Tao Toyota 14 principles of management of the world's leading company J Liker. Driving a dream. Process Improvement: Traditional and Lean Approaches

MAKE MANAGEMENT DECISIONS WITH A LONG-TERM PERSPECTIVE, EVEN IF IT DAMAGES SHORT-TERM FINANCIAL GOALS

Well, many people talk about this and it seems obvious, but for large companies everything is completely different. The point is that everything large companies in the United States are required to sell their shares on the stock exchange. And the share price determines whether a company is efficient or not. Well, the share price, first of all, depends on dividends. Therefore, some (though judging by the books, many) top managers often sacrifice long-term prospects in order to show the maximum profit in the current quarter.

In Japanese companies, profits and share prices are not chased. They primarily look at customer satisfaction and always invest in a long-term investment. And all current goals are sub-goals of this very general goal.

Use a systematic and strategic approach when setting goals, and all operational decisions must be subordinated to this approach. Realize your place in the history of the company and try to bring it to a higher level. Work on the organization, improve and rebuild it, moving towards the main goal, which is more important than making a profit. A conceptual understanding of one's purpose is the foundation of all other principles.

Your main task is to create value for the consumer, society and economy. When evaluating any type of activity in a company, consider whether it solves this problem.

Be responsible. Strive to control your destiny. Believe in your strengths and abilities. Take responsibility for what you do, maintain and improve the skills that allow you to produce added value.

PRINCIPLE 2

A CONTINUOUS FLOW PROCESS HELPS PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION

This principle is entirely dedicated to the continuous flow system, which reduces all inventory to a minimum, and the right raw materials or parts go further directly.

This approach minimizes the possibility of marriage and the omission of some inaccuracies. Imagine a situation where an error has crept into the production process. And you produce and produce goods that go to the warehouse. After two weeks, your batch gets to the next stage of production. And then they notice that the parts are defective. But all these two weeks you have been producing these defective parts.

With the continuous flow approach, this situation cannot occur, since the newly released product immediately goes to the next shop, where it immediately gets to work. And if it has a defect, it is immediately noticed.

Redesign the process to create a continuous flow that effectively adds value. Minimize the time that unfinished work is without movement.

Create a flow of products or information and build connections between processes and people so that any problem is identified immediately.

This thread should be part of organizational culture understandable to everyone. This is the key to continuous improvement and development of people.

PRINCIPLE 3

USE THE PULL SYSTEM TO AVOID OVERPRODUCTION

The pull system means you don't start producing until the item is needed.

Well, for example, an order for 100 cars was received. They need 100 rudders and 400 wheels. So, just at the moment when they start making 100 hulls, they start making 100 rudders. And not as usual - we will put on the steering wheels, and then someday they will be needed ...

Those. the final product pulls out all the components, and we do not make from what we have ..

Make sure that the internal consumer who accepts your work gets what he needs, in right time and in the right amount. The basic principle is that under a just-in-time system, items should only be replenished as they are consumed.

Minimize WIP and stockpiling. Keep a small number of items in stock and replenish these stocks as they are taken by the customer.

Be receptive to daily fluctuations in consumer demand, which provide more information than computer systems and charts. This will help to avoid losses due to the accumulation of excess stocks.

PRINCIPLE 4

LEVEL THE VOLUME OF WORK (HEIJUNKA)

This principle says: work like a turtle, not like a hare. In other words, you should not have such that at the beginning of the month we do nothing, come to dinner, etc., but in the last days of the month we live around the clock in the office to do everything planned.

Work should go evenly, without sudden changes. Good generals don't have heroes, they just don't need them.

Eliminating waste is only one of the three conditions for success lean manufacturing. Eliminating overload of people and equipment and smoothing out uneven production schedules are equally important. This is often not understood in companies that are trying to apply the principles of lean manufacturing.

Work on even distribution of the load in all processes related to production and service. This is an alternative to the alternation of rush and downtime that is typical for mass production.

PRINCIPLE 5

MAKE SUSPENDING PRODUCTION TO SOLVE PROBLEMS A PART OF THE PRODUCTION CULTURE WHEN QUALITY REQUIRES

This principle says that if you notice a problem, do not ignore it, patch or crutches. It is necessary to work out this problem as much as possible, to find the very first root cause. If necessary, stop the production process, fix the problem, and only then start production again.

Quality to the consumer determines your value proposition.

Use all available modern methods quality assurance.

Build equipment that can recognize problems on its own and stop when they are detected. Design visual system notifying the team leader and team members that a machine or process requires their attention. Jidoka (machines with elements of human intelligence) - the foundation for "embedding" quality.

Ensure that the organization has a support system in place to quickly resolve problems and take corrective action.

The principle of stopping or slowing down the process should provide required quality"from the first time" and become an integral part of the company's production culture. This will increase the productivity of processes in the long run.

PRINCIPLE 6

STANDARD OBJECTIVES ARE THE BASIS FOR CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT AND DELEGATION OF POWER TO EMPLOYEES

Everything is simple here. If the task is standard, simple and described in detail, any employee becomes a specialist in its implementation. And thus, there can be no downtime if any key employee got sick. He is immediately replaced. Moreover, since the tasks are simple and standardized, people are constantly improving their skills in performing these tasks, which means doing them faster and better, and solving the problems that have arisen on the spot (as they are described).

Use stable, reproducible methods of work, this will make the result more predictable, increase the coherence of the work, and the output will be more uniform. This is the basis of flow and pull.

Capture accumulated process knowledge by standardizing the best this moment methods. Do not hinder creative expression aimed at raising the standard; consolidate what has been achieved with a new standard. Then the experience gained by one employee can be transferred to the one who will replace him.

PRINCIPLE 7

USE VISUAL INSPECTION TO MAKE ANY PROBLEM GO UNNOTICED

Toyota has a policy that all reports must fit on an A3 sheet. If it does not fit, then the information must be reduced. It is this format that is ideal (according to their point of view) in order to competently and reasonably make a decision.

In addition, they use various visual (real) signals - colored stickers, flipcharts, etc. They try to use as little as possible. electronic systems, namely something understandable and visual.

