Up:: Productivity X:: Lean Manufacturing X: Quick Response Manufacturing (QRM)
The Toyota Production System (TPS) is an integrated socio-technical system, developed by Toyota, that comprises its management philosophy and practices. The TPS is a management system that organizes manufacturing and logistics for the automobile manufacturer, including interaction with suppliers and customers. “.
NOTE
TPS is a major precursor to the more generic “Lean Manufacturing” approach.
Goals
The main objectives of the TPS are to design out overburden (muri) and inconsistency (mura), and to eliminate waste (muda).
8 Waste’s
- Waste of overproduction (largest waste)
- Waste of time on hand (waiting)
- Waste of transportation
- Waste of processing itself
- Waste of excess inventory
- Waste of movement
- Waste of making defective products
- Waste of underutilized workers
Concept
TPS is grounded on two main conceptual pillars:
- Just-in-time – meaning “Making only what is needed, only when it is needed, and only in the amount that is needed”
Comment: check Quick Response Manufacturing (QRM)
- Jidoka – (Autonomation) meaning “Automation with a human touch”
Principles
The underlying principles, called the Toyota Way, have been outlined by Toyota as follows:
Continuous improvement
- Challenge (We form a long-term vision, meeting challenges with courage and creativity to realize our dreams.)
- Kaizen (We improve our business operations continuously, always driving for innovation and evolution.)
- Genchi Genbutsu (Go to the source to find the facts to make correct decisions.)
Respect for people
- Respect (We respect others, make every effort to understand each other, take responsibility and do our best to build mutual trust.)
- Teamwork (We stimulate personal and professional growth, share the opportunities of development and maximize individual and team performance.)
External observers have summarized the principles of the Toyota Way as:
The right process will produce the right results
- Create continuous process flow to bring problems to the surface.
- Use the "pull" system to avoid overproduction.
- Level out the workload (heijunka). (Work like the tortoise, not the hare.)
- Build a culture of stopping to fix problems, to get quality right from the start. (Jidoka)
- 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.
Add value to the organization by developing your people and partners
- 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.
Continuously solving root problems drives organizational learning
- Go and see for yourself to thoroughly understand the situation (Genchi Genbutsu, 現地現物);
- Make decisions slowly by consensus, thoroughly considering all options (Nemawashi, 根回し); implement decisions rapidly;
- Become a learning organization through relentless reflection (Hansei, 反省) and continuous improvement and never stop (Kaizen, 改善)
Commonly used terminology
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Andon | Visual alert system for notifying supervisors of problems |
| Gemba | The actual place where work happens |
| Genchi Genbutsu | Practice of seeing things for yourself |
| Hansei | Self-reflection for improvement |
| Heijunka | Production smoothing to level out workload |
| Jidoka | Intelligent automation with human oversight |
| Just-in-Time (JIT) | Producing only what’s needed, when needed |
| Kaizen | Continuous improvement |
| Kanban | Visual system for managing work-in-progress |
| Muda | Waste in processes |
| Mura | Unevenness in production or processes |
| Muri | Overburden of people, equipment, or systems |
| Nemawashi | Process of building consensus before changes |
| Poka-yoke | Error-proofing designs and processes |