Toyota Way - Philosophy

Toyota WayPhilosophy

Toyota: learning Organization

It’s about tacit knowledge, Not explicit procedural knowledge

Go find a sensei to learn from and enjoy the journey!

The 4P model

1-PhilosophyToyota’s leaders see the company as a vehicle for adding value to customers, society, the community, and its associates.

2-Process• Toyota leaders have learned through mentorship and experience that

when they follow the right process, they get the right results

3-People and partners • Add value to your organization by challenging your people and

partners to grow. The Toyota Production System (TPS) was at one time called the “respect for humanity” system.• Thinking, learning, growing, and being challenged are not always fun.

4-Problem Solving• Continuously solve root problems to drive organizational learning.• when someone in Toyota learns an important lesson, they are

expected to share it with others facing similar problems so the company can learn.

The 14 Principles of 4P model

1-Philosophy as the foundation

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

• It’s Bigger than making money.• Goal of generating value for the customer, society and economy.

2-The Right Process Will Produce the Right Results

2. Create a continuous process flow to bring problems to the surface.• Flow: means cutting back to zero the amount of time that any work project is

sitting idle, waiting for someone to work on it.

• The reason to create flow is not just to have material or information moving fast. It is to link processes and people together so that problems surface right away.

• Flow is a key to a true continuous improvement process and to developing people.


3. Use “pull” systems to avoid overproduction.• stocking inventory based on forecasted or even promised demand almost

always leads to chaos, firefighting, and running out of the very products the customer wants.

• Stock relatively small amounts of each product and restock the supermarket shelf frequently, based on what the customer actually takes away.


4. Level out the workload• Heijunka: stability in the workload (work like the tortoise, not the hare)


• 5. Build a culture of stopping to fix problems, to get quality right the first time.• Jidoka main pillar (machines with human intelligence)

• Andon System

• When there is a problem, do not just keep going with the intention of fixing it later. Stop and fix the problem now.


• 6. Standardized tasks and processes are the foundation for continuous improvement and employee empowerment. • The task of continuous improvement is then to improve upon this standard,

and the improvements are then incorporated into the new standard.

• Without standardizing when an individual moves on from that job, all of the learning is lost.


7. Use visual control so no problems are hidden.• Computerization and Paper in Toyota

• People looking at well-designed charts on a wall can have very effective discussions. Going to a computer screen moves the workers’ focus from the workplace to the computer screen.

• Robots do not care if the factory is visual, but people do, and Toyota will always design systems to support people.


8. Use only reliable, thoroughly tested technology that serves your people and process.• Technologies that conflict with Toyota’s philosophies and operating principles

will be rejected.

• On the other hand, Toyota is always interested in being current in their technology and encourages their people to “think outside the box” when considering new approaches to work.

3-Add Value to the Organization by Developing Your People and Partners

9. Grow leaders who thoroughly understand the work, live the philosophy, and teach it to others.• Leaders at Toyota are grown; they are not bought.

• they must exemplify the philosophy in everything they do: the decisions they make and how they go about making the decisions.

• They must be teachers of the Philosophy.

3-Add Value to the Organization by Developing Your People and Partners10. Develop exceptional people and teams who follow your company’s philosophy.• Strong culture is one in which values and beliefs are well-aligned among

members.

• Toyota has a strong internal culture that they often refer to as their DNA.

• The people using the tools, and how they use them, are what bring the Toyota Production System to life.

3-Add Value to the Organization by Developing Your People and Partners

11. Respect your extended network of partners and suppliers by challenging them and helping them improve.• “Respect for Humanity”

• Challenge is a core value within the Toyota Way and central to the way people and business partners are developed.

4- Continuously Solving Root Problems Drives Organizational Learning

12- Go and see for yourself to thoroughly understand the situation.• Genchi Genbutsu: going to the source, observing, and deeply analyzing what

is going on.

4- Continuously Solving Root Problems Drives Organizational Learning

• 13. Make decisions slowly by consensus, thoroughly considering all options; implement decisions rapidly.• the real key is not consensus but exploring potential problems and solutions

to get to the best possible answer.

• “Five-Why Analysis”

4- Continuously Solving Root Problems Drives Organizational Learning14. Become a learning organization through relentless reflection and continuous improvement.• “Five-Why Analysis”

• “Plan, Do ,Check, Act”

• Hansei is a broader concept in Japan : Its means to acknowledge your own mistake and to pledge improvement OR "Self-awareness is the first step to improvement"

What is your Company’s Philosophy?

Why do we exist as acompany?

It need not be an abstract, unanswerable, philosophical debate

A Sense of Purpose Inside and Out

• your mission should have two parts 1. People 2. Business.

Lean Systems

lean systems are not just about tools and techniques, but about Philosophy

Learning Community• The real power of lean systems, Ohno found, is that they bring

problems to the surface and force people to think.

• Building a learning community means having individuals with the capacity to learn.

Lean Enterprise• Outside Suppliers are our responsibility too.

• Ensure that suppliers have the same level of commitment to lean systems, a learning community, and the lean enterprise

Value-Adding Contributor• “I get paid well. I am having a ball. I am so fortunate that I am able to

do this. The purpose [of the money] is so we can reinvest in the future, so we can continue to do this . . . and to help society and to help the community.”

• Jim Press, executive vice president.

Creating Your Philosophy !

But just as watching a great tennis player does not make you a great tennis player, what counts is what

you do and the skills you develop. It is about how you behave every day . . . and what you learn.

Creating Your PhilosophyStrategy :• You cannot be a profitable, financially healthy business without a well-

developed strategy.

• You do not really have a strategy unless the strategy states what you will not do.

• If you have a great strategy that defines how you will be a unique value adding contributor, you need to fill in the other three boxes.

Living Your Philosophy

All executives, managers, directors, supervisors, group leaders, or whatever else you call them have to live the philosophy

“every day in a very consistent manner.” Leaders have to lead by example . . . consistently.

Making a Social Pact with Employees

and Partners

• Toyoda Resigned and 1600 workers.

Maintaining Continuity of Purpose

• Success motivates

• Teach more employees the lean tools, and find more projects.

• It is a way of thinking about the very process of management.

Maintaining Continuity of PurposeWhat do we mean by culture?

It is a shared set of values, beliefs, and assumptions

Strong cultures last beyond particular leaders.

Constancy of purpose comes from having a strong company culture starting at the top leadership level, and sticking with it across

generations of leaders.

Thank You