Page 208 - How To Implement Lean Manufacturing

186 Cha pte r Ele v e n

not for the failures. As soon as a failure appears, it is amazing how management will
work to find both circumstances and “others” to blame. Yet at the first blush of success,
they will stand in line to not only collect the accolades but the bonuses as well.
What kind of logic supports that? It is said in a folksy way that, “Success has many
fathers, but failure is an orphan.”
Well, some management teams will take responsibility for their failures … or sort of.
They will talk about it and say nice things like, “We take full responsibility” or “the
buck stops here,” or some nice-sounding phrase—and they might even feel bad about
it. But that is not the measure of what true responsibility is really about—it is about
RESPONSE-ability. Responsibility is simply the ability to respond. So, just how do they
respond? Clearly Kiichiro Toyoda not only felt bad, not only did he say he took respon-
sibility, but his actions were unmistakably supportive of what he said. This man, and
hence this company, “walks the talk.” He set an example for what is expected of each
Toyota Manager, what is expected of each Toyota Supervisor, and what is expected of
each Toyota employee. Consequently, they have a culture that expects responsibility,
and they work hard to maintain that. They are responsible.

A Culture of Worker Responsibility: Jidoka and Line Shutdowns
The second example, also focusing on responsibility, but closer to the shop floor, is the
jidoka principle that, upon finding a defect, the line is shut down and not started until
the problem has been resolved. This line stoppage is done by the worker or anyone who
finds a defect. It is not only their right to do this, it is their responsibility. Toyota consid-
ers this a good, if not mandatory, business practice.
Most American plants would consider this like turning the asylum over to the
inmates. At the typical American plant, this idea is close to the truth. Not because
the workers are insane, but often because they do not have what I call “the context
of the problem.” Consequently, when they find a defect, they cannot make a good busi-
ness decision to shut down or keep it producing. They do not understand enough about
the problems and the consequences of shutting down the line, or the consequences of
not shutting down the line.
What does this say for the Toyota culture? Let me just mention three aspects.

• It shows a great respect for the decision-making ability of everyone. What this
means culturally is that they demand—and expect—respect from their people.
It is a culture of individual respect.
• They have confidence in the training of these people. They not only train their
people but expect them to use this training. It is a culture that values knowledge
and training.
• It shows, beyond a doubt, that the worker is fully capable of producing 100
percent good product. It also says that if we cannot produce good product, we
will produce no product. It is the ultimate statement of the importance of
quality.
Again, how does your manufacturing system and your management measure up to
this?
• Are your line workers shown this degree of respect? If not, why and what are
the consequences of this?