The Toyota Production System and art: making highly customized and creative products the Toyota way

The Toyota Production System has led to a movement of ‘lean production’ focused on taking waste out of value streams. Most applications have been to high volume, and relatively standardized products. Under this system work becomes highly standardized specifying to the second what the operator should do. Buffers are precisely sized and controlled through various types of pull signals. When possible, use of one-piece flow cells result in a completely balanced production line. The performance benefits of these lean systems are often remarkable, greatly improving quality, cost, and delivery. But what of companies that are not making standardized products at high volume? What can they learn from lean? In this paper we argue there is a fundamental misunderstanding of TPS, viewing it as a specific tool kit technically implemented in a formulaic way to achieve pre-specified results. In fact, TPS is a philosophy that can be better described as a set of general principles of organizing and managing an enterprise which can help any organization get on a path of positive learning and improvement. A case example of a low volume, highly customized artistic clay tile company illustrates the process by which the firm used TPS to learn how to understand its process, gain stability and control, empower its workforce, and become far more profitable.

[1]  E. Trist,et al.  Some Social and Psychological Consequences of the Longwall Method of Coal-Getting , 1951 .

[2]  John R. Shook,et al.  Learning to See: Value Stream Mapping to Create Value and , 1998 .

[3]  Dean H. Kropp,et al.  The New Manufacturing Challenge: Techniques for Continuous ImprovementThe New Manufacturing Challenge: Techniques for Continuous Improvement, by SuzakiKiyoshi. New York: Free Press, 1987, 270 pp., $24.95, cloth. , 1988 .

[4]  洲崎 清,et al.  The new manufacturing challenge : techniques for continuous improvement , 1987 .

[5]  Chris Argyris,et al.  Action Science and Intervention , 1983 .

[6]  Hiroyuki Hirano,et al.  5 Pillars of the Visual Workplace , 1995 .

[7]  Y. Sugimori,et al.  Toyota production system and Kanban system Materialization of just-in-time and respect-for-human system , 1977 .

[8]  Jeffrey K. Liker,et al.  The Toyota way : 14 management principles from the world's greatest manufacturer , 2004 .

[9]  Albert B. Cherns,et al.  The Principles of Sociotechnical Design , 1976 .

[10]  Yasuhiro Monden.  Toyota Management System: Linking the Seven Key Functional Areas , 1993 .

[11]  新郷 重夫,et al.  Zero quality control : source inspection and the poka-yoke system , 1986 .

[12]  日本能率協会総合研究所,et al.  Kanban just-in-time at Toyota : management begins at the workplace , 1986 .

[13]  James P. Womack,et al.  Lean Thinking: Banish Waste and Create Wealth in Your Corporation , 1996 .

[14]  Gary Conner,et al.  Lean Manufacturing for the Small Shop , 2001 .

[15]  新郷 重夫,et al.  A revolution in manufacturing : the SMED system , 1985 .

[16]  Joseph T. Mahoney,et al.  The Evolution of a Manufacturing System at Toyota , 1999 .

[17]  John O. McClain,et al.  Coordinating production and inventory to improve service , 1997 .

[18]  Daniel T. Jones,et al.  The machine that changed the world : based on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology 5-million dollar 5-year study on the future of the automobile , 1990 .

[19]  Geoffrey A. Lancaster,et al.  Research methods in management : a concise introduction to research in management and business consultancy , 2005 .

[20]  S. Spear,et al.  Decoding the DNA of the Toyota Production System , 1999 .

[21]  Bengt Klefsjö,et al.  The machine that changed the world , 2008 .

[22]  Jeffrey K. Liker,et al.  The Toyota way fieldbook : a practical guide for implementing Toyota's 4Ps , 2004 .

[23]  K. Lewin.  Action Research and Minority Problems , 1946 .

[24]  門田 安弘.  The Toyota management system : linking the seven key functional areas , 1993 .

[25]  Norman Bodek,et al.  Toyota Production System: Beyond Large-Scale Production , 1988 .

[26]  大野 耐一,et al.  Toyota production system : beyond large-scale production , 1988 .

[27]  藤本 隆宏,et al.  The evolution of a manufacturing system at Toyota , 1999 .

[28]  大野 耐一,et al.  Just-in-time for today and tomorrow , 1988 .

[29]  J. Liker.  The Toyota Way , 2003 .

[30]  Pamela Lomax.  The Management of change : increasing school effectiveness and facilitating staff development through action research , 1989 .

[31]  新郷 重夫,et al.  A study of the Toyota production system from an industrial engineering viewpoint , 1989 .

[32]  P. Senge.  The fifth discipline : the art and practice of the learning organization/ Peter M. Senge , 1991 .

[33]  Hiroyuki Hirano,et al.  5 Pillars of the Visual Workplace: The Sourcebook for 5S Implementation , 1995 .

[34]  Carla O'Dell,et al.  If Only We Knew What We Know: Identification and Transfer of Internal Best Practices , 1998 .

[35]  Natasa Rupcic,et al.  The fifth discipline-the art and practice of the learning organisation , 2002 .