Introduction Lean production is based on the notion that lean means using less of everything, labor, manufacturing premises, working hours, inventory to manufacture a growing variety of products with fewer defects while achieving higher quality and productivity. Lean production is defined as: “a Japanese approach to management that focuses on cutting out waste, whilst ensuring quality. This approach can be applied to all aspects of a business – from design, through production to distribution” (Lean production n.d.). In lean production, the optimal utilization of the potential of technology requires an approach to equipment and process design with a focus on their implications for work activities. If the desired outcomes of quality, flexibility and continuous competence development are to be achieved, work design has to be an integral part of the total design process. For workers, continuous improvement in lean production means continuous learning. In the knowledgeable workplace, learning is no longer a classroom activity; rather, the organization itself becomes a learning environment. As it becomes more difficult to anticipate future knowledge and skill requirements, lean production itself must be organized so as to allow for continuous learning and development. Discussion Section Packaging The packaging stage involves several sub-stages: acquisition of the goal or idea of the production; acceptance of that goal as one of the group’s aims, and therefore acceptance of the project as having a certain priority for group attention, effort, and resources; and planning, at least at a general level, for the conduct of the project. The example of Ford Motor Company shows that: “reusable packaging drives lean production by facilitating the tremendous benefits. It opens the door to better scheduling, smaller batches and inventories, faster response to schedule changes, and smaller, more frequent deliveries leading to the success of their “Synchronous Material Flow” (“Lean Packaging” 2004). At the first stage, packaging involves a choice of goals and a consequent initial selection of a performance strategy. Several tactics might help reduce the problems created by neglect of member support and group well-being functions, and the middle stages of the production function as well. For example, the production manager might create work groups initially on a face-to-face basis, and then when they are established (in the sense of the functions and stages discussed here) add the technological tools to their armamentarium. Alternatively, the production manger might try to create large working groups of communicators, using technologically mediated communication systems at the outset but dealing only with routine communication matters (Toyota Material Handling 2009). Lean design is aimed at essentially cutting the engineering effort in half and saving one-third in development time. This allows for a fast-paced increase in product range and product adaptation to changing consumer demands. The decentralized organization also led to considerable variation among teams; in some, workers are more likely to cling to established methods and work patterns, and in others, highly qualified workers continuously strive to d