The main purpose of this paper is to focus on one of
the more comprehensive current initiatives, those building on
lean practices and principles, in the context of assembly lines
processes, in order to build a deeper understanding how lean
instruments can improve materials flows based on the
interdependence of lean techniques. To deal with the question
how to improve the materials flow in a lean environment, we
have adopted a twofold approach in this article based on an
analysis of existing literature on the subject and the
observation of practices in the workplace. The observation of
workplace practices make possible to compare different
solutions advance by advocates of the lean approach with the
facts. The views expressed in this regard will be based on the
observation of companies from car assembly sector, which have
implemented lean logistic for over four years