Analysis of the Toyota production system - tps (toyota production system). Features of management in the TOYOTA company Principles of Toyota in domestic companies
Such success is all the more surprising because just a few decades ago no one could even think that Japanese cars would win a fair share of the market and displace the Americans.”
“Kiichiro Toyoda became the father” of the company, but the history of Toyota is also inextricably linked with Kiichiro’s own father, Sakichi Toyoda. Sakichi is considered one of the most famous Japanese inventors. He owned a factory for the production of weaving machinery, which he himself invented and designed. So Toyota was originally built on the basis of a company that was a world leader, albeit only in the production of weaving equipment. The main thing was that Toyoda Sr. developed a special principle of operation of the weaving machine, which gained the company’s products such popularity: as soon as the thread broke, the machine automatically stopped working in order not to spoil the fabric. This principle, according to company representatives, has become the key to the success of Toyota cars. It is known that at the company's factories there is a rule: as soon as at least one of the workers on the assembly line has a problem, he must stop the entire line in order to prevent defects.
The quality of the first cars produced by Toyoda in 1936 could be called anything, most likely American, but not Japanese. The money raised from the sale of the patent for the production of weaving equipment was spent on the release of the Toyda AA model. 150 cars were produced in a month.
In 1935, the first passenger car, called the Model A1 (later the AA), and the first Model G1 truck were completed, and the Model AA entered production in 1936. At the same time, the first export delivery was made - four G1 trucks went to northern China. After World War II, in 1947, production of another model began - Toyota Model SA, and in 1950, in conditions of a severe financial crisis, the company experienced the first and only strike of its workers.
In the 50s, they developed their own designs, carried out extensive research, and expanded the model range - the Land Cruiser SUV appeared, such a well-known model as the Crown.
In 1961, the Toyota Publica was released - a small, economical car that quickly became popular. In 1962, Toyota celebrated the production of the millionth car in its history. The sixties were a period of improving economic situation in Japan, and, as a result, rapid growth in car sales.
The 1970s were marked by the construction of new factories and constant technical improvements of units. Production of such models as Celica (1970), Sprinter, Carina, Tercel (1978), Mark II begins. Tercel was the first front-wheel drive Japanese car. In 1972, the 10 millionth Toyota car rolled off the assembly line.
In 1982, production of the Camry model began. By this time, Toyota had finally established itself as the largest automobile manufacturer in Japan, ranking third in the world in terms of production volumes. In 1983, Toyota signed a multi-year agreement with General Motors, and the following year, car production began at their joint venture in the United States. In 1986, another milestone was crossed - the 50 millionth Toyota car was produced. New models are born - Corsa, Corolla II, 4Runner.
One of the main events of the 80s can be considered the emergence of such a brand as Lexus, a division of Toyota created to enter the high-class car market. With the advent of Lexus in the luxury luxury car sector, the situation has changed. A year after Lexus was founded, in 1989, models such as the Lexus LS400 and Lexus ES250 were introduced and went on sale.
Toyota continues its global expansion - branches are opening in more and more countries around the world and developing those that have already been opened. At the same time, The Earth Charter was published - as a reaction to increasing environmental trends in society. Ecology has had a major influence on Toyota's development; plans and programs were developed to protect the environment, and in 1997 the Prius model was created, equipped with a hybrid engine (Toyota Hybrid System). In addition to the Prius, the Coaster and RAV4 models were equipped with hybrid engines.
In addition, in the 90s, Toyota managed to produce its 70 millionth car (1991), and its 90 millionth car (1996), opened in 1992.
Production of Toyota cars in St. Petersburg will begin in 2007. The new plant will be located in the Shushar region. The planned capacity of the plant will be 50 thousand cars per year, but this capacity is planned to be achieved by 2010. First, the plant will produce the Camry model in the amount of 20 thousand cars per year” (4.315).
Toyota is a special style of doing business. One has only to look at how work is organized at the Toyota headquarters in the city on the island of Honshu. This city is called Toyota (renamed in 1959 with the opening of the company's second plant in the city). Most recently, the Crayton project began operating in the city. It consists in the fact that all employees can use special electric vehicles for official purposes. When employees don't need them, the cars simply sit at a special terminal where they are charged. Data on the power reserve of each of them is sent to the computer. When an employee needs to use a machine, he simply submits a request to the computer and receives a special code and an indication of which machine can be used. This practice is doubly convenient - firstly, the air in the Toyota city will always remain clean, and secondly, every employee will be able to freely use reliable transport. Of course, these cars do not move very fast, but they are well equipped.
