A purpose is something worthwhile or meaningful that we want to attain.
What I’ve commonly heard over the years about the Toyota Production System (TPS) goes something like this: “We’re not a car company!” “Our product is unique.” “We’re different. This won’t work in our business.” “It sounds good but it’ll never work here.” “We’re high mix-low volume so this doesn’t apply to us.” This is not the way to start a lean initiative. These excuses remind me of something my mama used to tell me, “Can’t never could.”
The extent to which we achieve success is dictated by the degree to which management is committed to innovative change, not making excuses. 1
Lean starts and stops at the top. It does not matter how enthusiastic anyone else in the organization is about waste elimination or lean manufacturing. If the leader is not bent this way, any efforts are a waste of time. Senior leaders must be “committed to innovative change.” Talking about it, meeting about it, discussing it at lunch is not enough. Senior leaders should be committed like the pig, not the chicken. (The chicken supplies the eggs. The chicken is involved. The pig furnishes the bacon. The pig is committed!) Employees see through a lack of commitment easily. This means you must change the way you view your position and your daily work. We had a saying at Toyota, “Leaders are teachers.” Leaders must become teachers. You must get down in the weeds with everyone else. Participate enthusiastically. Lead! If you do, employee respect and buy-in are greatly improved, and you may learn something too. Lead, and your employees will follow.
[I]f the presidents isolate themselves in, say, their downtown offices, they will fail to stay informed about front-line, or workplace, conditions. This will hamper their ability for effective decision-making. 2
In defense of senior leaders, I can understand the hesitance to reveal that you may not know much about lean or Toyota. There’s a lot of static in the lean world. Unless you worked at Toyota or maybe a supplier for a considerable period of time, it would be impossible to understand TPS, except in an academic way. This is because you were not exposed to the culture. To many leaders, revealing a lack of knowledge might be considered a sign of weakness. Leaders might be a little hesitant to let that fact be known. Most achieved their current position based on their past performance, and that’s to be applauded. But the Toyota Template is radically different from traditional manufacturing. Eliminating waste and being efficient are good for your company, your employees, and your community. There is no downside. Leaders should swallow their pride, check their ego at the office door, and get in the mix.
Besides lack of knowledge, another real issue for senior leaders to overcome is the satisfaction that comes with a “marriage to mediocrity.” This is the unspoken issue whereby improvement is desired, generally in sales and pricing, but not in areas where it’s believed there’s risk to the status quo. Oh, they might submit to some kaizen events in specific areas, but nothing of lasting consequence. After all, the company is making money. The current Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are in reach. Everyone is getting a nice bonus. In this case, leaders do not see a compelling benefit in rocking the boat. This is especially true when they consider the failure rate. After all, the chances of success are historically abysmal. In this case, leaders tend to go through the motions or make a half-hearted commitment. There is no burning desire for change. Why would senior leaders want to change? They see no need. They’re happy with the status quo. The tragedy is what’s being missed.
Progress cannot be generated when we are satisfied with existing situations. 3
Thinking about commitment reminds me of an encounter I had in the mid-1990s with a Toyota executive. It happened one Saturday morning. I had come in to the plant with a few of my team members to work on a kaizen project. After the team got started, I went to the break room for a few minutes to do some paperwork. As I was sitting at my desk, one of the doors to the break room flew open. When I looked up, I recognized the president of TMMK (Toyota Motor Manufacturing—KY). He was decked out in Kevlar sleeves and gloves, and he came directly to my desk. A bit surprised, I stood immediately, and we extended our arms to shake hands. As we did, he asked me what I was doing there on a Saturday. I told him that we were working on a kaizen. He said, “Ohhh, thank you very much!” And out the door he went, leaving me to make sense of what had just happened. What was he doing in Body Weld early on a Saturday morning? Did the president of TMMK really need to be at work on a Saturday morning visiting the plant floor? Would anyone have known, or cared, if he weren’t? Of course not. He was there, in my view, to encourage our efforts. He was all in. He understood the importance and symbolism of his efforts. This is an example of leadership, and it made a big impression on me. As a senior leader at your business, can you commit yourself to this level of leadership? Do you really have the will?
