Technology Convergence and System Divergence: Toyota and Uddevalla, Volvo

This book compares the production systems of Toyota, which has a belt conveyer, and Volvo’s factory in Uddevalla, Sweden, which doesn’t. Uddevalla has been famous as a human-centric work environment since the 1980s, but Toyota’s production style- lean production seems increasingly advantageous. Unlike what lean production is usually considered to imply, the authors finds many shared aspects of both systems, such as the meaningful assembly sequence, assembly-oriented parts grouping, kits for...