Principle 6: standardized tasks are the foundation for continuous improvement and employee empowerment

Chapter 12 Toyota Way

Importance of Standardization in Toyota Way

Standard work sheets in TPS:
Prevents recurrence of defective products Prevents operational mistakes Incorporate worker's ideas Taiichi Ohno

Evolution of Standardized system

mass production replaced craft Production Concept of Standardization was based on principles of Industrial Engineering set by Fredrick Taylor In automotive companies , Plants used to have Industrial Engineers(IEs) who carefully timing every second of workers tasks and imposing improvements
This created conflicts between engineers and labor unions

Ford Motor Company

Rigid Standardization Henry Fords (1988) perspective, written back in 1926, fits well with the Toyota view: Todays standardization ... is the necessary foundation on which tomorrows improvement will be based. If you think of standardization as the best you know today, but which is to be improved tomorrowyou get somewhere. But if you think of standards as confining, then progress stops.

Training within Industry Philosophy

American militarys Training Within Industry (TWI) service Based on the belief that the way to learn about industrial engineering methods was through application on the shop floor and that standardized work should be a cooperative effort between the foreman and the worker The four Horsemen group:
A group of American army which trained Japanese Businesses to build their management structure after WW2 Based on two imp concepts
Multiplier effect(Training managers which will be the core for training others) Kaizen theory of continuous improvement Toyota Way of going to source of problem, observing in detail and learning by detail were influenced by TWI.

Purpose of Standardization: Maximize efficiency, minimize waste.

Takt time

Work Sequence

Standard in Process stock

Standardized work

There are three areas to took at: 1. Takt time: the amount of time which is given job is to be completed 2. Work sequence: the step by step order in which each processing assembly operation is to be performed. 3. Standard in Process Stock: the number of parts that should be in process at any given time. Establish the best work sequence for each process to achieve your ideal takt time and standard in process stock.

Standardization is Basis for Continuous Improvement and Quality

Mangers misconception;
finding one best way to do a process and freeze it!!!

Imais principle
Standardize

stabilize
Improve

Zero defects can be ensured through Standardization Consistency is ensured

Taylors Philosophy
Principles Scientifically determining the one best way of doing the job. Scientifically developing the one best way to train someone to do the job. Scientifically selecting people who were most capable of doing the job in that way. Training foremen to teach their subordinates and monitor them so they followed the one best way. Creating financial incentives for workers to follow the one best way and exceed the performance standard scientifically set by the industrial engineer. Results Red tape Tall, hierarchical organizational structures Top-down control Books and books of written rules and procedures Slow and cumbersome implementation and application Poor communication Resistance to change Static and inefficient rules and procedures

NUMMI plant observations

Nummi Project:
Established in 1982 as a joint venture between Toyota and GM Incentive of developing lean Production System Closed in 2009 due to clashes

Observations: jobs are highly repetitive with short cycle times (e.g., about one minute before repeating). workers follow very detailed standardized procedures that touch every aspect of the organization. Waste is being eliminated to continually increase productivity. Beaurocratic + flexible organization High employee involvement, good communication,high employee morale,flexible,strong customer focus

Standardizing work for new product Launch

Toyota pilot teams Consists of engineers, workers and management group to design the system Promotes teamwork Use of checklist books

Standardization as Enabler
Firstly, standards should be specific yet flexible
In repetitive manual work, standards are specific In engineering, standards are variable

People doing the job has to improve the Standards

Imposed rules create conflict between management and Labor.

Why US Companies fail to imitate Toyota Standardized structure?

U.S. companies have tried to imitate Toyotas approach by going right to computers, creating large databases of engineering standards, but Failed Because the hard part is getting people
To implement those standards Then to improve them

Toyota spends years working with its people to instill in them the importance of using and improving standards.