Use simple visual aids to help employees quickly identify where they are meeting the standard and where they are deviating from it.

Do not use a computer monitor if it distracts the worker from the work area.

Create simple visual control systems in the workplace to help maintain flow and pull.

Keep reports as short as possible to one sheet, even when it comes to major financial decisions.

PRINCIPLE 8

USE ONLY RELIABLE, PROVEN TECHNOLOGY

Toyota's DAO includes the principle that not everything new should necessarily be applied immediately. This applies to both technologies and methods. You can't put the most new system until it has proven itself to be super reliable and trouble free. After all, for their system of "just in time" and continuous production, even a slight stop or failure in operation can affect the entire process.

But at the same time, they are very open to everything new. Sponsor interesting projects, new technologies, but they are taken into work only if they have proven themselves precisely from the side of guarantees of stability.

Technology is designed to help people, not replace them. It is often worth doing the process manually first before introducing additional hardware.

New technologies are often unreliable and difficult to standardize, jeopardizing the flow. Instead of untested technology, it is better to use a well-known, proven process.

Before new technology and equipment are introduced, field trials should be carried out.

Reject or change technology that goes against your culture, that can break stability, reliability, or predictability.

Still, encourage your people to keep up with new technologies when it comes to finding new ways. Quickly implement proven technologies that have been tested and improve the flow.

PRINCIPLE 9

EDUCATE LEADERS WHO KNOW THEIR BUSINESS EXACTLY, BELONG TO THE COMPANY PHILOSOPHY AND CAN TEACH OTHERS TO THIS

If American management recommends hiring cool specialists, head-hunting, then almost all Japanese companies, including Toyota, are categorical on this issue - they insist that it is necessary to educate leaders within the company. Only then will the manager know all the work, from finances to the very last bolt from the inside, and profess the philosophy of the company.

In general, Eastern companies pay a lot of attention to the philosophy of the company. The values of employees are much more important than their knowledge in this case.

It is better to educate your leaders than to buy them outside the company.

The leader must not only perform the tasks assigned to him and have the skills to communicate with people. He must profess the philosophy of the company and set a personal example of attitude to business.

A good leader must know the day-to-day work like the back of his hand, only then can he become a true teacher of the company's philosophy.

PRINCIPLE 10

EDUCATE EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE AND BUILD TEAMS THAT LIVE THE COMPANY PHILOSOPHY

The tenth principle tells in more detail about the philosophy of the company, team and individual employees. Correct views on company policy should be not only for top management, but also an obligatory attribute of every employee of the company.

Build a strong, sustainable work culture with enduring values and beliefs that are shared and accepted by all.

Train extraordinary people and work teams to act according to a corporate philosophy that delivers exceptional results. Work tirelessly to strengthen the production culture.

Form cross-functional teams to improve quality and productivity and improve flow by solving complex technical problems. Equip people with the tools to improve the company.

Relentlessly train people to work as a team for a common goal. Everyone should learn to work in a team.

PRINCIPLE 11

RESPECT YOUR PARTNERS AND SUPPLIERS, GIVE THEM CHALLENGES AND HELP THEM IMPROVE

This principle says that your suppliers and contractors are not your enemies, but strategic partners. This means that you have to help them, advise, prompt, train, etc.

For example, in the USA, car manufacturing companies (FORD, J, Chrysler) squeeze everything they can out of their suppliers (they demand discounts, deferred payment, and just elementary disrespect. After all, who are they, and who are we?)

Toyota has a very different approach. They are sure that they are simply obliged to monitor their partners, train them so that they develop with you. After all, if you are with each other as enemies, sooner or later they will set you up (on purpose or by accident - it’s not so important). For example, you doubled your production capacity due to new technologies, and did not share this technology with a supplier. It turns out that you cannot develop, because. you either need to urgently look for a second supplier (and these are risks), or now you become dependent on him (he can dictate his terms of supply).

Respect your partners and suppliers, treat them as equal participants in the common cause.

Create conditions for partners that stimulate their growth and development. Then they will understand that they are valued. Give them challenging tasks and help them solve them.

PRINCIPLE 12

TO UNDERSTAND THE SITUATION, YOU NEED TO SEE EVERYTHING WITH YOUR OWN EYES (GENCHI GENBUTSU)

This principle says that when making a decision, you should rely only on data that you are 100% sure of. And this is possible only when you yourself checked them.

The same goes for any problem. For example, an engineer says that some kind of press has broken. In order to understand everything (who is to blame and what to do), you, as a leader, must go and see for yourself what is wrong there (and we remember that the leader knows very well how everything works).

When solving problems and improving processes, you should see what is happening with your own eyes and personally verify the data, and not theorize by listening to other people or looking at a computer monitor.

Your thoughts and reasoning should be based on data that you yourself have verified.

Even representatives of the company's senior management and department heads must see the problem with their own eyes, only then the understanding of the situation will be genuine, not superficial.

PRINCIPLE 13

MAKE A DECISION SLOWLY, ON THE BASIS OF CONSENSUS, WEIGHING ALL POSSIBLE OPTIONS; INTRODUCING IT, DON'T LOSE (NEMAWASI)

This statement has our analogue - measure seven times, cut once. In other words, decisions are made for a long time, considered from different angles, discussed, criticized and analyzed. But as soon as the decision is made, it immediately begins to take root in life. No delays or delays.

Such an example. In a European or American company, an employee comes to the boss and says - look, I have this idea. This will improve performance by 15%. And there he will be praised, well done, he took the initiative.

In Toyota, they will ask him - what are the side effects? What alternatives have you considered? Why did you choose this one out of all the options? Etc. But on the other hand, as soon as the decision was made, they immediately begin to implement it, without a bunch of additional meetings and delays.

Don't make a firm decision about a course of action until you've weighed all the alternatives. When you have decided where to go, follow the chosen path without delay, but be careful.

