Most all business managers agree that achieving low cost and high quality no longer guarantees a business its success. In the face of fierce global competition, companies are concentrating more than ever on reducing lead-times as a way of achieving operational flexibility. This is because as lead-times decrease, production times fall, quality improves and costs shrink. The methodology that an increasing number of companies are using to accomplish such a business strategy is the implementation of the Toyota Production System (TPS), also called lean manufacturing. Lean Manufacturing is best defined as a management philosophy that focuses on reducing waste in all business processes. Although it originates from a time when the Toyota of today was a manufacturer of power looms, in its modern form, lean was pioneered by Toyota Motor Co. in the 1950's, when it dared compete with U.S. automakers who at the time dominated a seemingly impenetrable U.S. automobile market