A Study of the Toyota Production System From an Industrial Engineering Viewpoint

While Dr. Shingo was developing SMED, Mr. Ohno, as the executive managing director of Toyota, was realizing that there was a close connection between the principle aspects of the Toyota Production System and the SMED system. In his pursuit of the ideal production system, he became convinced that drastic reductions in set-up times were essential. This conviction prompted him to demand that his people achieve three minute die changeovers. Fortunately, his demand and Shingo's ideas about the SMED system that were in the back of his mind, coupled with Shingo's keen interest in set-up reductions all came together in a timely manner.