Nemawashi is a process of collaborative discussion of problems and potential solutions in which everyone participates. His task is to collect all the ideas and develop a consensus on where to go next. Although such a process takes quite a long time, it helps to carry out a broader search for solutions and prepare the conditions for the prompt implementation of the decision.

PRINCIPLE 14

BECOME A LEARNING ORGANIZATION THROUGH RETIRE SELF REVIEW (HANSEI) AND CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT (KAIZEN)

And the last principle calls for constant development, building a self-learning organization that can adapt to any conditions. This will help cut costs in many ways.

In general, there are quite a lot of books and articles about self-learning organizations now, so I think there is not much need to spread here.

The main thing is to understand that an organization is a living organism, and it lives the life of its employees, their views, philosophy, problems. If all employees feel great, go to work with pleasure, improve their level, constantly study - all this is reflected in the organization itself.

Well, that's all the principles from DAO TOYOTA. Digest this information. I am sure you can apply a lot to your company.

Once the process has stabilized, use continuous improvement tools to identify the root causes of inefficiencies and take action.

Create a process that requires almost no inventory. This will identify wasted time and resources. When losses are obvious to everyone, they can be eliminated through continuous improvement (kaizen).

Protect the knowledge base about the organization of your company, do not allow staff turnover, monitor the gradual promotion of employees and the preservation of accumulated experience.

At the completion of the main stages and the completion of all work, make an analysis (hansei) of her shortcomings and speak openly about them. Develop measures to prevent the repetition of mistakes.

Instead of reinventing the wheel when you start new job or when a new manager comes along, learn to standardize on best practices.

On fig. 3.2 these losses are presented on a simple time coordinate for the casting, machining and assembly process. In a traditional process cycle, most of the time spent processing a material is wasted. This diagram will be familiar to anyone who has attended Lean or TPS workshops, and I won't waste time on detailed comments. From a lean manufacturing point of view, you should first map the value stream according to the trajectory of the movement of material (information) during the process of interest to you. To get a complete picture, it is best to go through the route yourself. Chart this movement and calculate the time and distance, and you get a chart called a "spaghetti chart". Even those who have spent most of their lives in manufacturing are amazed at the results. On fig. Figure 3.2 shows that we are stretching very simple product-processing processes to the point where identifying value-adding operations becomes difficult.

Rice. 3.2. Value Added Losses

I found a striking example of this when I was working as a consultant for a company that made steel nuts. Seminar participants - engineers and managers - assured that lean manufacturing would not give their company anything, the process was too simple. Coiled steel is cut into pieces, holes are punched in them, after which the blanks are heat treated and placed in boxes. Billets are processed on automatic machines at a speed of hundreds of nuts per minute. When we followed the value stream (and therefore the operations that did not add value), it became clear that the statement of the company's employees sounds simply ridiculous. We started from the receiving area, and every time it looked like the process was over, we had to go around the whole plant again to get to where the next stage of processing took place. At one point, the nuts were taken away from the factory for several weeks to be heat treated, because management calculated that it was more profitable to contract this work than to process the nuts themselves. In the end, it turned out that the process of making nuts was delayed for weeks, or even months. In this case, most of the technological operations take a few seconds, with the exception of heat treatment, which is carried out for several hours. We calculated the proportion of time spent on value creation for different types products and received indicators from 0.008% to 2–3%. Everyone's eyes widened! At the same time, the equipment was often idle, the machines were idle, and deposits of blanks were piled up around. Some savvy manager decided it was cheaper to sign a maintenance contract with another company than to hire full-time people. Thus, when a machine broke down, there was often no one to fix it, let alone preventive maintenance. As a result, for the sake of efficiency in one area, the value stream was slowed down and stretched due to work in progress, inventory finished products and the time spent on identifying problems (defects) that reduce quality. As a result, the enterprise lacked the flexibility to meet changing customer requirements.

Process Improvement: Traditional and Lean Approaches

The traditional approach to process improvement focuses primarily on local efficiency - “look at the equipment, at the value-adding operations, and make the uptime longer, the work cycle shorter, and where possible, replace the person with an automaton.” As a result, the efficiency of an individual operation increases, but this does not have a tangible impact on the value stream as a whole. It is important to remember that most processes involve a very small number of value-adding activities, and improving those activities alone is not critical. If we analyze the process from a lean perspective, we will see huge reserves that can be used by eliminating waste and winding down stages that do not add value.
If you redesign production from a lean perspective, the main potential for improvement is the elimination of a huge number of operations that do not create added value. At the same time, the time spent on creating added value is also reduced. This can be seen if we take a process similar to the manufacture of nuts and create a cell that operates on the principle of one-piece flow.
In Lean Manufacturing cell is a collection of people and machines or jobs organized and operating in accordance with the sequence of technological operations. Cells are created to ensure the flow of single products (services), which, one after another, go through various technological operations, such as welding, assembly, packaging. The speed of such processing is determined by the needs of the consumer, who cannot be kept waiting.
Let's go back to the nut manufacturing example. If we create a cell where operations are performed in a linear sequence, and we transfer one nut or small batches of them from one operator to another in a one-piece stream, then what took weeks to do can be done in a few hours. This example is not unusual. Companies around the world have shown again and again the wonders of one-piece flow: increasing productivity, improving quality, reducing inventory, freeing up space, and reducing lead times. Every time the results exceed all expectations, and every time it seems like a miracle. That is why the cell, operating on the principle of the flow of single products, is the basis of the foundations of lean manufacturing. It allowed Toyota to eliminate most of the losses of all eight types.
On practice ultimate goal Lean manufacturing is the organization of the flow of one-piece products in relation to all types of work, whether it be design, order taking or production itself. Anyone who has learned firsthand what opportunities the philosophy of lean production opens up becomes its ardent adherents and strives to rid the entire surrounding reality of waste by applying this principle to every process - from management to technology. However, it must be remembered that, like any other tool or process, such cells should be used wisely. Imagine that a nut factory created a cell for cutting steel and punching holes in blanks. To do this, the plant purchased expensive computerized equipment, which is constantly breaking down. This leads to downtime and loss of working time. However, the nuts are still taken out of the factory for heat treatment, and it takes weeks before they return. Everywhere, as before, lie stocks. Shop workers, seeing the enormous losses, laugh at such a "lean cell" that has nothing to do with the principles of lean manufacturing.