This project is just a test project. The main thing in Toyota's policy is that it is always aimed at the future. Not only is the Toyota Prius the only "hybrid" car in strong demand, but they apparently don't think they've done enough to protect the environment and continue to look for a way to produce an inexpensive electric car that performs just like their own." brother”, feeding on gasoline.
The attitude towards work is another unique feature of the company. It is quite significant that there was only one strike at the factories. No matter what difficult conditions the company finds itself in, employees will still support it and will do everything possible to help get out of the crisis. When all of Toyota's factories were damaged by floods, workers accepted the news that they would have to work on two subsequent Saturdays, one of which was a national holiday, almost resignedly.
With such an amazing approach from the company administration and ordinary workers, you can expect that success will become even more tangible. Many Americans today claim that there is nothing better than real Japanese quality. The only thing that may still keep Toyota in third place among automakers is that Americans are an extremely patriotic nation. If possible, they will choose American, their own, native. But, observing the dynamics of sales, we can conclude that “one’s own” is sometimes replaced by “someone else’s high-quality”.
In Fig. 3.2 these losses are represented on a simple time coordinate for the casting, machining and assembly process. In a traditional process cycle, most of the time spent processing material is waste. This diagram will be familiar to anyone who has attended a Lean Manufacturing or TPS workshop, and I won't waste time commenting in detail. From a lean manufacturing perspective, you first need to map the value stream according to the flow of material (information) through the process of interest. To get the full picture, it's best to walk the route yourself. Draw a diagram of this movement and calculate the time and distance, and you get a diagram called a “spaghetti diagram”. Even those who have worked in production most of their lives are amazed at the results obtained. In Fig. Figure 3.2 shows that we are stretching very simple product processes to such an extent that identifying value-adding activities becomes challenging.
Rice. 3.2. Losses when creating added value
I found a striking example of the above while working as a consultant for a company that manufactured steel nuts. The seminar participants - engineers and managers - assured that lean manufacturing would not bring anything to their company, the process was too simple. Rolled steel is cut into pieces, holes are punched in them, after which the blanks undergo heat treatment and are placed in boxes. Blanks are processed on automatic machines at a speed of hundreds of nuts per minute. When we looked at the value stream (and therefore at the non-value-added activities), it became clear that the company's employees' claim was simply ridiculous. We started from the receiving area, and every time it seemed that the process was already completed, we had to go around the entire plant again to get to where the next stage of processing was taking place. At one point, the nuts were taken away from the factory for several weeks to be heat treated, since management calculated that contracting for this work would be more profitable than processing the nuts themselves. In the end, it turned out that the process of making nuts was delayed for weeks, or even months. Moreover, most technological operations take a few seconds, with the exception of heat treatment, which is carried out over several hours. We calculated the share of time spent on creating added value for different types of products and obtained figures from 0.008% to 2–3%. Everyone's eyes widened! At the same time, the equipment was often idle, the machines were running idle, and deposits of workpieces were piled up around. Some savvy manager decided that it would be cheaper to contract a maintenance contract with another business than to hire full-time people. Thus, when a machine broke down, there was often no one to fix it, let alone provide preventative maintenance. As a result, for the sake of efficiency in one area, the value stream was slowed down and stretched due to work in progress, inventory of finished goods, and time spent identifying problems (defects) that reduce quality. As a result, the company lacked the flexibility to meet changing customer demands.
Process Improvement: Traditional and Lean Approaches
The traditional approach to process improvement focuses primarily on local efficiencies - “look at the equipment, at the value-adding activities, and make uptime longer, cycle times shorter, and where possible, replace humans with machines.” As a result, the efficiency of an individual operation increases, but this does not have a tangible impact on the value stream as a whole. It is important to remember that most processes involve very few value-adding activities, and improving just these activities is not critical. When we analyze the process from a lean manufacturing perspective, we see huge reserves that can be used by eliminating waste and eliminating non-value-adding steps.
