At Toyota, Ohno preferred the term ‘limited’ to ‘lean’ because the TPS was about increasing capacity and responsiveness in the system and not about cost reduction. The difference is subtle but crucial, not least in convincing employees to participate wholeheartedly in the learning-action cycle without fear of being eliminated. Companies that use only the toolbox without embracing the underlying philosophy are unlikely to gain more than limited and temporary results. For many managers ‘lean’ has come to mean cost and job reduction programmes