The concept of “pull” gained ever more ground with the publication of Womack and Jones’ Lean Thinking: Banish Waste and Create Wealthin Your Corporation.  (Simon & Schuster, 1996). All this sounds terrific in theory and can be taught relatively easily through simple simulation exercises. Even one-piece flow systems can be demonstrated fairly simply. However, achieving this for most organizations is a different practical matter. In fact, companies that are leading their industries are moving beyond the folklore approach of push vs. pull and one-piece flow to achieve bottom-line results by focusing on the practical science behind manufacturing supply-chain management.

In implementing these practices organizations realize that whether it’s called push systems or pull systems, the intent is to reduce unproductive effort, not to become a slave to subjective definitions. The intent is to reduce work-in-process (WIP) inventory and cycle time while increasing throughput. Too low a WIP or too high a WIP can both be disastrous.

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