If you restructure production from a lean thinking perspective, the main potential for improvement is the elimination of a huge number of activities where added value is not created. At the same time, the time spent creating added value is also reduced. This can be seen if you take a process similar to the production of nuts and create a cell that operates on the principle of one-piece flow.
In lean manufacturing cell is a collection of people and machines or workplaces, organized and operating in accordance with a sequence of technological operations. Cells are created to ensure the flow of single products (services), which one after another undergo various technological operations, for example welding, assembly, packaging. The speed of such processing is determined by the needs of the consumer, who cannot be kept waiting.
Let's return to the example of the production of nuts. If we set up a cell where operations are carried out in a linear sequence, and we pass one nut or small batches of nuts from one operator to another in a one-piece flow, then what took weeks could be done in a few hours. This example is not unusual. Companies around the world have demonstrated time and time again how one-piece flow can work wonders: increased productivity, improved quality, reduced inventory, freed up space, and shorter lead times. Every time the results exceed all expectations, and every time it seems like a miracle. This is why the one-piece flow cell is the basis of lean manufacturing. It allowed Toyota to eliminate most of its losses across all eight categories.
In practice, the ultimate goal of lean manufacturing is to organize the flow of one-piece products across all types of work, be it design, order taking, or production itself. Everyone who has learned from their own experience what opportunities the philosophy of lean manufacturing opens up becomes its ardent adherents and strives to save the entire surrounding reality from waste, applying this principle to every process - from management to technology. However, it must be remembered that, just like any other tool or process, such cells should be used wisely. Imagine that a nut factory created a cell for cutting steel and punching holes in workpieces. To do this, the plant purchased expensive computerized equipment, which constantly breaks down. This leads to downtime and lost working time. However, the nuts are still taken out of the factory for heat treatment, and weeks pass before they are returned. There are supplies everywhere, as before. Shop workers, seeing colossal losses, laugh at such a “lean cell”, which has nothing to do with the principles of lean production.
The TPS House scheme: a holistic structure, not a set of techniques and methods
For decades, Toyota successfully applied and improved TPS without documenting the theory of its production system. Workers and managers constantly learned new methods and improved old ones, putting them into practice. There was a good flow of information within the relatively small company, so that best practices and systems were quickly learned from other plants and then from suppliers. As Toyota's methods continued to improve, it became clear that Toyota would always be challenged with supplier training. Therefore, Fujio Cho, a student of Taiichi Ohno, developed a simple diagram in the form of a house.
The TPS House diagram (see Figure 3.3) is widely known to those involved in manufacturing. Why exactly the house? Because a house is an integral structure. For a house to be strong and durable, the roof, supports and foundation must be strong and durable. A weak link can destroy the entire system. There are different versions of this scheme, but the basic principles are the same. Goals first: excellent quality, low costs and extremely short lead times are the roof. Then there are two external pillars: JIT, which is the best known attribute of TPS, and jidoka, the goal of which is to prevent defective parts from being passed on to the next stage of the process and to free people from machines, that is, to provide automation with human intelligence. People are at the center of the system. And finally, the components that are the foundation: standardized, stable and reliable processes and heijunka, that is, a production schedule in which fluctuations in volumes and assortment will be minimal. Balanced schedule heijunka Maintains system stability by helping to keep inventory to a minimum. Sharp surges in the production of one type of product due to the exclusion of other products from the range will lead to a shortage of parts or require the creation of significant inventories.
Each element of the house is important in itself, but the relationship between them is even more important. The JIT system minimizes inventory, which eliminates many problems in the production process. The flow of single products ensures the sequential production of products at a speed that meets customer needs. Keeping inventory to a minimum means that quality defects are identified immediately. This is facilitated by the method jidoka, which allows you to stop the production process. To resume production, workers must resolve the problem immediately. The foundation of the house is stability. It would seem that working with minimal supplies and the possibility of stopping production creates instability. But such a system forces workers to take urgent action. In mass production, if a machine stops, there is no rush: the time will come, and the maintenance department will fix it, but meanwhile production continues as usual, using a reserve stock of parts. In lean manufacturing, if the operator needs to stop the equipment to solve a problem, the remaining areas stop one by one, and the situation becomes critical. Therefore, all participants in the process strive to jointly solve the problem as quickly as possible in order to get the equipment up and running again. If the problem persists, management concludes that the situation is critical and that it may be time to focus on a Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) system to teach employees how to clean, inspect, and maintain equipment. In order for such a system to operate smoothly, a high level of stability is required. People are at the center of the house, since the necessary stability can only be achieved through their tireless improvement. People should be trained to notice waste and identify the root causes of problems. The method of repeatedly asking the question “Why?” helps to find the original source of the problem. The problem should be dealt with on the spot by seeing the situation with your own eyes (genchi genbutsu).
