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The changing role of manufacturing has ushered in an increasing number of initiatives aimed at improving operations. Specifically, various themes in operations have evolved over time, from forecasting and planning in the 1950s and 1960s through productivity and quality in the 1970s and 1980s respectively, to adaptability and responsiveness in the 1990s.
Even though the emergence of agile paradigm had spurred a large stream of research by scholars, yet most of the research had been at the manufacturing level. Very few researches have gone beyond the manufacturing level to the larger supply chain level. And there are even fewer researches discussing about the combination of lean thinking and agile thinking in supply chain level. Based on the above statement, the purpose of this study is as follows:
1. To identify the definition and characteristics of “Lean” and “Agile”.
2. To explore the relationship of the two kinds of thinking.
3. To prove the practicability of the findings.
This research is organized as follows. Chapter 2 clearly describes the origin, definition and characteristics of lean thinking and agile thinking, and comparison of the two kind of thinking. Chapter 3 introduces the major combination factors of these- material decoupling point, information decoupling point, and postponement. Followed by introduction of three practical ways to combine the lean thinking and agile thinking.

Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Introduction…………………………………………………………1
1.1 Background……………………………………………………………1
1.2 Motives and objectives of this research………………………………4
1.3 Organization of this research…………………………………………4
Chapter 2 Literature Review……………………………………………………6
2.1 Lean thinking…………………………………………………………6
2.1.1 Origins of lean thinking……………………………………6
2.1.2 Definitions of lean thinking…………………………………7
2.1.3 Important principles of lean thinking……………………10
2.2 Agile thinking………………………………………………………12
2.2.1 Origins of agile thinking…………………………………12
2.2.2 Definitions of agile thinking………………………………13
2.2.3 Agility versus flexibility…………………………………14
2.2.4 Characteristics of the agile supply chain…………………16
2.3 Comparison of the two kinds of thinking……………………………21
Chapter 3 Combining Lean Thinking and Agile Thinking…………………26
3.1 Major factors…………………………………………………………26
3.1.1 Material decoupling point…………………………………27
3.1.2 Information decoupling point……………………………31
3.1.3 Postponement……………………………………………..33
3.2 Practical ways to combine the lean think and agile thinking………35
3.2.1 The Pareto curve approach………………………………...35
3.2.2 The decoupling point approach……………………………36
3.2.3 The surge/base demand separation approach……………38
3.3 An integrated approach to supply chain design- the Agile Enterprise Enabling Model………………………………………………………40
Chapter 4 The Research Findings……………………………………………43
4.1 Introduction of CTO into company A………………………………43
4.1.1 Environment of PC industry……………………………...43
4.1.2 Company profile………….………………………………44
4.1.3 Definition of CTO………………………………………..45
4.2 Key factors while introducing CTO into company A ………………46
4.2.1 EDI-ENT/ WEB-EDI……………………………………..47
4.2.2 Modular BOM (bill of materials)…………………………49
4.3 Findings and discussions from case studying……………………….51
4.3.1 Comparison between BTO and CTO production………….51
4.3.2 Leanness or agility of company A’s supply chain…………52
Chapter 5 Conclusions…………………………………………………………61
5.1 Findings and conclusions……………………………………………61
5.1.1 Five key principles driving lean thinking…………………61
5.1.2 Four distinguishing characteristics of agile supply chain…61
5.1.3 Two characteristics of different importance………………61
5.1.4 Three major factors about combining the two thinking…62
5.1.5 Three ways to combine the lean think and agile thinking…62
5.1.6 Findings from the case studying…………………………62
5.2 Suggestions…………………………………………………………62

Reference
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http://taiwan.fic.com.tw/
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《Chinese》
張勇毅 (2002)，CTO生產模式之研究—以我國筆記型電腦為例，國立政治大學商學院經營管理碩士學程碩士論文。
《English》
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