Nemawashi

Mike Micklewright
QualityQuest, Inc.
Arlington Heights, IL
mike@mikemick.com
847-401-0442
 Mike Micklewright

Degreed Engineer from U. of Illinois

Worked at Saturn and Seaquist

15 Years Independent Lean and Quality
Consultant/Trainer

Keynote Presenter

AME Board Member

4 ASQ Certifications

Comedian, Actor, and Impersonator (representing some
of my personalities)

Author (“Whys Guy” in Quality Digest Magazine and “Out
of Another @#^&! Crisis!”)
 Agenda
1) Definition
2) What Saturn Taught
3) The Toyota Way
4) Thorough Consideration in Decision Making
5) Broadly Consider Alternative Solutions with a Set-Based Approach
6) Where does this Fit in with the A3 Process?
7) The Process to Achieve Nemawashi
1) Identify the Stakeholders
2) Determine Customer Requirements
3) Concept Selection (part 1)
4) How to Reach Consensus
5) Generating Concepts
6) Benchmarking
7) Concept Selection (part 2)
8) Synergize for Further Improvement
9) Implementation Plan
 Definition
Nemawashi

Make Decisions Slowly by Consensus,

Thoroughly Considering All Options;
Implement Rapidly
“If you’ve got a project that is supposed to be
fully implemented in a year, it seems to me that
the typical American company will spend about
three months on planning, then they’ll begin to
implement. But they’ll encounter all sorts of
problems after implementation, and they’ll spend
the rest of the year correcting them. However,
given the same year-long project, Toyota will
spend 9-10 months planning, then implement in
a small way – such as with pilot production –
and be fully implemented at the end of the year
with virtually no remaining problems.”

Alex Warren, former Senior Vice President

Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky
 Lessons from
“Celebrity Apprentice”

Egos fighting for their ideas

Very minimal consideration of decision criteria (wants and needs)

Very minimal consideration of alternatives

Whoever speaks loudest, wins

No buy-in; little effort from some teammates to help team win

The goal is to win, not collaborate on the best product for the
customer

Example: http://www.nbc.com/the-celebrity-
apprentice/video/clips/week-8-jesse-and-annie-debate-
marketing/1088117/
 What Saturn Taught

In 1987, I learned about Design of
Experiments (DOE).

Prior to learning the details, we learned of
the Total Development Process and where
DOE fit in.

The following 6 slides is what I learned
and then taught for many years.
 Not all Saturn employees learned this
The Phases in the Total Development Process are:

I. Customer Needs Identification

II. Competitive Benchmarking Nemawashi
III. Concept Selection
IV. Optimization
V. Build, Test & Fix (2 iterations)
VI. Pilot
VII. Start Production

DOE is used most effectively in the Optimization Phase.

Total Development Process…The First Steps
Strategic Decision Making has become increasingly more important in today’s
business world of extreme global competition. Decisions made today on your
company’s products and/or services will affect your business and its position
amongst the world’s leaders for many years to come.
Two strategic quality tools, Competitive Benchmarking and Concept Selection, are
combined into a comprehensive model to guide your company into making an
effective decisions. The first tool, Competitive Benchmarking, is fast becoming the
business buzzword of the 90s. When used in conjunction with Design of
Experiments, it is extremely effective in the development of new products.
Perfected by Xerox in the early 80s, Benchmarking was used to gain back a
dwindling market share. Yet Benchmarking is not an end in itself; rather it is a tool
used in making key company decisions based on the practices of world leaders.
Needless to say, the greatest Benchmarkers the world has seen were the Japanese
as they studied, learned, analyzed, and perfected American Business and
Manufacturing practices.
Total Development Process (continued)
Dr. Stuart Pugh developed the Concept Selection method of objectively analyzing
different alternatives based on the needs of the customer. Concept Selection
can be used to piggyback off of what was learned during the Benchmarking
phase, and provides a systematic method of evaluating the Concepts generated
and determining which is best for your particular application.
After the concept has been selected, your team can enter the Optimization Phase
by designing experiments using the Taguchi Method.

