Is lean manufacture universally relevant? An investigative methodology

Observes that although the concept of lean manufacture is well understood, little work has been carried out to determine its applicability to high‐value, low‐volume complex products. Proposes a methodology for enabling an examination of the degree of relevance of lean manufacturing to such products, using a model of a typical lean high‐volume automotive producer as a base, comparing the drivers faced, the practices adopted to respond and the type of measures used to assess effectiveness. Provides an explanation as to how this approach was applied to the civil aerospace industry as an example of those products the authors have chosen to define as “super value goods”, together with some initial first line results.