The following personal stories concern vehicles produced by the automaker that invented lean and is world-famous for its efficient manufacturing operations:

• My old SUV’s bright headlights don’t work. When I hit the switch for the brights, the headlights turn off completely. This will cost me $400 to fix because it requires replacing an entire steering wheel subassembly.

• My wife’s car needs a filter replaced; it’s routine maintenance. It will cost several hundred dollars because it requires extensive disassembly to get to the filter, which has to be done by going through the glove compartment.

• I once lost the key to my car. It was one of those keys with security features, and it opened the doors and trunk. It cost me nearly $300 to replace the key. (This was four years ago, when the dollar was still worth something.) I was told that if I lost my remaining key, it would cost me $3,000 to get a new key because the car’s computer security hardware would need to be replaced. As you might imagine, this would require extensive disassembly.

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