TPS House scheme: a holistic structure, not a set of techniques and methods

For decades, Toyota has successfully applied and improved TPS without documenting the theory of its production system. Workers and managers constantly mastered new methods and improved old ones, putting them into practice. within relatively small firm there was a good exchange of information, so the best methods and systems were quickly learned at other plants, and then at the supplying enterprises. As Toyota's methods continued to improve, it became clear that Toyota would always face the challenge of educating suppliers. Therefore Fujio Cho, a student of Taiichi Ohno, developed a simple circuit in the form of a house.
The TPS House scheme (see Figure 3.3) is well known to those involved in manufacturing. Why a house? Because the house is a holistic structure. For the house to be strong and durable, the roof, supports and foundation must be strong and durable. A weak link can destroy the entire system. There are different versions of this scheme, but the basic principles remain the same. Goals first: excellent quality, low costs and extremely short lead times, that's the roof. Then there are two external pillars: the just-in-time system, which is the most well-known attribute of TPS, and jidoka, the purpose of which is to prevent the transfer of defective parts to the next stage of the process and to free people from machines, that is, to ensure automation with human intelligence. People are at the center of the system. And finally, the ingredients that are the foundation: standardized, stable and reliable processes and heijunka, that is, such a production schedule in which fluctuations in volumes and assortment will be minimal. Balanced schedule heijunka maintains system stability by helping to keep inventories to a minimum. Sharp surges in the production of one type of product due to the exclusion of other products from the assortment will lead to a shortage of parts or require the creation of significant stocks.

Rice. 3.3. Toyota Production System

Each element of the house is important in itself, but even more important is the relationship between them. The Just-in-Time system minimizes inventory, which eliminates many problems in the production process. The one-piece flow ensures consistent production of products at a speed that meets the needs of the consumer. Keeping inventory to a minimum means that quality defects are detected immediately. This is supported by the method jidoka, which allows you to stop the production process. In order to resume production, workers must immediately fix the problem. The foundation of the house is stability. It would seem that working with minimal stocks and the possibility of stopping production creates instability. But such a system forces workers to take urgent action. In mass production, if the machine stops, there is no hurry: the time will come, and the department will fix it Maintenance, and meanwhile production goes on as usual, using a reserve stock of parts. In lean manufacturing, if the operator needs to stop the equipment to solve a problem, one by one the rest of the areas are stopped, and the situation becomes critical. Therefore, all participants in the process strive to solve the problem as quickly as possible by joint efforts in order to start the equipment again. If the problem persists, management concludes that the situation is critical and it may be time to focus on the Total Productive Maintenance System (or Total Productive Maintenance System, TPM) to teach employees how to clean, inspect and maintain equipment. For such a system to run smoothly, a high level of stability is required. People are at the center of the house, since the necessary stability can only be achieved through their tireless improvement. People should be trained to notice losses and identify the root causes of problems. The method of repeatedly asking the question “Why?” helps to find the source of the problem. The problem should be dealt with on the spot, seeing the situation with your own eyes (genchi genbutsu).
In some versions of this model, the foundation includes a number of other Toyota principles, such as respect for the individual. Toyota itself usually includes only cost, quality, and delivery discipline in the list of goals, but in fact, at the company's enterprises in Japan, a broader approach to goals (quality, costs, delivery discipline, safety, morale) is practiced with some variations. Toyota never sacrifices worker safety for production. There is simply no need for it, since the elimination of losses has nothing to do with creating stressful conditions and does not threaten safety. Here is what Ohno wrote about it:

Of course, we are interested in any method that allows you to reduce the number of man-hours in production, and therefore reduce costs, but the foundation of the foundations for us is safety. Sometimes the improvement does not take into account security requirements. In this case, it is necessary to return to the starting line and rethink the task. Inaction is unacceptable. Set the task differently and move forward.

Conclusion

TPS is not just a collection of lean manufacturing tools. All the elements of this complex system: JIT, bins, 5S (sort, tidy, keep clean, standardize, improve—the tools discussed in Chapter 13), kanban etc. - function as parts of a single whole. The main task of the system is to encourage people to constantly improve the process of work. Unfortunately, many lean books mislead the reader by describing TPS as a collection of tools to improve work efficiency. The task of using these tools is overlooked, as well as the fact that the center of the system is people. More broadly, TPS is the practical application of the Toyota approach. The focus is on the shop floor level, but the principles of this approach are much broader and apply not only to production, but also to design and service delivery.
In the next chapter, we'll explore the 14 principles of Toyota's approach. These are the foundation of the Toyota culture, and they are the focus of most of this book. In Chapters 5 and 6, we'll see how these principles worked in the development of the Lexus and Prius. Learn about the challenges Toyota faced and how it overcame them.

Chapter 4
Toyota's 14 Tao: The quintessential work culture behind TPS

Since the founding of Toyota, our guiding principle has been to contribute to society by providing products and services. High Quality. Doing business around this principle has shaped the values, beliefs and practices that have enabled us to achieve competitive advantage. The combination of these methods of work and value orientations of management is the Toyota approach.
Fujio Cho, President of Toyota (The Toyota Way, 2001)

