Pull vs. push manufacturing: Have you been stuck with an umbrella on a sunny day?

I came across the following blog post that gives a plain English description of pull-model production methods – how to be lean and demand-driven. I particularly like Stephen’s analogy of push vs. pull manufacturing:

By trying to guess potential demand, manufacturers often found themselves in the same situation as someone carrying an umbrella on a sunny day because the forecast predicted rain: extra effort for no reason. Modern manufacturers prefer to stick their head out the window and check for rain before grabbing their umbrella, so to speak, limiting waste and maximizing efficiency.

As Stephen points out,

Understanding the many complex strategies behind these new manufacturing methods can be as difficult as predicting the weather, as they have brought along with them a series of three-letter acronyms that dominate jargon-filled conversations about current manufacturing trends, like JIT, TPM, QRM, and JIS. These letters don’t exactly help to explain the basic ideas behind pull-production manufacturing, which actually make a lot of sense when spoken in plain English.

Thus, Stephen gives us a plain English guide to the ‘alphabet soup’ and breaks things down to the key concepts of lean manufacturing, Six Sigma and flexible manufacturing. It’s a good overview. And the long list of acronyms in the post reminds me of our Suitemates “Suites are Sour” comedy video episode – the acronyms in our industry are not just limited to manufacturing and supply chain terms, but also applies to the associated technology applications!