In some versions of this model, the foundation includes a number of other principles of the Toyota approach, such as respect for people. Toyota itself usually includes only cost, quality and delivery discipline in its list of goals, but in fact, the company's enterprises in Japan practice a broader approach to goals (quality, costs, delivery discipline, safety, morale) with some variations. Toyota never sacrifices worker safety for the sake of production. She simply does not have such a need, since eliminating losses has nothing to do with creating stressful conditions and does not threaten safety. Here is what Ono wrote about this:
Of course, we are interested in any method that allows us to reduce the number of man-hours in production, and therefore reduce costs, but the basis for us is safety. Sometimes improvements do not take into account safety requirements. In this case, you need to return to your starting point and reconsider the task at hand. Inaction is unacceptable. Set the task differently and move forward.
Conclusion
TPS is not just a set of lean manufacturing tools. All the elements of this complex system: JIT, cells, 5S (Sort, Organize, Clean, Standardize, Improve - tools discussed in Chapter 13), kanban etc. - function as parts of a single whole. The main task of the system is to encourage people to constantly improve their work process. Unfortunately, many books on lean manufacturing mislead the reader by describing TPS as a set of tools for improving operational efficiency. The challenge of using these tools is overlooked, as is the fact that people are at the center of the system. More broadly, TPS is about putting the Toyota Way into practice. The focus is on the shop floor, but the principles of this approach are much broader and apply not only to production, but also to design and service delivery.
In the next chapter we will look at the 14 principles of the Toyota Way. This is the foundation of Toyota's culture and is what most of this book is about. In Chapters 5 and 6 we'll see how these principles worked in the creation of Lexus and Prius. You will learn what difficulties Toyota faced and how it overcame them.
Chapter 4
14 principles of the Toyota Way: the quintessence of the manufacturing culture that underpins TPS
Since the founding of Toyota, our guiding principle has been to benefit society by producing high-quality products and services. Doing business based on this principle has shaped the values, beliefs and practices that have enabled us to achieve competitive advantage. The combination of these working methods and value orientations of management represents the Toyota approach.Fujio Cho, President of Toyota (The Toyota Way, 2001)
The Toyota approach goes beyond tools and technology
So, you have introduced your system kanban. (Kanban in Japanese - “tag”, “card”, “receipt” or “signal”. This is the name of the tool for managing the flow and production of products in the “pull” system adopted by Toyota.) You have connected andon, a device for visual monitoring of a production area that alerts workers to defects, equipment malfunctions or other problems using light, sound and similar signals. Now your workspace looks like a Toyota factory. But gradually everything returns to normal, and work goes on again as before. You call the Toyota Production System consultant, who shakes his head in disapproval. What's the matter?
In fact, the main work of implementing lean manufacturing is just beginning. Your workers have no idea about the work culture behind TPS. They are not ready to work tirelessly to improve the system and engage in self-improvement. The Toyota Tao exists primarily thanks to people who work, communicate with each other, make decisions and develop, improving each other and themselves. If you look at successful Japanese companies that operate under a lean production system, you can immediately see how actively workers make suggestions for improvement. But Toyota's approach doesn't stop there: it encourages, supports and requires everyone to participate.
The more I studied TPS and became immersed in the Toyota Way, the more I realized that it is a system that provides people with the tools to continuously improve their work. The Toyota Way is trust in people. This is a kind of culture, and not a set of techniques and methods for improving and increasing efficiency. Reducing inventory and identifying and solving hidden problems is possible only with the help of workers. If they are not responsible enough, do not understand the task at hand, and do not know how to work as a team, downtime and stockpiling will begin. Every day, engineers, skilled workers, quality specialists, suppliers, team leaders and, most importantly, operators are constantly engaged in solving problems, and this allows everyone to learn how to solve them.