The Toyota Way Is More Than Tools and Technology

So, you have introduced a system kanban. (Kanban in Japanese - "tag", "card", "receipt" or "signal". This is the name of the tool for managing the flow and production of products in the "pull" system adopted by Toyota.) You have connected andon, a device for visual inspection of the production area, which warns workers of defects, equipment malfunctions or other problems using light, sound and similar signals. Now your workplaces look like in a Toyota factory. But gradually everything returns to normal, and the work goes on again, as before. You call in a Toyota Production System consultant who shakes his head in disapproval. What's the matter?
In fact, the main work on the implementation of lean manufacturing is just beginning. Your workers have no idea about the work culture behind TPS. They are not ready to work tirelessly to improve the system and engage in self-improvement. The Toyota Way exists primarily thanks to people who work, communicate with each other, make decisions and develop, improving each other and themselves. If you look at successful Japanese companies that work according to the lean manufacturing system, you can immediately see how actively workers make suggestions for improvement. But Toyota's approach goes beyond that: it encourages, supports, and requires everyone to participate.
The more I studied TPS and understood the Toyota way, the more I understood that it is a system that provides people with the tools to continuously improve their work. The Tao of Toyota is trust in people. This is a kind of culture, and not a set of techniques and methods for improving and increasing efficiency. To reduce the volume of stocks, to identify and solve hidden problems is possible only with the help of workers. If they are not responsible enough, do not understand the task ahead of them and do not know how to work in a team, downtime and stockpiling will begin. Every day, engineers, skilled workers, quality specialists, suppliers, team leaders and, most importantly, operators are constantly solving problems, and this allows everyone to learn how to solve them.
One Lean tool that teaches teamwork is called 5S (Sort, Organize, Clean, Standardize, Improve; more on that in Chapter 13). We are talking about a set of measures to eliminate losses that lead to errors, defects and injuries. The most difficult component of 5S is perhaps the fifth - "improve" (stimulate, maintain self-discipline. - Note. scientific ed.). It is this point that is the decisive condition for the success of the other four. Maintenance is unthinkable without appropriate education and training, and that workers follow the rules of operation and improve working methods and their workplace they should be encouraged. The conditions for success in achieving the goals are the commitment of management to these approaches, appropriate training and work culture. Only then will maintenance and improvement become habitual for everyone, from shop workers to management.
This chapter gives short review The 14 principles that make up the Toyota approach. The principles are grouped into four categories:
1, the philosophy of the long term;
2, the right process produces the right results (we are talking about using a number of TPS tools);
3, add value to the organization by developing your employees and partners;
4, the constant solution of fundamental problems stimulates continuous learning.
The second part of the book is also structured around these four categories, which together form the four-pronged Toyota Tao model presented in Chapter 1. In the next two chapters, I will show how these 14 principles worked to create the Lexus and Prius. If you'd like to jump ahead and review the 14 principles in detail, you can skip ahead to Chapter 7 right now. However, I strongly recommend that you read the following first.
You can use the whole set of TPS tools, but still follow only a few selected principles of the Toyota approach. In this way, you will probably be able to improve performance for some time, but these results will be short-lived. But if a company follows all the principles of the Toyota Way when implementing TPS, it will certainly achieve sustainable competitive advantage.
When I taught a course on lean manufacturing, I often heard the question: “How to apply TPS in my organization? We don't mass-produce cars; we make small batches of custom-made products” or “We are in the service industry, so TPS is not for us.” Such reasoning suggests that people do not understand the main thing. The essence of lean manufacturing is not to copy Toyota tools designed for a specific production process. Lean manufacturing means that you need to develop the principles of operation of your organization and adhere to them, effectively creating added value for consumers and society. So your company can become profitable and competitive. The Toyota Tao principles provide a starting point. Toyota uses them not only on assembly lines for serial production. In the next chapter, we will see how some of these principles are applied in the organizations that provide Toyota product development services.

Summary of the 14 Toyota Tao Principles
Section I. Philosophy of the long term
Principle 1. accept management decisions taking into account the long-term perspective, even if it is detrimental to the short-term financial goals.
Use a systematic and strategic approach when setting goals, and all operational decisions must be subordinated to this approach. Realize your place in the history of the company and try to bring it to a higher level. Work on the organization, improve and rebuild it, moving towards the main goal, which is more important than making a profit. A conceptual understanding of one's purpose is the foundation of all other principles.
Your main task is to create value for the consumer, society and economy. When evaluating any type of activity in a company, consider whether it solves this problem.
Be responsible. Strive to control your destiny. Believe in your strengths and abilities. Take responsibility for what you do, maintain and improve the skills that allow you to produce added value.
Section II. The right process produces the right results
principle 2. A continuous flow process helps identify problems.
Redesign the process to create a continuous flow that effectively adds value. Minimize the time that unfinished work is without movement.
Create a flow of products or information and build connections between processes and people so that any problem is identified immediately.
This flow should become part of the organizational culture, understandable to all. This is the key to continuous improvement and development of people.
Principle 3. Use the pull system to avoid overproduction.
Make sure that the internal consumer who accepts your work gets what he needs, at the right time and in the right amount. The basic principle is that under a just-in-time system, items should only be replenished as they are consumed.
Minimize WIP and stockpiling. Keep a small number of items in stock and replenish these stocks as they are taken by the customer.
Be receptive to daily fluctuations in consumer demand, which provide more information than computer systems and charts. This will help to avoid losses due to the accumulation of excess stocks.
Principle 4. Distribute the amount of work evenly ( heijunka): work like a turtle, not like a hare.
Eliminating waste is only one of the three conditions for the success of lean manufacturing. Eliminating overload of people and equipment and smoothing out uneven production schedules are equally important. This is often not understood in companies that are trying to apply the principles of lean manufacturing.
Work on even distribution of the load in all processes related to production and service. This is an alternative to the alternation of rush and downtime that is typical for mass production.
Principle 5. Make stopping production to solve problems part of the production culture if quality requires it.

Good day, dear blog readers! Today I will reveal the secret to the success of Toyota Corporation, or, as they are now called, the 14 principles of the Tao of Toyota. This is a completely different philosophy, way of thinking and style of doing business. It differs from the rest in that it values its employees and never rests on its laurels, striving for excellence. Therefore, it has a tremendous success, while even the weakest employee eventually becomes a highly qualified staff motivated to achieve and develop.

If you take some methods into service, you can establish an effective workflow, especially if it is related to production.