Benchmarking and Concept Selection are the tools that can be used to
fulfill the principle of Nemawashi.
Years later, I used the following two slides to
teach people about the required process
of Advanced Product Quality Planning, or
APQP, used in the American Automotive
Industry.

Some knew the way; their companies just

could not implement
 Reduce Development
Time RE-TEST
700

RE-DESIGN
DAYS TO MARKET

600

500 RE-TEST

400 RE-DESIGN

300 RE-TEST

200 RE-DESIGN

100 TEST

0 DESIGN

TRADITIONAL METHODS APQP PROCESS CONCEPT

DEVELOPMENT
And one reason why it is so important to
consider many alternatives early up front
before settling on one idea early, is ….
 The Quality Lever
Customer Takes Possession--
Product
Mfg. Loss of Control For
Engineering
Process Mfg./ Manufacturer
Engineering Assy
Operations
Customer $1 Of
Service Net
Improvement

100:1
10:1
1:1

½:1
 The Toyota Way
by Jeffrey Liker

• The Toyota Way is based on 14

Principles, which are further categorized
by what have become known as the 4P’s
• Philosophy
• Process
• People and Partners
• Problem Solving
 The Toyota Way –
Philosophy
Principle 1: Base your management decisions on a long-term philosophy, even at the
expense of short-term financial goals

Dr. W. Edwards Deming gave us his first principle:

“Create constancy of purpose towards improvement of product and service,

with the aim to become competitive, stay in business, and to provide jobs.”

There are strong relationships between all of Deming’s 14 Points and all 14 Principles
of The Toyota Way.
 The Toyota Way –
Process
2. Create continuous process flow to bring problems to the
surface
3. Use “pull’ systems to avoid overproduction
4. Level out the workload (Heijunka)
5. Build a culture of stopping to fix problems, to get quality
right the first time
6. Standardized tasks are the foundation of continuous
improvement and employee empowerment
7. Use visual controls so no problems are hidden
8. Use only reliable, thoroughly tested technology that
serves your people and processes
 The Toyota Way –
People and Partners
9. Grow leaders who thoroughly understand
the work, live the philosophy, and teach it
to others
10. Develop exceptional people and teams
who follow your company’s philosophy
11. Respect your extended network of
partners and suppliers by challenging
them and helping them improve
 The Toyota Way -
Problem Solving
12. Go and see for yourself to thoroughly
understand the situation (genchi genbutsu)
13. Make decisions slowly by consensus,
thoroughly considering all options;
implement decisions rapidly
14. Become a learning organization through
relentless reflection (Hansei) and
continuous improvement (Kaizen)
Principle 13:
Problem Solving
(Continuous
Improvement and
Learning)

People and Partners

(Respect, Challenge and Grow Them)

Process
(Eliminate Waste)

Philosophy
(Long Term Thinking)

Make Decisions Slowly by Consensus,

Thoroughly Considering All Options;
Implement Rapidly
 The Toyota Way

Preeminent analyst of strategy and tactics

Nothing is assumed. Everything is verified.

The goal is getting it right!

How you arrive at a decision is just as important
as the quality of the decision
 Itis worse to make a decision that works out well, by
chance, using a shortcut process, than to make a bad
decision using a good process!!
 Thorough Consideration in
Decision Making

Major Elements:
1. Finding out what is really going on, including genchi
genbutsu (Creating a Lean Culture)
2. Understanding the underlying causes that explain
surface appearances – asking “Why” five times
(Root Cause Analysis)
3. Broadly considering alternative solutions and
developing a detailed rationale for the preferred
solution (This Class)
4. Building consensus within the team, including
Toyota employees and outside partners (This class)
5. Using very efficient communication vehicles to do
one through four, preferably one side of a sheet of
paper (A3)
Broadly Consider Alternative Solutions
with a Set-Based Approach

Set – Based Approach
 Think in terms of sets of alternative approaches
 Think concurrently of the design of the product and
the manufacturing system

“Set-based concurrent engineering”
 Saturn’s Engine Coolant Container
 In the long-run, this product development process is
faster than the typical “point based approach”
Broadly Consider Alternative Solutions
with a Set-Based Approach
A Toyota engineer might attack a problem with
relish by (could be a tough Freshman project):
- carefully identifying the cause of the
problem,
- taking care to do a thorough five-why
analysis,
- coming up with a brilliant solution
- and detailing the solution to show to his/her
mentor.
Broadly Consider Alternative Solutions
with a Set-Based Approach
Instead of evaluating the idea on its merits and
congratulating the engineer, the mentor asks,

- “What other alternatives have you

considered?”

