Within management, innovation and industrial relations literature worldwide there has been widespread debate over new emerging models of best practice production and their implications for global manufacturing. This has been particularly prominent in discussions of post-Fordist and lean production production regimes. This paper extends this discussion beyond industrial relations and management debates and into the sphere of new approaches to production technology design and implementation. The paper provides an outline of the positive European challenge to lean production models provided by skill based design and automation principles and initiatives. The purpose of this paper is to assist the introduction of this orientation to a broader audience by summarising its key components and discussing its international relevance.