Toyota Production System

Main article: Toyota Production System

Toyota has long been recognized as an industry leader in manufacturing and production. Three stories of its origin have been found, one that they studied Piggly-Wiggly's just-in-time distribution system, one that they followed the writings of W. Edwards Deming, and one that they were given the principles from a WWII US government training program (Training Within Industry). It is possible that all these, and more, are true. Regardless of the origin, the principles described by Toyota in its management philosophy, The Toyota Way, are: Challenge, Kaizen (improvement), Genchi Genbutsu (go and see), Respect, and Teamwork.[38]

As described by external observers of Toyota, the principles of the Toyota Way are:[39]

Base your management decisions on a long-term philosophy, even at the expense of short-term goals

Create continuous process flow to bring problems to the surface

Use "pull" systems to avoid overproduction

Level out the workload

Build a culture of stopping to fix problems, to get quality right the first time

Standardized tasks are the foundation for continuous improvement and employee empowerment

Use visual control so no problems are hidden

Use only reliable, thoroughly tested technology that serves your people and processes

Grow leaders who thoroughly understand the work, live the philosophy, and teach it to others

Develop exceptional people and teams who follow your company’s philosophy

Respect your extended network of partners and suppliers by challenging them and helping them improve

Go and see for yourself to thoroughly understand the situation (genchi genbutsu)

Make decisions slowly by consensus, thoroughly considering all options; implement decisions rapidly

Become a learning organization through relentless reflection and continuous improvement

[edit]Operations