- “How does this solution compare with those

alternatives?”

The engineer is stopped dead in his tracks, as he was

convinced he had the best approach.
Broadly Consider Alternative Solutions
with a Set-Based Approach

These are the questions a leader asks and support leadership
qualities including:
 Being an active coach
 Insisting on excellence and holding your people accountable

A leader’s job is to ensure execution

Execution is:
A systematic process of rigorously discussing the how(s) and
what(s), questioning, tenaciously following through, and assuring
accountability
Bossidy and Charan
Execution, The Art of Getting Things Done
 Broadly Consider Alternative Solutions
with a Set-Based Approach
Once again, it’s the process that’s most important, not the results.

In other words, if the process of making a decision (product) is a good,

thorough process, then the mentor is more confident in the decision
(product).

If the mentor only evaluated the decision (product), this is no different

than relying on final inspection or running a company based on
monthly review of results.

Evaluating only the decision, final inspection, and monthly review of

results are all not effective.
Broadly Consider Alternative Solutions
with a Set-Based Approach

Examples of set-based thinking
 In developing the new suspension needed for the Prius, the
Chief Engineer decided to hold a competition. Instead of using
trial and error and testing one suspension alternative at a time,
the competition led to over 20 different suspensions tested
simultaneously.

 There were many hybrid engine technologies to chose from. The

team began with 80 different hybrid types and systematically
eliminated engines that did not meet the requirements,
narrowing it down to 10 types. The team carefully considered the
merits of each of these and then selected the best four. Each of
these four types was then evaluated carefully through computer
simulation. Based on this, they were confident in the one
alternative selected.
Broadly Consider Alternative Solutions
with a Set-Based Approach

The development of the Prius:
 Extreme time pressure
 The Chief Engineer could have asked for opinions up
front on the best choice and then refined it through
iteration
 However,

The iterative approach, or “point-based” approach might have
completely missed a much better alternative

Part of spending 80% of time planning is considering a broad
range of alternatives before deciding on one
Broadly Consider Alternative Solutions
with a Set-Based Approach

One of the hardest and most important lessons to teach
young engineers:
 Delay decisions until they have considered a broad range of
alternatives

One of the advantages of getting many different opinions

from many different people is that many alternatives are
brought to light that can be systematically evaluated

“The best designers eliminate almost all problems they

discover in the test process before they finalize a design
(Seeing David in the Stone)
Broadly Consider Alternative Solutions
with a Set-Based Approach

The author has used this process for selecting:
 Suppliers*
 Employees and Internal Auditors
 Process Layouts
 Material Flows
 Equipment
 Forklift Platform Designs
 Sunroof Design
 Engine Coolant Bottle Design
 Product Design Systems
 Solution (to RCA)
 Computer
 Vehicle and housing
Broadly Consider Alternative Solutions
with a Set-Based Approach
* Dr. Deming taught us with his 4th Principle:

“End the practice of awarding business on the basis

of price tag. Instead minimize total cost. Move
towards a single supplier for any one item, on a long
term relationship of loyalty and trust.”
 Where does this fit in with the A3
Process?

The most time-consuming and difficult way to
understand complex ideas is to have to decipher a
lengthy report filled with technical descriptions, business
jargon, and tables of data.

The visual approach is more efficient
 “a picture is worth a thousand words”
 People are visually oriented
 Communicate with as few words as possible and with visual aids

Toyota’s method of communication is the A3 report
 All necessary information to make a complex decision is
presented on one 11” x 17” piece of paper
 Where does this fit in with the A3
Process?

A3 – the process by which a company identifies, frames,
and then acts on problems and challenges at all levels –
perhaps the key to its entire system of developing talent
and continually deepening its knowledge and capabilities

 Nemawashi should be a part of A3.

