Moving to flow [levelled production]

The original definition of lean was the complete and thorough elimination of waste to reduce the timeline from receipt of customer order to delivery. To achieve this more complete definition necessitates the creation of product flow achieved through the implementation of levelled production. This is the foundation of the Toyota Production System, the origin of lean. Levelled production is an essential enabler for moving to flow and to becoming truly lean. But many companies focus on the waste elimination aspect of lean, while ignoring flow and levelled production. Levelled production seems ridiculous for their business so it receives little further thought. This paper discusses the methods on how to establish production levelling.