Review on principles

It is recommended to carefully reread them 5 times, with a notebook in which you will write out emerging ideas and basic work strategies. I will briefly describe them, for more information you can get by reading the book. Jeffrey Liker "14 principles of the Tao of Toyota". So, each of them belongs to a certain category:

Philosophy of the long term

1. Make management decisions with a long-term perspective

Even if it hurts short-term financial goals. You need to find your place in the company and strive to promote it. As in life, first of all, you should understand the meaning of your destiny, and the main goal should be improvement and development, and only then profit. It is also necessary to plan and set goals for yourself, practicing a strategic approach, and when necessary, a systematic one.

Create, create something that will be of value to customers and society itself, so it is necessary to direct all efforts and resources precisely to the implementation of this task.

Know how to be responsible for your actions, do not go with the flow, but manage and decide what exactly your day will be like. Believe in yourself and your strengths.

The right process produces the right results

2. Continuous flow process helps identify problems

It is necessary to reorganize production so that it does not stand in one place, that is, to exclude pauses.

In order to instantly detect difficulties, it is necessary to establish contact, communication between people and the processes themselves, then there will be no failures in the transfer of information.

This continuous flow should be understandable to everyone, only then will it help people to improve.

3.Use a pull system to avoid overproduction

Business is efficient when the client receives exactly what he ordered, on time and in the required volume.

Work in progress should be kept to a minimum, as should stockpiling. They should be replenished only if necessary, at the request of the client, in order to avoid unnecessary accumulation, and then the need to urgently sell the goods.

Pay attention to consumer demand, which can change and fluctuate, and analyze why this happens. A huge mistake when the emphasis is not on the client's lively interest, but on computer calculations, tables and graphs.

4. Distribute the amount of work evenly: work like a turtle, not a hare

If you evenly distribute the load, you will eliminate such unpleasant moments as the effect of professional burnout or equipment breakdown. It is important to smooth out irregularities in the graph, and even better, not to allow it to fluctuate. Then you will exclude in production such moments as emergency work or downtime, which can reduce consumer interest in your product. Unfortunately, this is sometimes not understood by companies with mass production, where you can often notice staff turnover and low-quality goods. After all, you know the saying: “Slow down, you will go further?”

5.Make production stop to solve problems

And make it part of the production culture if the quality requires it.

Use various methods in your activities to ensure the quality of the goods.

The organization must have a support system in place that can quickly resolve problems and have the right to make adjustments.

The equipment must independently identify problems and notify the team of its presence. Ideal inclusion in the activities of modern machines that have elements of human intelligence.

In order to increase productivity and get a quality product the first time, you should apply the principle of stop and slow down in your activities.

6. Standard tasks - the basis

The basis for continuous improvement and delegation of authority to employees.

Flow and pull is the ability to apply stable methods of work that give predictability, as a result of which coherence will be established, and the result will be expected and uniform.

7. Use visual control

To ensure that no difficulty is left unnoticed. For effective management and quality work, should be applied simple ways, and even better, visual ones to indicate errors and deviations from the required standard.

If the computer is a distraction, you should exclude it.

8. Use only reliable, proven technology

Most often, it is worth doing some tasks manually, since modern technologies should help people, not replace them. Therefore, refrain from introducing additional equipment.

Use well-known methods, because new technologies can sometimes jeopardize an entire stream and are very difficult to standardize.

If you are still going to apply new technologies, conduct initial tests in real conditions.

Cancel or change the technology that does not fit into the overall culture and philosophy of the company in order to avoid instability and unreliability.

But completely abandon modern technologies not worth it, especially at times when it is necessary to invent new options that will help to cope with the difficulties. And encourage employees to think creatively.

Add value to the organization by developing your employees and partners

9. Nurture leaders

Who thoroughly know their business, profess the philosophy of the company and can teach it to others. It is much easier to grow leaders on your own than to look for and buy them.

The leader must have the skills to communicate effectively, especially with clients. As practice shows, if he knows his duties perfectly, then he can safely convey the meaning and philosophy of the corporation. By his example, motivating others to comply with the laws and perform the assigned tasks with high quality.

10. Raise extraordinary people and form teams

They must profess the philosophy of the company. The values and beliefs of a corporation should be aimed at people who can accept and profess them, passing on experience to other firms. Then your team will be strong and stable.

Work hard to strengthen the production culture.

Train exceptional people to act according to corporate ethics and rules.

Create groups that differ in functionality to improve quality and also solve difficult technical problems, thus improving the flow itself.

Everyone should be able to work in a team. This is a very important requirement in the selection of personnel - to be able to be in a team, realizing a common goal. When failures occur, teach this skill using team building techniques and exercises.

11. Respect your partners and suppliers

Challenge them with challenges and help them improve. Partners and suppliers are equal participants in the process, so treat them with respect.

Create conditions for partners that will stimulate their development and the search for new methods of work. If you have given them too difficult tasks - help with the implementation, then they will feel that they are valuable to you, which will only strengthen your business relationship.

Solving Fundamental Problems Drives Lifelong Learning

12. To understand the situation, you need to see everything with your own eyes

The basics of the management of the leading Toyota company are that the manager or leader is obliged to see the obstacle with his own eyes, independently verify and verify the data. It is a big mistake to shift responsibility, and especially when, without testing on their own, the leader makes a decision based on the words of employees or some kind of computer indicators.

Rule number one - reasoning should be based only on data that you have received and verified yourself. And this rule applies even to the top management of the corporation, which must directly see the difficulties that have arisen with their own eyes, and only then identify the necessary ways to eliminate them and give orders for action.

13. Take your time to decide

Based on consensus, weighing everything possible options; implementing it, do not hesitate. Be sure to weigh the pros and cons, and only then choose a course of action. If you decide what needs to be done and in which direction to move, proceed to the implementation immediately, but remember to be careful.

Nemawashi is a process in which absolutely all employees participate in order to discuss the obstacles that have arisen and come up with ways to help cope with them. Then it becomes possible to arrive at one opinion by considering many different options. It is very capacious and lengthy, but definitely worth it, since such a large-scale way to find a solution to a problem helps to see a lot of other possible nuances and possibilities.

Employees will feel recognition, because the opinion of absolutely each of them is valuable. Which, again, will affect the cohesion and desire to promote the philosophy of their organization.

14. Become a learning structure

Through relentless introspection and continuous improvement.