 Nemawashi should be a part of your Corrective/Preventive

Action Procedure in your ISO 9001 compliant QMS.
 Where does this fit in with the A3
Process?

Questioning, coaching, and teaching take precedence over
commanding and controlling – this is leadership!

It is why these types of questions are asked:

 “What other alternatives have you considered?”
 “How does this solution compare with those alternatives?”

This is where it fits in on the form (which again, is one small part of
the overall A3 process)
 It occurs after Root Cause Analysis (RCA)
 This class does not cover the extremely important process of RCA
 Where does this fit in with the A3
Process?

The more important part of the A3 process is the
leading, questioning, coaching, teaching, and
mentoring process that occurs.

Dr. Deming’s Principle # 7: “Institute leadership.
The aim of leadership should be to help people
and machines and gadgets to do a better job

Dr. Deming’s Principle # 13: “Institute a vigorous
program of education and self-improvement”
 The Process to Achieve
Nemawashi
1) Identify the Stakeholders
2) Determine Customer Requirements
3) Concept Selection (part 1)
4) How to Reach Consensus
5) Generating Concepts
6) Benchmarking
7) Concept Selection (part 2)
8) Synergize for Further Improvement
9) Implementation Plan

“Be flexible in style, and unwavering like a rock, in principle”

Thomas Jefferson
 1) Identify the Stakeholders

Within a company, everyone is supposed to be on the
same team

There is no reason to act in an adversarial way

Yet, the most common problem in large corporations is

the “silos phenomenon”

Many different groups (departments) care more about meeting their
own objectives than about the company’s success

These groups (departments) seem to act as though they want their
particular department or project to get all the resources – they want
to win at all costs

May include “lean” groups
 1) Identify the Stakeholders

Dr. Deming taught us his Principle #9:

“Break down barriers between departments. People

in research, design, sales, and production must work
as a team, to foresee problems of production and in
use that may be encountered with the product or
service.”
 1) Identify the Stakeholders

At Toyota, the process used to gain
consensus from the community is used
every day to get input, involvement and
agreement from a broad cross-section of
the organization.
 1) Identify the Stakeholders

The preferred approach to decision making at
Toyota is group consensus, but with
management approval
 Management reserves the right to seek group input
and then make a decision and announce it. This is
done only if the group is

struggling to get consensus and management must step in

if there is urgent need for a quick decision
 The philosophy is to seek the maximum involvement
appropriate for each situation
1) Identify the Stakeholders
 1) Identify the Stakeholders

Going through a thorough information gathering
and analysis in decision making:
 Uncovers all the facts that, if not considered, could
lead to a great deal of pain and backtracking

Execution tends to be flawless
 Gets all the parties on board and supporting the
decision

Resistance is worked out before implementing anything
 Achieves a great deal of learning up front before
anything is even implemented
 1) Identify the Stakeholders
“For some decisions, I may think I already know the answer and do
not need input from others. There may be a department that is not
directly involved and I think they probably do not have much to
contribute. I may in fact find the right answers on my own, but I will
have a hard time presenting it because the group I skipped will
challenge my recommendations and ask why I did not consider this
and that and the presentation will become a debate. But through
Nemawashi they will agree with the presentation because they have
already agreed with it. So I will go and talk to that department in
advance anyway and generally I am pleasantly surprised because I
get new information.”
Andy Lund, Program Manager, 2004 Toyota Sienna
 1) Identify the Stakeholders

The team of individuals who are affected by the
decision must be assembled

Many people give their input and this generates
consensus

If suppliers or other parties could be affected by
a decision, their involvement is required as well

By the time the formal proposal comes up for
high-level approval, the decision is already
made
 2) Determine Customer
Requirements (needs and wants)

Should be very general, vague, and difficult to implement
“directly”. The recorded requirements should require
further definition.
 Voice of the customer

Should result from genchi genbutsu
 Words that end in “ability” (maintainability)
 Phrases that begin with “ease of” (ease of changeover)
 Words that can apply to all concepts – not just one (not ABS
brakes, but brakeability in bad conditions)
 Include both Quantitative (initial investment) and Qualitative
(ease of assembly)
 Include Basic, Performance, and Delighter Needs (see Kano
Model)
Kano Model example
 2) Determine Customer
Requirements (needs and wants)
Criteria:
Ease of Assembly
Maintainability
Serviceability
Ease of Use
Ease of Cleaning
Initial Cost
On-Going Cost
Proven Technology
 3) Concept Selection (part 1)

Place the Customer Requirements (criteria) into
the first column of Concept Selection Form.

