Agility is a very seductive word. One that finds immediate and personal definition for almost everyone. As a descriptive word, Agility can embrace almost any of our current competitiveness interests with considerable intuitive appeal. Agility is presented by some as an amplification of one of these concepts, and by some others as a superset of many. Casual investigation of Agility can easily lead to greater fuzziness as a greater number of sources are heard from.
Confusion is evidenced in many ways.
Some people ask for the difference between Agile and Lean, Agile and TQM, Agile and Mass Customization. Others say that Agility is their next priority after completing their transformation to Lean production, or whatever else they are currently embarked upon. It is time to crystallize the understanding of this very useful and important concept. Agility was born in 1991 when an industry group observed that the increasing rate of change in the business environment was outpacing the adaptability of traditional manufacturing organizations. Dominant organizations were suddenly failing when continuously changing markets and customer interests found new sources of satisfaction.