Seru Seisan‐ an innovation of the production management Mode in Japan

Summary Seru Seisan, also called “beyond lean” in many Japanese manufacturing industries, is an innovation of the production management mode in Japan. Although an increasing number of manufacturing enterprises in Japan have been adopting this strategy with great success, it is not popular among manufacturing enterprises and researchers out of Japan. This paper provides a brief introduction of Seru Seisan to promote the strategy worldwide. First, a report on the origin of Seru Seisan and an analysis on its generation background are provided. Second, the differences between Seru Seisan and the conventional cell production are shown. The characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages of Seru Seisan are also investigated. A summary of the Seru modalities that appear during its evolution is presented as well. Finally, several key problems for further research on Seru Seisan are presented.