Determine the relative “weight” of each criterion
on a 1 – 5 scale (1 = least important; 5 = most
important)
 Reach consensus on one criterion that is a 5
 Reach consensus on one criterion that is a 1

Work down the list of criteria and rate them by comparing to
the two extremes. This ensures that the team will use the
entire scale.
 3) Concept Selection (part 1)
Criteria: Weight
Ease of Assembly 4
Maintainability 3
Serviceability 2
Ease of Use 5
Ease of Cleaning 1
Initial Cost 4
On-Going Cost 3
Proven Technology 2
 4) How to Reach Consensus

Any stakeholder who is not comfortable with the
decision, has the obligation to “block” the decision
(except for those who are supporters).

It is the obligation of a team member to “block” a

decision, if s/he is not 70% comfortable with the
decision.

If consensus is reached and all participants agree that

they are at least 70% comfortable with the decision,
there must be 100% commitment from each person.
 4) How to Reach Consensus

Each individual must test their 70% comfortable,
100% committed feeling by asking themselves:
 WillI support without conflict?
 Am I personally satisfied?
 Have my thoughts and feelings been understood and
acknowledged?
 How do the others feel?

Each team member is now accountable for the
decision with the team leader holding primary
accountability
 4) How to Reach Consensus
Win-win leaders see life more as a
cooperative – not a competitive – arena,
and that win-win thinking “is based on a
belief that there is plenty for everybody,
that one person’s success is not achieved
at the expense or exclusion of the success
of others.”
Stephen Covey
 5) Generating Concepts

Have small teams, or just individuals:
 1) Develop alternatives designs/concepts

Prius suspensions and hybrid technologies
 2) Find/search for different alternatives

Purchased items

Suppliers or employees
 3) Benchmark alternatives (more on next page)

Each team or individual must ensure that they
detail the concept
 6) Benchmarking

Three Main Types:

Functional
 Any industry, best in class, local
 i.e. benefits, SPC, Product Development Cycle, Benchmarking
 Requires conceptual thinking, inexpensive, fruitful, easy to get
info/data
 Process oriented

Internal
 Sister companies, departments, work cells
 i.e. cycle times, quality levels, absenteeism, internal auditing
 Inexpensive, easy to get info/data, no external focus
 Process oriented
 6) Benchmarking

Competitive
 Your industry and product lines
 i.e. customer performance metrics and future
expectations
 Hard to get/see information, valuable when received;
does not require conceptual thinking

Articles, former employees, trade reports, see below
 Product and Process oriented

Product – tear downs, reverse engineering, Mona Lisa,
competitive vehicle trip

Process – genchi genbutsu, plant trips (if ever possible)
 7) Concept Selection (part 2)

Team members present and define each concepts so all team
members clearly understand each concept and so that each can be
fairly evaluated.

Provide drawings, sketches, brochures, etc. if applicable.

Choose the datum concept (if possible and applicable)
 If there is an existing concept that is currently in use, choose this
concept as the datum.
 If not, choose the concept that most people are familiar with as the
datum.
 Place the datum concept into the first column to the right of the Weight
column. See example.
 Do not use a datum (tougher to do)

Places the other concepts into the columns to the right of the Datum
column.
 CRITERIA IMPORTANCE CONCEPT 1 CONCEPT 2 CONCEPT 3 CONCEPT 4
RATING CURRENT DESIGN

Ease of Assembly 4 D

Maintainability 3

Serviceability 2 A

Ease of Use 5

Ease of Cleaning 1 T

Initial Cost 4

On-Going Cost 3 U

Proven Technology 2

TOTAL:

DECISION:
 7) Concept Selection (part 2)

The team makes a commitment to each other
that the concepts do not belong to any one
individual or smaller team. There is no
ownership.

