TECH & AI
Epson is best known for its premium home and office printers
You ’ ve all heard the story we ’ re about to reference before . Over the years , it has transcended into legend or myth – well , as mythological as you can get in manufacturing .
It ’ s the tale of Toyota ’ s founder , Sakichi Toyoda , his son , Kiichiro Toyoda , and the engineer , Taiichi Ohno , sitting down somewhere between 1948- 1975 and creating the famous Toyota Production System ( TPS ) known today as the Toyota way .
TPS was the incubator through which lean manufacturing strategies , techniques and tools were first pioneered and refined . It focused on three core Japanese philosophical principles : ‘ muda ’ ( wastefulness ), ‘ mura ’ ( unevenness ) and ‘ muri ’ ( overburden ), resulting in the idea of the ‘ Seven Wastes ’.
Toyota was , and is , a quintessentially Japanese company , with a quintessentially Japanese philosophy ; one which prioritises circularity , sustainability and the natural world . For manufacturers to embrace the art of lean successfully they should ‘ lean ’ into this reality , as is epitomised by Epson UK .
“ We have long adopted the Japanese philosophies of Sho Sho Sei ( efficient , compact and precise ) and Monozukuri ( the art of manufacturing ) and have embedded these into our processes and supply chain ,” says Taran Rai , Epson UK ’ s Corporate Sustainability Manager .
“ An important goal we ’ ve set on our journey to 2050 is to become underground resource-free , a key
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