When talking about manufacturing, most of production members cannot stop talking about Toyota ways of production system. Their system has been considered as one of the best and has been followed by most of establish company. Toyota principles were known as The Toyota Way and it have 14 management principles on it.
The main ideas are to base management decisions on a “philosophical sense of purpose”, to think long term, to have a process for solving problems, to add value to the organization by developing its people, and to recognize that continuously solving root problems drives organizational learning. The Toyota Way has been called “a system designed to provide the tools for people to continually improve their work”
The 14 principles of The Toyota Way are organized in four sections:
1) Long-Term Philosophy – Principle 1
2) The Right Process Will Produce the Right Results – Principle 2 to 8
3) Add Value to the Organization by Developing Your People – Principle 9 to 11
4) Continuously Solving Root Problems Drives Organizational Learning. – Principle 12 to 14
Below was the list of those 14 principles;
Principle 1
Base your management decisions on a long-term philosophy, even at the expense of short-term financial goals.
People need purpose to find motivation and establish goals.
Principle 2
Create a continuous process flow to bring problems to the surface.
Work processes are redesigned to eliminate waste (muda) through the process of continuous improvement — kaizen.
Principle 3
Use “pull” systems to avoid overproduction.
Principle 4
Level out the workload (heijunka). (Work like the tortoise, not the hare).
This helps achieve the goal of minimizing waste (muda), not overburdening people or the equipment (muri), and not creating uneven production levels (mura).
Principle 5
Build a culture of stopping to fix problems, to get quality right the first time.
Quality takes precedence (Jidoka). Any employee in the Toyota Production System has the authority to stop the process to signal a quality issue.
Principle 6
Standardized tasks and processes are the foundation for continuous improvement and employee empowerment.
Principle 7
Use visual control so no problems are hidden.
Included in this principle is the 5S Program – steps that are used to make all work spaces efficient and productive, help people share work stations, reduce time looking for needed tools and improve the work environment.
* Sort: Sort out unneeded items
* Straighten: Have a place for everything
* Shine: Keep the area clean
* Standardize: Create rules and standard operating procedures
* Sustain: Maintain the system and continue to improve it
Principle 8
Use only reliable, thoroughly tested technology that serves your people and processes.
Technology is pulled by manufacturing, not pushed to manufacturing.
Principle 9
Grow leaders who thoroughly understand the work, live the philosophy, and teach it to others.
Principle 10
Develop exceptional people and teams who follow your company’s philosophy.
Teams should consist of 4-5 people and numerous management tiers. Success is based on the team, not the individual.
Principle 11
Respect your extended network of partners and suppliers by challenging them and helping them improve.
Toyota treats suppliers much like they treat their employees, challenging them to do better and helping them to achieve it. Toyota provides cross functional teams to help suppliers discover and fix problems so that they can become a stronger, better supplier.
Principle 12
Go and see for yourself to thoroughly understand the situation (Genchi Genbutsu).
Toyota managers are expected to “go-and-see” operations. Without experiencing the situation firsthand, managers will not have an understanding of how it can be improved.
Principle 13
Make decisions slowly by consensus, thoroughly considering all options; implement decisions rapidly (nemawashi).
Principle 14
Become a learning organization through relentless reflection (hansei) and continuous improvement (kaizen).
With this good system, no wonder Toyota produce a reliable car in the market for its customer.