If any new criterion are brought forth throughout

the process, the team may decide to add it to the
list with an importance rating.
 7) Concept Selection (part 2)

The team works with one criterion at a time, comparing each concept to the
datum concept, for that criterion.
 “How does Concept 2 compare with the Datum Concept for “ease of assembly”?”
and continue until each concept has been compared to the Datum for that
criterion. Move down to the next criterion and continue.

 As before, consensus must be reached.

 It is best to evaluate as such when making comparisons:

++ Much Better
+ Better
S Same (or A for Average if there is no datum)
- Worse
-- Much Worse
 CRITERIA IMPORTANCE CONCEPT 1 CONCEPT 2 CONCEPT 3 CONCEPT 4
RATING CURRENT DESIGN

Ease of Assembly 4 D S S +

Maintainability 3 + - -

Serviceability 2 A + - -

Ease of Use 5 S S +

Ease of Cleaning 1 T S ++ S

Initial Cost 4 S - ++

On-Going Cost 3 U - S +

Proven Technology 2 ++ - +

TOTAL:

DECISION:
 7) Concept Selection (part 2)

Computes the totals for each concept (column) by
 Multiplying the Weight and the Evaluation Rating for each criterion and
adding up the totals
 If “ease of assembly” had an importance rating of “4” and the concept
was much better (++) than the datum, then it would receive an “8+”
 If “proven technology” had an importance rating of “2”and the concept
was the same (S) as the datum, it would receive a “0”
 The total is added up for each column.
 The concept with the highest positive score is the best choice.
 If this was a choice of purchasing an item or choosing a supplier and the
team cannot change these concepts, then the team’s decision is
complete. If the team does have an influence on the design, proceed to
the next step.
 CRITERIA IMPORTANCE CONCEPT 1 CONCEPT 2 CONCEPT 3 CONCEPT 4
RATING CURRENT DESIGN

Ease of Assembly 4 D S S +
Maintainability 3 + - -
Serviceability 2 A + - -
Ease of Use 5 S S +
Ease of Cleaning 1 T S ++ S
Initial Cost 4 S - ++
On-Going Cost 3 U - S +
Proven Technology 2 ++ - +
M

TOTAL: 0 +6 -9 +17

DECISION: √
 8) Synergize for Further
Improvement

“Synthesis, or putting parts together to form

a whole , is the most difficult thinking skill
to learn”

Seeing David in the Stone

James B. Swartz & Joseph E. Swartz
 8) Synergize for Further
Improvement

Synergize concepts when there is team control over the concept.

Choose the highest scoring concept as the base and highlights its deficiencies when
compared to the other concepts.

Modify the base concept by extracting ideas from the other concepts and attempting
to institute them into the base concept.

Place the synergized concept into the final column and leads the team in evaluating
the concept as was previously done.

In this case, the team borrowed design attributes from Concept 2 with regard to
Serviceability and Maintainability and improved Concept #4

As before, consensus must be achieved.

 CRITERIA IMPORTANCE CONCEPT 1 CONCEPT 2 CONCEPT 3 CONCEPT 4 SYNERGIZED
RATING CURRENT CONCEPT
DESIGN

Ease of Assembly 4 D S S + +
Maintainability 3 + - - +
Serviceability 2 A + - - +
Ease of Use 5 S S + +
Ease of Cleaning 1 T S ++ S +
Initial Cost 4 S - ++ ++
On-Going Cost 3 U - S + +
Proven 2 ++ - + +
Technology

TOTAL: +6 -9 +17 + 28
DECISION: √
 9) Implementation Plan

Gain management approval to move on

The next step in an A3 process is to develop the
implementation plan.

If it is a complex project, it is possible to develop
multiple implementation plan concepts and go
through the same process

Implement Rapidly
 What is Achieved?

Far more important than the sound
decision that was made through
Nemawshi is
A great deal of learning up front is achieved
before any thing is even planned or
implemented
 Toyota’s greatest accomplishment –
becoming a true learning organization!!
 Questions and Answers

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 mike@mikemick.com, 847-401-0442

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