“Davidson” submits:
Lean’s impact on productivity, doing more with less is missed in the current cycle. I have written about the shift to lean management principles in specific companies and the overall progress of it since Danaher’s development of the US version of Toyota’s Business System in 1985. It has gradually gained position as companies struggled to compete in a global market with periods of US$ strength. To survive, companies had to be faster, better and cheaper vs competition which had tariff barriers bolstered with periodic surges in the US$ and accompanying export slow-downs.
US Mfg employment has been rising for the first time since the 1980s. This rise began out of the 2009 lows and has been accelerated by current push-back of over-regulation. In the process of deploying lean processes, you produce more with smarter use of capital and capital expenditure seems to have stalled.
If one has not tracked the ‘leaning of the US’ since 1985, you miss seeing this shift which has been slowly moving through the US. The chart of the US$ vs Mfg Employment shows employment losses with every rise of the US$ but for the most recent period. ‘Lean’ has come of age and any tariff reduction will be a significant positive.
What’s Missing From the Trump Economic Boom
Growth and productivity are up, but investment is a soft spot, and neither right nor left has good answers. https://www.wsj.com/articles/whats-missing-from-the-trump-economic-boom-11558651758
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