Culture is at the Root
"The toughest and most basic challenge for companies that want to learn from Toyota is how to create an aligned organization of individuals who each have the DNA of the…
"The toughest and most basic challenge for companies that want to learn from Toyota is how to create an aligned organization of individuals who each have the DNA of the…
"From the time Toyota first started its operation, the leaders believed that the key to success was investment in its people. Toyota culture has evolved since the company's founding and…
"Be hard on the process, but soft on the operators." A Toyota saying quoted in Toyota Kata by Mike Rother (McGraw Hill, 2010) p. 141.
"Nothing changes until leader behavior changes." Attributed to Rensis Likert in Creating a Lean Culture, 3rd Edition by David Mann (CRC Press, 2015), p. 237.
"A happy customer is the best job security you can get." Jay Goltz, CEO of The Goltz Group quoted in Small Giants by Bo Burlingham 10th anniversary edition (Portfolio/Penguin, 2005,…
"Many companies change the physical layout of equipment and think that one-piece flow will automatically follow. But they often are creating fake flow. An example of fake flow would be…
"Sustaining continuous flow also serves to surface any problem that would inhibit that flow. In essence, the creation of flow forces the correction of problems, resulting in reduced waste. We…
"So physically shifting from batch and queue operations…to one-piece flow without inventory almost guarantees you will encounter many more problems. So why do it? Precisely to allow the processes to…
"Connected processes force all team members to strive for perfection. [Toyota Manager] Ohno taught that lowering the 'water level' of inventory exposes problems (like rocks in the water), and you…
Continuous Flow Producing and moving one item at a time (or a small and consistent batch of items) through a series of processing steps as continuously as possible, with each…