By the way, this former TMMK president’s name is on U.S. Patent # 4,802,616. 4 This is the patent for the Global Body Line (GBL) at Toyota. The GBL (or as we called it, “the blue sky project”) was a revolutionary change from the already industry-leading Flexible Body Line (FBL). With the FBL, each model type required three different pallets. This required more pallets traveling from the sub-assembly areas to the Framing Body Line and thus, more traffic lanes in the overhead area. The GBL reduced this need to one interchangeable pallet, which reduced the total number of pallets in use and opened up the overhead area (thus, “the blue sky project”). Additionally, the new pallets held the body panels from inside the shell body, freeing up room for additional robot welding. The GBL was a tremendous advantage for Toyota. The following are some of the benefits of the GBL to Toyota:
30% reduced time vehicle spends in body shop
70% time reduction for major model change
50% cost reduction to add/switch models
50% initial investment reduction
50% assembly footprint reduction
50% lower energy usage
50% maintenance costs reduction 5
In addition to will, the other aspect of the purpose of the template is skill. Skill means a deep understanding of Toyota’s culture, concepts, and critical conditions. This is different from understanding definitions or the purpose of the tools. This understanding means the ability to both teach and do. Ohno said, “To understand is to be able to do.” 6 Teaching is the easier part. Numerous lean folks can talk about the tools used by Toyota in addition to many non-Toyota tools. Herein lies one of the contributors to failure. The water has been muddied quite a bit over the years, and there’s been no focus. Some classroom work is needed, but the real issue with the skill part is finding someone who both deeply understands, and can implement the concepts. I agree with the author of The Toyota Way. The best resource is someone with the Toyota DNA, meaning that experience directly from Toyota, or from a company closely linked to them, is best. 7 Of course, I’m biased because Toyota was my personal experience, but the logical thinking is that you want someone who’s lived in this culture if you intend to create a similar one. For example, how would someone understand the need for and use of the Triangle kanban if they’d never seen or used it? Given the current odds of success, it makes sense to err on the side of caution. Look for people who have this DNA, who have a strong understanding, and the chances for success are increased.
I want to touch on the cultural aspect briefly. For our purposes, culture is defined as the characteristics, such as behaviors and beliefs, that are common to an organization. There’s been extensive talk about culture change in the lean community. There are four basic steps, three essential elements, lists of expected behaviors, XX essential lean tools, and on and on. Maybe these concepts are true, but the real issue is how to change the culture. Remember, Ohno didn’t set out to form a culture. His direction was to catch up with America in 3 years. Toyota was working on becoming an efficient and profitable automaker. The result of the systems and concepts that they adopted over time formed the culture. This is an extremely important point. The Toyota culture happened, over time, because of the things done and taught by Ohno and company.
Why is this culture difficult to achieve? Maybe, if we look back at the words of Mr. Ohno, we’ll find a clue. After 1962, Toyota was attempting to expand the kanban system to their outside suppliers. These outside firms were invited to Toyota to see the system and to study it up close.
Ohno said, “This way of teaching gave us the ability to demonstrate an efficient production method in an actual production plant. As a matter of fact, they would have had difficulty understanding the system without seeing it in action.” 8 Could it be that this difficulty exists today? How many have not seen the system in action? If I wanted to be a major league baseball pitcher, I could be shown how to grip a circle change, how to wind up, given points on leverage, and so on. I could put on a uniform and trot out to the mound. I might be moderately conversant in baseball lingo and strategy. I could even chew a plug of tobacco. Would this make me a major league pitcher? Of course not. It would require years of training under knowledgeable coaches along with many hours of practice and real game situations. The same applies to TPS. Reading about it and talking about it are not the same as actually living it and doing it.
Is TPS truly understood?
The Purpose: A strong will at the top of the organization combined with the skill to implement.
Culture: Commitment at the top communicates and demonstrates the importance of the culture change. Leaders lead. The skill is acquired initially and taught/learned through the organization.
1. Ohno, Taiichi. 1988. Just-in-Time for Today and Tomorrow, p. xii. Cambridge, MA: Productivity Press.
2. Ibid., p. 77.
3. Ohno, Taiichi. Inspiring Quotes. www.inspiringquotes.us/quotes/BcJU_NjI3MyDd.
4. 4.Naruse et al. ‘System for positioning automotive vehicle side body.’ United States, 1989. http://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?Docid=4802616&idkey=NONE&homeurl=http%3A%252F%252Fpatft.uspto.gov%252Fnetahtml%252FPTO%252Fpatimg.htm
5. Adapted from Visnic, Bill. 2002. Toyota adopts new flexible assembly system. Wards Auto. November 1. http://wardsauto.com/news-analysis/toyota-adopts-new-flexible-assembly-system.
6. Ohno, Taiichi. 2013. Taiichi Ohno’s Workplace Management, Special 100th Birthday Edition, p. 174. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
7. Liker, Jeffrey K. 2004.The Toyota Way, 14 Management Principles from the World’s Greatest Manufacturer, p. 294. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
8. Ohno, Taiichi. 1988. Toyota Production System: Beyond Large-Scale Production, p. 34. New York, NY: Productivity Press.