At the end of the article it kind of sums it up for me where you are going with this...Henry Ford's craftsman didn't like the assembly line approach either. This is a very telling comment. To me this is more of a philisophical discussion than one of simple code efficiency, creating a code monkey is not what I want as a supervisor. I need people who can solve complex problems, creatively. I know you are only describing creation of "plumbing" here but the title of your article proclaims the production of limited interaction cookie cutter applications, a consistent approach to anything is admirable. But, the loss of the craftsmen creates a gap in ingenuity and innovation...I would hate to see the same thing happen to this industry as has happened to many others. Noble idea but I have a dissenting view on making things too cookie cutter. A few things you forgot to mention about the Japanese auto makers and their efficiency culture. They work 14-16 hour days...6 days a week, they have a negative population growth, and retirement is mainly a dream. I like people where I work but I don't want to spend my life with them...there is a balance.

Cheers.