One Lean tool that teaches teamwork is called 5S (Sort, Organize, Clean, Standardize, Improve; see Chapter 13 for more details). We are talking about a set of measures to eliminate losses that lead to errors, defects and injuries. The most difficult component of 5S is, perhaps, the fifth – “improve” (stimulate, maintain self-discipline. – Note scientific ed.). This point is the decisive condition for the success of the other four. Maintenance is impossible without appropriate education and training, and workers must be encouraged to comply with operating rules and improve their work methods and their workplace. The conditions for success in achieving the goals are the commitment of management to these approaches, appropriate training and production culture. Only then will maintenance and improvement become commonplace for everyone, from shop floor workers to management.
This chapter provides a brief overview of the 14 principles that make up the Toyota Way. The principles are grouped into four categories:
1, long-term philosophy;
2, the right process produces the right results (this is about using a range of TPS tools);
3, add value to the organization by developing your employees and partners;
4, Constantly solving fundamental problems stimulates lifelong learning.
The second part of the book is also structured around these four categories, which together represent the four-part model of the Toyota Way presented in Chapter 1. In the next two chapters, I will show how these 14 principles worked in the creation of Lexus and Prius. If you'd like to jump ahead to a detailed look at the 14 principles, you can skip to Chapter 7 right now. However, I strongly recommend that you read what follows first.
You can use a whole range of TPS tools, but still follow only a few selected principles of the Toyota approach. This way, you may be able to improve your performance for a while, but the results won't last long. But if a company follows all the principles of the Toyota approach when implementing TPS, it is sure to achieve sustainable competitive advantage.
When I taught a course on Lean Manufacturing, I often heard the question: “How can I apply TPS in my organization? We do not mass produce cars; we make small batches of customized products" or: "We work in the service industry, so TPS is not for us." Such reasoning suggests that people do not understand the main thing. The essence of lean manufacturing is not to copy Toyota tools designed for a specific production process. Lean manufacturing means developing principles that are specific to your organization and sticking to them, effectively creating added value for consumers and society. This way your company can become profitable and competitive. The Toyota Way principles provide the starting point. Toyota uses them not only on assembly lines for mass production. In the next chapter we will see how some of these principles are applied to the organizations that provide Toyota product development services.
Brief description of the 14 principles of the Toyota Way
Section I. Long-term philosophy
Principle 1. Make management decisions with a long-term perspective, even if it is detrimental to short-term financial goals.
Use systematic and strategic approaches when setting goals, and all operational decisions should be subordinated to this approach. Realize your place in the history of the company and try to take it to a higher level. Work on the organization, improve and rebuild it, moving towards the main goal, which is more important than making a profit. A conceptual understanding of your purpose is the foundation of all other principles.
Your main task is to create value for the consumer, society and the economy. When assessing any type of activity in a company, consider whether it solves this problem.
Be responsible. Strive to control your destiny. Believe in your strengths and abilities. Be accountable for what you do, maintain and improve the skills that allow you to produce added value.Section II. The right process produces the right results
Principle 2. A continuous flow process helps identify problems.
Reengineer your process to create a continuous flow that effectively adds value. Minimize the amount of time unfinished work sits idle.
Create a flow of products or information and establish connections between processes and people so that any problem is identified immediately.
This flow must become part of the organizational culture, understandable to everyone. This is the key to continuous improvement and development of people.
Principle 3. Use a pull system to avoid overproduction.
Make sure that the internal consumer who accepts your work gets what he needs at the right time and in the right quantity. The basic principle: in a just-in-time system, the stock of products should be replenished only as they are consumed.
Minimize work in progress and inventory storage. Keep a small number of items in stock and replenish these stocks as customers pick them up.
Be sensitive to daily fluctuations in consumer demand, which provide more information than computer systems and charts. This will help avoid losses due to the accumulation of excess inventory.
Principle 4. Distribute the amount of work evenly ( heijunka): work like a tortoise, not like a hare.
