the development of lean manufacturing.
from the 1930s, toyota focused on teamwork. the company asked workers how to improve the manufacturing system. but they also made production continuous and repeatable. they reduced scrap as much as possible and identified bottlenecks - steps in the process that slowed the entire process down - and they removed them to produce a smooth flow of work. toyota introduced the concept of just in time. instead of making products and storing them in a warehouse or ordering extra parts from suppliers for storage, operations were planned so that parts arrived at the right place at the right time - just in time.