PROLOGUE SUMMARY
THE TOYOTA WAY TO SERVICE EXCELLENCE
1- Two (out of many others) variations of lean management:
SIX SIGMA – 3.4 defects per million opportunities
The Six Sigma method uses a step-by-step approach called DMAIC, an acronym that stands for
define, measure, analyse, improve, and control. According to Six Sigma adherents, a business
may solve any seemingly unsolvable problem by following these five steps:
The Five Steps of Six Sigma
1. Define:
A team of people, led by a Six Sigma expert, chooses a process to focus on and defines
the problem it wishes to solve.
2. Measure
The team measures the initial performance of the process, creating a benchmark, and
pinpoints a list of inputs that may be hindering performance.
3. Analyse:
Next the team analyses the process by isolating each input, or potential reason for any
failures, and testing it as the possible root of the problem.
4. Improve:
The team works from there to implement changes that will improve system
performance.
5. Control:
The group adds controls to the process to ensure it does not regress and become
ineffective once again.
THEORY OF CONSTRAINTS
Theory of Constraints (TOC) is a methodology for improving processes that focus on identifying
and correcting constraints or root causes of bottlenecks. By addressing these constraints, TOC
can help businesses become more profitable and organizations more efficient in achieving
their goals.
The Five Steps of TOC:
PROLOGUE SUMMARY
THE TOYOTA WAY TO SERVICE EXCELLENCE
2- Common assumptions of Lean:
- There is one clear and best way to get started.
- Because lean was developed in Japan, there may be something peculiar about it that needs to
be modified to fit cultures outside Japan.
- Toyota itself has a precise method of applying the tools in the same way in every place that
others need to copy.
3- What is the Toyota way? (def.):
The Toyota way is a generic philosophy that can apply to any organizations, and if applied diligently, it
will virtually guarantee (near 0 risks) dramatic improvement.
It is a way of thinking, and a system of interconnected processes and people who are continuously
striving to improve how they work and better deliver value to each customer.
At the heart is a passion to pursue perfection, by striving, step-by-step, toward clearly defined goals.
The twin pillars of the Toyota Way are continuous improvement and respect for people.
4- “In Lean”, the distinction btw manufacturing, and service is messier than it seems:
E.g., of lean in services:
Theda Care’s (healthcare) CEO decided to lead the lean transformation personally after he visited a
manufacture of snowblowers whose president was totally committed to lean.
Before at Theda Care, patients had to come and go and come back several times. Now 95% of patients
leave with a plan of care in a single visit, plus, upgrades have been conducted, such as on-site completed
blood tests in minutes.
5- The origin of the TOYOTA WAY / COMPANY CULTURE (roots and core values):
SAKICHI TOYODA – 1867 “KING OF INVENTORS” – Father of the Japanese industrial revolution.
He was the son of a poor carpenter in a rice farming village.
He learned carpentry from ground up.
He saw a problem in the community: women were working
their fingers to the bone using manual looms to make cloth
for the family and for sale.
To ease the burden, he began to invent a new kind of loom.
His first modification used gravity to allow weavers to send
the shuttle of cotton thread back and forth through the weft
by manipulating foot pedals instead of using their hands.
Immediately women worked half as hard + productivity.
In 1926 he formed Toyota Automatic Loom Works.
PROLOGUE SUMMARY
THE TOYOTA WAY TO SERVICE EXCELLENCE
6- Guiding principles / VALUES of Sakichi Toyoda:
- Contribute to society.
- Put the customer first and the company second.
- Show respect for people.
- Know your business from the ground up.
- Get your hands dirty.
- Work hard and with discipline.
- Work as a team.
- Build in quality.
- Continually improve toward vision.
7- The TOYODA PRECEPTS:
- Be contributive to the development and welfare of the country by working together, regardless
of position, in faithfully fulfilling your duties.
- Be ahead of the times through endless creativity, inquisitiveness, and pursuit of improvement.
- Be practical and avoid frivolity.
- Be kind and generous; strive to create a warm, homelike atmosphere.
- Be reverent and show gratitude for things great and small in thought and deed.
8- The TOYOTA MOTOR COMPANY:
KICHIIRO TOYODA – 1894
CREATION OF TOYOTA MOTOR COMPANY 1937 (aged 43)
MECHANICAL ENGINEER.
He chose automob. to contribute to society (risky major challenge)
He saw a need, an opportunity, and believed in his team to go on.
Him and his team would learn about all the technologies from the
ground up and get their hand dirty reflecting self-reliance principle.
Upholding the JUST IN TIME approach:
TAIICHI OHNO
YOUNG MANAGER AT TOYOTA AUTOMATIC LOOMS
DEVELOPER OF THE TPS – TOYOTA PRODUCTION SYSTEM
He is who turned the Just In Time from a concept into a working
system. He used KAIZEN methodology (solve problem after problem).
He instaured one-piece flow to build to the rate of customer demand.
TPS is represented by a house. It’s two key pillars are Just In Time and
Jidoka (stop when there’s a pb. And immediately solve the pb.).
TPS is sometimes called “Thinking Production System”.
PROLOGUE SUMMARY
THE TOYOTA WAY TO SERVICE EXCELLENCE
9- TOYOTA PRODUCTION SYSTEM – TPS:
Perfect adherence to the TPS vision was never possible, but it provides a picture of perfection that could
always be strived for – the purpose of KAIZEN (solve problem after problem).
10- WHAT IS LEAN?
It was originally inspired by the TPS – LEAN is a descriptor of organizational excellence.
Lean is not a term we hear a lot around Toyota.
It was first introduced in 1990 in the book The Machine That Changed The World. The message was
that Japanese auto companies had developed an integrated enterprise based on a fundamentally
different way of looking at the company that could be best viewed as a new paradigm of mgmt.
The word lean was suggested by then graduated student John Krafcik, who argued that “lean”
means doing more with less. He said that especially Toyota, were doing more of everything they
needed to do for the customer with less of almost everything.
The concept of “waste” in lean is central. Waste is anything that causes a deviation from the perfect
process. The concept of the one-piece flow is the ideal. Toyota says that is TRUE NORTH.
Lean is delivering PURE VALUE to our customers without waste.
PROLOGUE SUMMARY
THE TOYOTA WAY TO SERVICE EXCELLENCE
11- THE TOYOTA WAY: A PHILOSOPHY AND WAY OF THINKING
The Toyota Way begins with a passion for solving problems for customers and society.
Deliberate practice requires being self-aware of weaknesses and knowing the drills to correct them.
Ohno had been doing this throughout his career. As he learned, he then taught, not through lecturing
but at the GEMBA (place where the work is done).
The right way to achieve continuous improvement and respect for people is represented by the core
values in the foundation of the house.
The underlying values of challenge, kaizen, Genchi Genbutchu (go study the actual conditions and learn),
Respect and Teamwork are the foundations of the system and support the twin pillars of continuous
improvement and respect for people.
Continuous improvement means everybody, everywhere, constantly looking for the new and better
ways to satisfy each customer by experimenting toward challenging goals, striving to reach true north.
Respect for people means developing people both personally and professionally through challenging
them to be the very best that they can be. Respect for people encompasses those who work for Toyota,
as well as suppliers, the community, the environment, and the larger world.
There is no generic "recipe" or one "best-practice way" to mechanically "install" or "implement" lean in
an organization. The Toyota Way principles, as described in this book, can, however, help you reflect on
your organization, understand where gaps are to your true north, and begin the process of striving
toward perfection: delivering the services that your customers want, exactly as they want them, now
and for the long term.
