This article discusses lean manufacturing and production techniques designed to reduce inventory and increase competitiveness in the global economy. According to the author, Toyota developed its Toyota Production System or Just-In-Time Stockless Production in the mid 1950s. Companies are implementing lean manufacturing techniques to reduce waste and costs that do not directly add value to the product from the customer's point of view. The author argues that a lean manufacturing system produces superior-quality products in a timely fashion at the lowest possible cost in a flexible way through a process that generally begins with assembly cells that can change production rapidly, so products can be manufactured in greater variety in an almost customized fashion with no cost penalty for small production.