Page 30 - How To Implement Lean Manufacturing

Lean Manufacturing and the Toyota Pr oduction System 11

1. Has a focus on quantity control to reduce cost by eliminating waste
2. Is built on a strong foundation of process and product quality
3. Is fully integrated
4. Is continually evolving
5. Is perpetuated by a strong healthy culture that is managed consciously,
continuously, and consistently

I refer to this as the five Fold Definition of the TPS. It is a much better characterization
of the TPS, but unfortunately to those within the TPS this is old news, while to those
outside the TPS this definition may not be very meaningful. So, as we go further into
this chapter, I will try to put these five aspects of the TPS in context.

Who Developed the TPS?
The accepted architect of the TPS is Taiichi Ohno, the Chief Engineer of Toyota for many
years. Others contributed greatly, including Shigeo Shingo and the members of the
Toyoda family, but Ohno gets most of the credit for its creation, development, and
implementation. Ohno may also get most of the credit because he wrote the most about
it, or maybe just did the most about it. Neither is important. What is important is that
the TPS specifically, and Lean Manufacturing in general, is a tremendous contribution
to society and manufacturing in particular and we owe a huge debt of gratitude to those
individuals who created it and caused it to mature even further.

The Two Pillars of the TPS
Ohno describes the TPS as consisting of many techniques that are designed to reduce
the cost of manufacturing. His method of reducing cost is to remove waste. This waste
elimination system, the TPS, is built on two pillars.

Just In Time
The first pillar is Just In Time (JIT). This is the technique of supplying exactly the right
quantity, at exactly the right time, and at exactly the correct location. It is quantity control.
It literally is at the technical heart of the TPS. Most
people envision this pillar as inventory control, and
this is a part of it. However, JIT is much more than a “After 1955, however, the
simple inventory control system. What’s surprising question became how to make
to a large number of practitioners is that at the heart the exact quantity needed… ”
of quantity control—at the heart of JIT—is a deep Taiichi Ohno
understanding and control of variation.

Jidoka
The second pillar is jidoka. This is a series of cultural and technical issues regar-ding
the use of machines and manpower together, utilizing people for the unique tasks
they are able to perform and allowing the machines to self-regulate the quality.
Technically, jidoka uses tactics such as poka-yoke, (methods of fool proofing the