THE TOYOTA PRODUCTION SYSTEM HAS long been hailed as the source of Toyota's outstanding performance as a manufacturer. The systems distinctive practices -its Kanban cards and quality circles, for instance - have been widely introduced elsewhere. Indeed, following their own internal efforts to benchmark the world's best manufacturing companies, GM, Ford, and Chrysler have independently created major initiatives to develop Toyota-like production systems. Companies that have tried to adopt the system can be found in fields as diverse as aerospace, consumer products, metals processing, and industrial products.