The Wall Street Journal and "The Drawbacks of Lean Manufacturing"

Back in July, an article, authored by Daisuke Wakabayashi and Jung-ah Lee appeared in The Wall Street Journal that reported such companies as Apple Inc. and Nissan are experiencing delays in production because their respective suppliers cannot fill the currently increased demand for certain parts required in popular products. The authors claim that the reason for this these shortages stem from "the drawbacks of lean manufacturing methods, which call for carrying little inventory but make supply snags tougher to offset" and generally believe that "the pitfalls of Lean manufacturing methods, a hallmark of cash-rich and efficient companies, arise when parts either prove faulty or in short supply."

Previous to this article, I had never seen Apple referred to as a Lean organization -- I've come across no other articles that have described the company as such, and I've never seen Apple reference it in its literature. Surely the authors could have provided a bit more discussion about Apple's global supply chain and how it functions before making the claim to help warrant their argument.

This article has come up quite periodically during discussions with colleagues during the past month, and I'd very much like to hear readers' opinions and thoughts about it. What was your reaction when you first read this article?