Eliminating waste is only one of three conditions for lean manufacturing success. Eliminating overload of people and equipment and smoothing out uneven production schedules are equally important. This is often not understood in companies that are trying to apply lean principles.
Work to distribute the load evenly in all processes related to production and service. This is an alternative to alternating rush jobs and downtime, characteristic of mass production.
Principle 5. Make stopping production to solve problems part of the production culture if quality requires it.
Table of contents
Introduction 3
1. Management Management 5
2. Methodological approaches to management 11
3. Analysis of the internal and external environment of the organization 13
4. Toyota strategy 17
5. Mission and governance mechanism 20
6. Justification of the effectiveness of our managers 22
Conclusion 31
Literature 32
Introduction
The success of Toyota has been of constant interest to managers and businessmen around the world for many decades. The reliability of Toyota cars has become a standard for the global automotive industry, so everyone who is interested in improving the quality of goods and services is one way or another familiar with the experience of this corporation.
Since 2000, the global automobile industry's production has grown to 60 million vehicles per year, with more than half of the increase coming from the Japanese company Toyota. While the world was watching developments at Nissan, Toyota was implementing a global program to increase production; soon this leader of all Japanese industry will produce more cars abroad than in Japan. Toyota has already surpassed Ford in production volume and now intends to overtake Chrysler in sales volume to become part of the American "Big Three". Unlike all other automobile companies, which make almost no profit on their invested capital, Toyota manages to generate consistently high returns.
The management of the Japanese auto giant has set an ambitious goal - to establish control over 15% of the global automobile market, displacing General Motors Corporation from first place. The 10% milestone has already been reached. The company's top management admits that such goals are set, among other things, to motivate employees.
First of all, Toyota showed the whole world how cars should be made: few people had heard of the Toyota Production System (TPS) before it, and in particular its most important element - the Just-in-Time system - were described in a publication published in 1991 book "The Machine That Changed the World."
The key principle of TPS is to eliminate waste of resources and maintain consistent high quality through continuous improvement. JIT is just one element of a comprehensive program to eliminate unnecessary work and wasted resources. The TPS system was then implemented in many other industries around the world.
Over the past 30 years, the quality of American and European cars has also continuously improved, but prices have actually decreased only slightly, this decrease cannot even be compared with the drop in prices for electronic goods. While American and European car companies were improving their models, buyers quickly realized the advantage of reliable Japanese cars and preferred them. When America and Europe introduced trade barriers in response to the spread of Japanese automobiles, Japanese companies began to build factories in European and American territory. Although Toyota expanded more slowly in the global market than Nissan or Honda, having a sophisticated production management method gave it a significant advantage as it entered the global market.
Thus, the basis of Toyota's success is in perfect production management and high-quality work on creating new models, allowing it to offer consumers new model ranges every two years. The company produces 60 basic models for Japan and many options for foreign markets, while the degree of unification is very high - Toyota very successfully uses components and assemblies from old ones in new models.
1. Management management
An economic miracle - this is how Japan was called by witnesses of its rapid growth after two world wars. Having accelerated the machine of its civilization in the race for world championship, today this country, according to the Japanese Embassy in Russia, has become the world's largest exporter of capital, the second industrial power and the third exporter of products in the world. Of the 500 largest transnational companies, 141 are Japanese. Japan is also the second country in the world for the amount of investment in scientific research. Expenditures on research activities amount to 3% of the gross national product - this is the highest figure among developed countries. At the same time, the share of government spending on science is only 20%, which is lower than in Western countries (30% in the USA, 40% in France).
The lack of a serious supply of natural resources has, in fact, forced Japan to become part of the knowledge economy. Japanese high-tech companies created many formats and technologies that later became world standards.
However, it is Toyota that is famous outside of Japan for its business organization principles - Toyota Production System. The pioneers of this system for Americans were James P. Womack and Daniel T. Jones, authors of the book “The Machine That Changed the World.” Having carefully studied the fundamentals of Toyota management, they were able to formalize the main provisions of the Toyota Production System. Before this, the company itself tried to reproduce its own management system at a newly opened plant in the USA - but without success. Toyota management was fully confident that only a Japanese could learn to think and act within the Toyota Production System, and training a specialist could take up to 20 years. The formalization of Toyota's ideology helped make this system a publicly accessible management model.
