At some point in most any Lean philosophy journey, many kaizen teams get stuck and are unable to move forward. These challenges arise because as waste is eliminated from processes. New, previously unseen layers of inefficiency are discovered.
At this point, a call is often made to a consultant or other internal expert asking ‘What does Toyota do with this type of a challenge?’
At the surface, this question sounds innocent enough.
After all, it is called the “Toyota Production System” so why not benchmark the automobile manufacturer. Unfortunately, copying specific tools used by Toyota to solve a specific challenge leads down a path of neglecting our own creativity and perhaps more importantly, overlooking the philosophy of TPS.
In this article, we will point out the specific differences between such tools and the philosophy with the goal of helping the Lean Practitioner secure a healthy continuous improvement future.
An analogy is useful here…
Useful Lean Analogy
Imagine that we are given the task of winning a bicycle race. Unfortunately, we are not bicycle experts and do not know what type of equipment to purchase for this race.
Fortunately, we are very good friends with an expert.
In fact, he is a Tour de France champion! We call upon this individual for his recommendations with the mindset that his knowledge and experience can surely help us prepare for and win a race.
With great excitement and passion, our friend runs though his preferred bicycle brands, models and training methods. Satisfied with this information, we go to the local bike shop and make a purchase based on our friends recommendations.
On race day, we are terribly disappointed to find that this “expert” recommended bikes made for competition on a flat, paved road, while we will be racing on dirt trails in rough, mountainous terrain.
Tools vs. Lean Philosophy
Every business is different with regards to its specific production challenges (the specific terrain it races on). These differences are not necessarily driven by the end product produced, but often by other uniqueness. For example while two companies may produce the exact same product, the way they do this is impacted by a myriad of factors, which include:
Equipment:
no two facilities will have the exact same equipment. The type, quantity and age of the assets impact the shop floor changes can be executed.
Layout constraints:
The shape of plant’s four walls will limit what changes can be quickly made. Each plant will have unique layout constraints including elements such as existing electrical installations, hazmat ventilation requirements, compressed air routing and other kaizen impediments.
Make versus Buy decisions:
Although two plants may make identical end products, each will have made unique make-buy decisions. This mix of parts that are fabricated in-house versus purchased from outside suppliers will dictate material flow, pull and call systems, as well as on equipment utilization and scheduling.
Union Requirements:
If one plant is unionized and the other not, especially during the first year of each company’s Lean Journey, the pace of change may differ as the union becomes comfortable with the deployment and management’s corresponding policies.
The point in these bullets is that when we copy specific tools (“I need a bicycle”) without understanding why, even with the best intentions, we run a great risk of implementing the wrong solution. While a particular improvement may have worked for the benchmarked company. Since your operation will exhibit differences, it is quite possible to implement the wrong solution. Fortunately, the Toyota Production System provides a framework for avoiding such misfortune.
Originally developed for outside Toyota suppliers who were making the same tool-copying mistakes, you can use the framework to strengthen your own operations. The next section explains how.
Lean philosophy
The Lean philosophy is defined as the guiding principles that are to be followed as a company emulates Toyota’s success. One of the most concise examples of this philosophy is the TPS house. Originally developed by Taiichi Ohno to share with outside suppliers, the TPS house does not recommend specific solutions to the countless challenges that may arise in a business. Instead, it provides a general framework or a structure to use when difficulties arise.
Although this article does not explore the details of the TPS House, you may obtain an overview by clicking here.
Once the specifics of a problem are understood in terms of the TPS House, the lean practitioner can pick the most appropriate tool(s) that best solves the problem. These tools are what we refer to when discussing the Toyota production system and include items such as kanban, 5S, andon and SMED.
Therefore, instead of asking “what would Toyota do?”, ask yourself:
“How does the Lean philosophy apply to the problem at hand?”
“What is the root cause of what I trying to fix? What is really going on?”
“Why don’t I go the gemba to understand what is really going on?”
Stand in Circle
Unfortunately, simply telling someone faced with an improvement challenge to follow Lean philosophy instead of copying individual tools can be a frustrating response. To be sure, this is when Lean’s simplicity becomes challenging and improvements require our own individual mental efforts and ingenuity. However, there are many resources that can be used. We outline a few of them here:
- Internal: Seek the assistance of individuals who may have the sought knowledge. In addition to engineers, managers and the other usual suspects, individual operators are usually a great resource.
- Internal: “Stand in Circle.” Taiichi Ohno was notorious for making his disciples stand in a particular are of the shop floor to observe a single process for hours on end. By watching a process continuously repeat itself, the student often discovers new insights. With each passing cycle, you should discover something new about the process.
- Internal: If your challenge is that you are overwhelmed by the magnitude of the process that you are trying to improve, consider reducing the scope of the project. Remember to follow the kaizen mentality.
- External: There are many Lean blogs and other external resources where such questions can be posed. A great resources is lean.org. This non-profit organization has a quality blog that can be consulted for guidance.
- External: If your company uses external consultants, contact these individuals with specifics. Most consultants do not mind assisting clients during off-site weeks at no cost (but you may want to verify just to make sure).
- External: Gembutsu consultants are always eager assist Lean practitioners in solving specific challenges. Even if you are not a current client, we would like to hear from you. (Of course current and past clients know how excited we get when faced with a particularly complex problem.)
Parting Thoughts
When asking what Toyota does in specific instances. The best answer is that Toyota focuses on the philosophies of lean manufacturing instead of using specific tools. Kaizen practitioners should not concern themselves with copying the exact solution that Toyota (or any other Lean company for that matter) has used to solve similar problem, for it may not lead to the desired outcome.
We fully recognize that the advice given in this article is much easier to put in writing than it is to implement on the shop floor. We encourage you to view this not with frustration, but as a challenge. After all, as Lean philosophy practitioners, it is this challenge of seeking new ways of doing things that motivates us! Good luck!