Industrial improvement systems — strategies for making a business more profitable, more efficient, or better operated — rise and fall in popularity over time. Today, the most widely known improvement systems are probably various flavors of "Lean methods," the adaptation of the Toyota Production System first made popular by the 1990 book The Machine that Changed the World. But go back to the 1950s, and efficiency experts will instead tout the benefits of "work simplification," a collection of strategies for streamlining production processes and eliminating wasteful or unnecessary steps.
But go back to the 1950s, and efficiency experts will instead tout the benefits of "work simplification," a collection of strategies for streamlining production processes and eliminating wasteful or unnecessary steps. (Work simplification is still occasionally recommended as a method of process improvement today, including by the consultant with the unfortunate website URL www.