Once you feel that you have achieved stability, start applying the tools of continuous improvement. As soon as the cause of unprofitable or inefficient work is clarified, it should immediately begin to eliminate it.

Organize the activities of the organization so that no inventory is required, then you can save on time and resources. And as a result, it is easy to identify the complexities that will be obvious in this case.

Respectful attitude towards employees, as I said, will reduce staff turnover. And accordingly, we will come to an important goal - preserving the accumulated experience and cultivating valuable employees, professionals in their field, who over time will be able to train newcomers and pass on the basics and rules of the corporation. The organization's knowledge base should be carefully guarded.

Therefore, gradual career advancement will greatly help so that everyone has the opportunity to grow and develop. Then aggression will not accumulate, as a result of which there is a clear desire to quit.

At the end of the work, you should definitely analyze it, honestly, and openly stating the advantages and disadvantages. Then trust will arise in your organization, because initially employees, and then customers, will be sure that you will not hide unprofitable information.

It is imperative that if a difficult situation is successfully corrected, it is necessary to secure the corporation in the future by coming up with measures to prevent the repetition of the same mistake. Experience must be accumulated in order to advance, so it should be mastered the first time.

Conclusion

Be inspired by the experience of one of the world's leading corporations, apply the rules of its corporate code in your practice in order to perform an economic miracle and develop your organization, giving the consumer a valuable and high-quality product. By the way, the book recommended for reading is very informative, but not the only one dedicated to this topic, you can also see "Toyota Production System" by Taiichi Ohno and Lean Manufacturing by Womeck and Jones.

I advise you to read this article: "That's all for today, dear readers! Subscribe to updates, there is still a lot of interesting news from the world of self-development and personal growth ahead of us. For now.

Dao Toyota Liker Jeffrey

The Toyota Way Is More Than Tools and Technology

In fact, the main work on the implementation of lean manufacturing is just beginning. Your workers have no idea about the work culture behind TPS. They are not ready to work tirelessly to improve the system and engage in self-improvement. The Toyota Way exists primarily thanks to people who work, communicate with each other, make decisions and develop, improving each other and themselves. If you look at successful Japanese companies that work according to the lean manufacturing system, you can immediately see how actively workers make suggestions for improvement. But Toyota's approach goes beyond that: it encourages, supports, and requires everyone to participate.

The more I studied TPS and understood the Toyota way, the more I understood that it is a system that provides people with the tools to continuously improve their work. The Tao of Toyota is trust in people. This is a kind of culture, and not a set of techniques and methods for improving and increasing efficiency. To reduce the volume of stocks, to identify and solve hidden problems is possible only with the help of workers. If they are not responsible enough, do not understand the task ahead of them and do not know how to work in a team, downtime and stockpiling will begin. Every day, engineers, skilled workers, quality specialists, suppliers, team leaders and, most importantly, operators are constantly solving problems, and this allows everyone to learn how to solve them.

One Lean tool that teaches teamwork is called 5S (Sort, Organize, Clean, Standardize, Improve; more on that in Chapter 13). We are talking about a set of measures to eliminate losses that lead to errors, defects and injuries. The most difficult component of 5S is perhaps the fifth - "improve" (stimulate, maintain self-discipline. - Note. scientific ed.). It is this point that is the decisive condition for the success of the other four. Maintenance is unthinkable without proper education and training, and workers must be encouraged to follow the rules of operation and improve working methods and their workplace. The conditions for success in achieving the goals are the commitment of management to these approaches, appropriate training and work culture. Only then will maintenance and improvement become habitual for everyone, from shop workers to management.

This chapter provides a brief overview of the 14 principles that make up the Toyota Way. The principles are grouped into four categories:

1, the philosophy of the long term;

2, the right process produces the right results (we are talking about using a number of TPS tools);

3, add value to the organization by developing your employees and partners;

4, the constant solution of fundamental problems stimulates continuous learning.

The second part of the book is also structured around these four categories, which together form the four-pronged Toyota Tao model presented in Chapter 1. In the next two chapters, I will show how these 14 principles worked to create the Lexus and Prius. If you'd like to jump ahead and review the 14 principles in detail, you can skip ahead to Chapter 7 right now. However, I strongly recommend that you read the following first.

You can use the whole set of TPS tools, but still follow only a few selected principles of the Toyota approach. In this way, you will probably be able to improve performance for some time, but these results will be short-lived. But if a company implements TPS in a way that adheres to all of the principles of the Toyota Way, it is sure to achieve sustainable competitive advantage.

When I taught a course on lean manufacturing, I often heard the question: “How to apply TPS in my organization? We don't mass-produce cars; we make small batches of custom-made products” or “We are in the service industry, so TPS is not for us.” Such reasoning suggests that people do not understand the main thing. The essence of lean manufacturing is not to copy Toyota tools designed for a specific manufacturing process. Lean manufacturing means that you need to develop the principles of operation of your organization and adhere to them, effectively creating added value for consumers and society. So your company can become profitable and competitive. The Toyota Tao principles provide a starting point. Toyota uses them not only on assembly lines for mass production. In the next chapter, we will see how some of these principles are applied in the organizations that provide Toyota product development services.

Summary of the 14 Toyota Tao Principles

Section I. Philosophy of the long term

Principle 1. Make management decisions with a long-term perspective, even if it hurts short-term financial goals.

Your main task is to create value for the consumer, society and economy. When evaluating any type of activity in a company, consider whether it solves this problem.

Be responsible. Strive to control your destiny. Believe in your strengths and abilities. Take responsibility for what you do, maintain and improve the skills that allow you to produce added value.

Section II. The right process produces the right results

principle 2. A continuous flow process helps identify problems.

Redesign the process to create a continuous flow that effectively adds value. Minimize the time that unfinished work is without movement.

Create a flow of products or information and build connections between processes and people so that any problem is identified immediately.

This flow should become part of the organizational culture, understandable to all. This is the key to continuous improvement and development of people.

Principle 3. Use the pull system to avoid overproduction.

