improvements to their production systems that benefited organizations and consumers
alike, it seems that other industries might find the same success if similar approaches to
change were adopted.