Ideas in Motion

The origin of lean manufacturing can be traced back to Henry Ford’s assembly line. If there’s one thing Ford did impeccably, it was cutting waste. Yet, it wasn’t until the mid-1940s when Toyota Corporation picked up on the idea of minimal waste and perfected the process. Toyota’s lead engineer, Taaichi Ohno, designed an operating system solely focused on reducing errors, ordering parts and supplies, shrinking inventory, and above all, eliminating waste – all with the aim of reducing warehousing costs.

Robotics are changing the face of almost every industry, with the manufacturing sector appearing to benefit the most. In fact, some people refer to this age as the “fourth industrial revolution,” and for a good reason. If the current statistics are anything to go by, then you’d be right to say that we are in the age of robotics. On a global scale, data shows that a whopping 1.3 million industrial robots have made their way into factories.