The system simulates workers ad managers to engage in the kind of experimentation that is widely recognized as the cornerstone of a learning organization. The four rules guide the design, operation and improvement of every activity, connections, and pathway for every product and service. The output of an ideal person, group of people, or machine is very specifically and clear. This kind of knowledge helps Toyota to reduce batches.
The rules make workers capable and responsible for doing and improving their own work, by standardizing connections between individual customers and suppliers.
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The flow problem must be push to the lowest possible level of the organization. What did you learn? The first factor I learned is that we can’t copy o try to implement any system, no matter how success is it; we have to know the essence of the methodology and then try to apply it to another industry sector. In other case, we could fail as the article mention.
The second factor I learned was the concept of the four rules that could have the essence of the success of the TPS system. These rules complement the entire philosophy of kanban, poka yoke, wastes, TPS house, etc. The problem is that many observers (managers, workers, teachers…) may forget to study the rules. The third and last important concept was the implementation of the scientific method in order to design new improvements that push the company to a higher level of quality, innovation and profit. It is the first time that I heard about a real application (outside a laboratory) of the scientific method.
How can you apply them into your professional career? As I have told in other articles, the TPS is part of any Industrial Engineer but more in those who will specialize or work on the manufacturing industry. Also, the article mentions that today many industries want to try this methodology in order to success. So it’s important to understand the four rules or the whole Toyota system to make an improvement on our workstations, any working area or entire industry. It will depend in the position or level of organization we are.
Conclusions The Toyota’s system success is based on the way of managing, how rules are followed and implemented, the specified and rigid methodology, the connection between the levels of the organization, and of course the high variety of tools and techniques that TPS has. But what makes this system effective is the four rules that other companies hadn’t did at all. These rules make the production system more flexible with a high variety of products at low cost. The great benefit of nested, modular organizations is that people can implement design changes in one part without unduly affecting other parts.