Make sure that the internal consumer who accepts your work gets what he needs, at the right time and in the right amount. The basic principle is that under a just-in-time system, items should only be replenished as they are consumed.

Minimize WIP and stockpiling. Keep a small number of items in stock and replenish these stocks as they are taken by the customer.

Be receptive to daily fluctuations in consumer demand, which provide more information than computer systems and charts. This will help to avoid losses due to the accumulation of excess stocks.

Principle 4. Distribute the amount of work evenly ( heijunka): work like a turtle, not like a hare.

Eliminating waste is only one of the three conditions for the success of lean manufacturing. Eliminating overload of people and equipment and smoothing out uneven production schedules are equally important. This is often not understood in companies that are trying to apply the principles of lean manufacturing.

Work on even distribution of the load in all processes related to production and service. This is an alternative to the alternation of rush and downtime that is typical for mass production.

Principle 5. Make stopping production to solve problems part of the production culture if quality requires it.

Quality to the consumer determines your value proposition.

Use all available modern methods of quality assurance.

Build equipment that can recognize problems on its own and stop when they are detected. Develop a visual system for notifying the team leader and team members when a machine or process needs their attention. Jidoka (machines with elements of human intelligence) - the foundation for "embedding" quality.

Ensure that the organization has a support system in place to quickly resolve problems and take corrective action.

The principle of stopping or slowing down the process should ensure that the required quality is obtained “first time” and become an integral part of the company's production culture. This will increase the productivity of processes in the long run.

Principle 6. Standard tasks are the basis for continuous improvement and delegation of authority to employees.

Use stable, reproducible methods of work, this will make the result more predictable, increase the coherence of the work, and the output will be more uniform. This is the basis of flow and pull.

Capture accumulated process knowledge by standardizing current best practices. Do not hinder creative expression aimed at raising the standard; consolidate what has been achieved with a new standard. Then the experience gained by one employee can be transferred to the one who will replace him.

Principle 7. use visual control so that no problem goes unnoticed.

Use simple visual aids to help employees quickly identify where they are meeting the standard and where they are deviating from it.

Do not use a computer monitor if it distracts the worker from the work area.

Create simple visual control systems in the workplace to help maintain flow and pull.

Keep reports as short as possible to one sheet, even when it comes to major financial decisions.

Principle 8. Use only reliable, proven technology.

Technology is designed to help people, not replace them. It is often worth doing the process manually first before introducing additional hardware.

New technologies are often unreliable and difficult to standardize, jeopardizing the flow. Instead of untested technology, it is better to use a well-known, proven process.

Before new technology and equipment are introduced, field trials should be carried out.

Reject or change technology that goes against your culture, that can break stability, reliability, or predictability.

Still, encourage your people to keep up with new technologies when it comes to finding new ways. Quickly implement proven technologies that have been tested and improve the flow.

Section III. Add value to the organization by developing your people and partners

Principle 9. Cultivate leaders who know their business thoroughly, profess the philosophy of the company and can teach it to others.

It is better to educate your leaders than to buy them outside the company.

A good leader must know the day-to-day work like the back of his hand, only then can he become a true teacher of the company's philosophy.

Principle 10. Raise extraordinary people and form teams that follow the philosophy of the company.

Build a strong, sustainable work culture with enduring values and beliefs that are shared and accepted by all.

Train extraordinary people and work teams to act according to a corporate philosophy that delivers exceptional results. Work tirelessly to strengthen the production culture.

Form cross-functional teams to improve quality and productivity and improve flow by solving complex technical problems. Equip people with the tools to improve the company.

Relentlessly train people to work as a team for a common goal. Everyone should learn to work in a team.

Principle 11. Respect your partners and suppliers, challenge them and help them improve.

Respect your partners and suppliers, treat them as equal participants in the common cause.

Create conditions for partners that stimulate their growth and development. Then they will understand that they are valued. Give them challenging tasks and help them solve them.

Section IV. Permanent Solution fundamental problems stimulates continuous learning

Principle 12. To understand the situation, you need to see everything with your own eyes ( genchi genbutsu).

Your thoughts and reasoning should be based on data that you yourself have verified.

Even representatives of the company's senior management and department heads must see the problem with their own eyes, only then the understanding of the situation will be genuine, not superficial.

Principle 13. Make a decision slowly, on the basis of consensus, weighing all possible options; implementing it, do not hesitate ( nemawashi).

Don't make a firm decision about a course of action until you've weighed all the alternatives. When you have decided where to go, follow the chosen path without delay, but be careful.

Nemawashi is a process of joint discussion of problems and potential solutions in which everyone participates. His task is to collect all the ideas and develop a consensus on where to go next. Although such a process takes quite a long time, it helps to carry out a broader search for solutions and prepare the conditions for the prompt implementation of the decision.

Principle 14. Become a learning structure through relentless introspection ( hansei) and continuous improvement ( kaizen).

Once the process has stabilized, use continuous improvement tools to identify the root causes of inefficiencies and take action.

Create a process that requires almost no inventory. This will identify wasted time and resources. When losses are obvious to everyone, they can be eliminated through continuous improvement ( kaizen).

Protect the knowledge base about the organization of your company, do not allow staff turnover, monitor the gradual promotion of employees and the preservation of accumulated experience.

At the completion of the main stages and the end of all work, analyze ( hansei) her shortcomings and speak openly about them. Develop measures to prevent the repetition of mistakes.

Instead of reinventing the wheel when you start a new job or when a new manager comes along, learn to standardize on best practices.

This text is an introductory piece. From book Short story of money author Ostalsky Andrey Vsevolodovich

Only not this - only not Soviet rubles! I will not retell this indecent anecdote, but its meaning is that a certain representative of the oldest profession in one western port was ready for any perversions - except for one: to accept the currency of the

by Liker Jeffrey

Where are you rushing, Toyota, give the answer “… striving for the small, you will achieve a lot…” Lao Tzu (4-3 century BC) “Tao Te Ching” Great ones are always in the spotlight. They are studied up and down. Everyone wants to find out their secrets in order to use them to become better, more successful,