Toyota is currently the worlds leading car manufacturer, producing consistent better performing and more cost effective cars than any of the major American brands˳ How do they achieve this remarkable feat? Is there some secret sauce to their formula?
Well, yes, there is some secret sauce˳ But it isn’t so secret – it’s actually fairly well documented˳ It’s called the Toyota Production System, and I’d like to explain a little about it today˳
TPS is a fully integrated socio-technical system comprising of it’s management principles, company philosophy, and manufacturing practices˳ Originally known as “just in time” (or JIT), it draws upon the work of the founders of Toyota, his son, and an engineer – which in turn drew their inspiration from Henry Ford˳ The Toyota employees came to America to observe the Ford production methods, but were decidedly unimpressed with the whole operation˳ From that experience, and observations of an automated drink resupply system in the supermarket, they formed the principles of TPS˳
The objective of TPS is to reduce waste, inconsistency, and overburden˳ These are embodies in the Japanese terms muda, mura, and muri˳ The process should deliver the required results smoothly – without inconsistencies; while being as flexible as necessary without overburdening the workers, which would result in waste˳
What is waste as addressed by TPS? 7 kinds have been identified:
Overproduction
Motion (of man or machine)
Waiting (of man or machine)
Conveyance
Processing itself
Inventory (raw materials)
Correction (rework and scrap)
The physical cost of correcting defective products or disposing of them is obvious, but the rest may need explaining˳ Motion waste could refer to extra actions required on the part of the assembly line worker who must physically carry items from one machine to another – which could be reduced by connecting the machines˳ Waiting waste refers to the time when one machine lies unused, because it is still “waiting” for another process in the production line to finish – you can’t put the lights on the car until the paint has dried, for instance˳ Wastage of raw materials can occur because the design of the machine is such that it requires 1m squared of metal to cut a single 50cm squared shape – with proper designing, these could combined into 1 larger sheet with less waste cut˳
Another key aspect of Toyota’s success lies in their low stock levels – when a customer orders a car, it is often literally made to order as requested – only possible because of the sheer speed and efficiency of the Toyota Production System, and hence stock does sit in storage waiting for a buyer˳
Source by https://ezinearticles˳com/?A-Quick-Look-at-the-Toyota-Production-System—TPS&id=5791423
