If your normal experience of customer service is the sound of a machine putting you on hold, you may want to listen to this edition of In Business. Peter Day talks to people who think there is a better, leaner way, learning from decades of experience of the Toyota way of making cars. It's called Lean Manufacturing and it could be the way to put the customer at heart of the service industry.

How can you predict the future? Peter Day travels to Silicon Valley to get forecasting tips from futurist Paul Saffo. Producer: Mike Wendling Editor: Stephen Chilcott

Social networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Bebo and YouTube are revolutionising the way people use the internet. Peter Day finds how businesses need to respond. Producer: Rosamund Jones Editor: Stephen Chilcott

Global Business explores the new world of so-called “democratised innovation” ... when companies turn to their customers and suppliers for the new ideas that keep them going. With the help of a robot scorpion, Peter Day reports for Global Business. Producer: Rosamund Jones Editor: Stephen Chilcott

As politicians seek ways of producing sustainable energy, Germany has taken the lead with the world's biggest solar power station and the beginnings of a significant renewables industry. Peter Day discovers the secret of German success. Producer: Caroline Bayley Editor: Stephen Chilcott

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