Practical Application of the Toyota Way

John McNeil, GP Deltapoint

Liker lays out 14 principles in his excellent discourse on the Toyota Way. But where to begin? Many of these principles may seem vague and hard to put into practice. Some of them may even seem "Japanese" or foreign to the way we do work. Few of them mention specific tools that one can hire consultants to implement or that one can learn in an executive MBA program. As a division or plant manager, which of these principles can help me compete better, or indeed survive in an era of escalating international competition?

Here is a time-phased and structured approach that has worked for our clients.

Problem Solving allows time for Visual Management and then Standardization with Flow and Pull Systems. Build on these to establish level loads internally, with customers and suppliers. These steps will take years, and rely on many of the other principles shown above as cultural imperatives for success. But let's focus first on those six.

1. Solved problems stay solved. One of the hallmarks of Toyota facilities is that their employees are engaged as a "community of scientists". Everyone on the shop floor is engaged in rigorous problem solving methods. An example is the use of root cause analysis using the Five Why's, Fishbone diagrams and guides such as the TaprooTŪ system. These tools are best deployed of course by front line personnel who are engaged, curious and analytical. Being smart and experienced helps too.
2. Visual management through tools such as Five S promotes efficiency, safety and teamwork. The continuous elimination of not-needed items, putting everything in its designated place and the engagement of everyone in organizing and tidiness are hallmarks of a successful Five S implementation.
3. Standardizing on visual management is a good first step in creating stable business processes: a necessary requirement for ongoing continuous improvement. Toyota's community agrees on standards, learns those standard and then operates in concert according to those standards. Failures and deviations lead to changes in the standards (they clearly were not clear enough), or changes in the learning process. Learning is of course the outcome of training programs applied appropriately. Continuous auditing ensures that standards are suitable, followed and improved continuously.
4. One of the best ways to improve standards is to ferret out and eliminate waste. Waste has many forms, but overproduction is a key one. Tools such as Rapid Improvement Workshops and Value Stream Mapping detect and reduce waste.
5. A waste-free system avoids overproduction by replenishing according to consumption. A common tool to do this is Kanban.
6. The final tool-based step is level production: relatively easily achieved within the walls of one factory but much more powerful and consequently more complex to implement with customers and suppliers. Kanbans and milk-run systems are widely used here.

Of course many organizations have attempted to implement the tools without changing the underlying culture. Top down management, long runs and reliance on tribal knowledge and informal systems then override any gains to be made and lock companies at current performance levels. To change culture, the tools are more subtle and indirect. We will address some of them in an upcoming QUICK newsletter.

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