Book excerpt: Beyond JIT - Lean Improvement for Supplier Companies! ESP is a production management and manufacturing improvement system targeted for supplier companies or any companies that deal with a variety of products as well as multiple customers. ESP enables suppliers to meet the requirements of their buyers' Just-In-Time (JIT) ordering systems through wide-variety, small-lot production, while also making their own production activities as efficient as possible. ESP complements each company's own production management functions, particularly the production scheduling and purchasing functions, in the way that best suits each individual business. By adopting ESP, your company will be able to meet its customers' needs Just-in-Time while growing into a powerful new organization operating according to its own production system. Features of Equalized and Synchronized Production include: Coverage of the complete production scheduling and management system for supplier organizations Case studies featuring ESP implementation by a variety of manufacturers Guidance on when and where the ESP system is more effective than JIT Comprehensive and practical "how-to" instruction on ESP implementation