Toyota Production System is built on the principle of “lean production”, or “production with zero inventory” (lean production). It is based on the concepts of “jidoka” (“human automation”) and “just in time”. The first was developed by the founder of Toyota Group Sakichi Toyoda, the second by the founder of Toyota Motor Corporation Kiichiro Toyoda. Jidoka means immediate response to problems: if at any stage production deviates from the norm, the entire process is immediately stopped to prevent the production of defective parts. This allows pre-defined quality standards to be met for each spare part. The equipment is configured to automatically stop both when problems are detected and when specified operations are completed. If the machine stops, the operator can, without paying any more attention to it, either begin to find out the causes and eliminate the problem, or move on to controlling other equipment. Thanks to this, one operator can operate several different devices - and this increases productivity. Just-in-time means that each part must be produced only when it is needed, and only in the right quantity - all according to a clear plan, no inventory and no production "just in case". In this way, “muda” is eliminated - everything superfluous and unnecessary, from warehouse stocks to unnecessary production processes and functions. Compliance with the “just in time” concept allows you to reduce production time due to a clear response to an incoming order and prompt action 1 .
A major role in the Toyota Production System is played by the Kanban production control method, the idea of which was borrowed from supermarkets. For each Toyota part, a card is created indicating all the information about it, like a store card with the name of the product, its barcode and place in the warehouse and shelves. Once paper, these cards are now maintained on a computer.
The philosophy, known as the “Toyota Way,” advocates “improving every day” by correcting bugs and learning from previous experience. If any mechanism indicates that a problem has been detected, the deviation from the normal operating process is noted, the production line is stopped, the supervisor identifies and corrects the causes, and the improvements made become part of the normal operating process.
Another important component of the “Toyota Way” is “right thinking, right product.” As already mentioned, the company spends a lot of time and effort on training and development of staff. But the concept of employment at Toyota is not entirely Japanese: back in 1946, the company entered into an agreement with employees, according to which the principle of lifelong employment of people with the “right mindset” was supplemented by the principle of rotation: an employee can change departments or retrain at any time.
Let us dwell on such a management strategy as Kaizen. In Japanese, the word "kaizen" means "continuous improvement". Based on this strategy, everyone is involved in the improvement process - from managers to workers, and its implementation requires relatively small material costs. The Kaizen philosophy suggests that our life as a whole (work, public and private) should be focused on continuous improvement. This idea is so natural and obvious to many Japanese that they follow it without thinking at all! In my opinion, it is largely responsible for Japan's competitive success. Although improvements in kaizen are small and gradual, after a while their implementation produces amazing results. Kaizen explains why Japanese companies do not stop developing.
Kaizen is also a low-risk approach. Managers can always return to their old ways of working without suffering major losses. Most “genuinely Japanese” management methods, such as “total quality control” or “company-wide quality control”, “quality circles” and the style of labor relations itself, can be described in one word - kaizen.
Management must use the following basic elements of the concept to implement the Kaizen strategy:
Kaizen and management.
The process, not the result.
Follow the PDCA/SDCA cycles.
Quality comes first.
Speak with data.
The next process is the consumer.
First and foremost, a thoughtful and very clear policy statement should be communicated to senior management. He then needs to set a schedule for implementing the strategy and lead the process by applying kaizen procedures at his level.
In the context of kaizen, management has two main functions: maintenance and improvement (See Figure 1).
Rice. 1. Japanese perception of job functions
Maintenance is the act of ensuring existing technological, organizational and operational standards and maintaining such standards through training and discipline. As part of the maintenance function, management performs its tasks in such a way that everyone can follow the requirements of the standard operating procedure (SOP). Improvement is everything that is aimed at improving existing standards. The Japanese idea of management thus boils down to one precept: maintain and improve standards.
As shown in Fig. 2, improvement can be classified as kaizen or as "innovation".
Rice. 2. The place of innovation and kaizen in the improvement process
Kaizen is small improvements resulting from continuous effort. Innovation involves dramatic improvement resulting from significant investment in new technology or equipment. (If money is a key factor for you, consider that innovation costs more.) Because of their addiction to innovation, Western managers miss out on the long-term benefits of kaizen. This strategy emphasizes human effort, morale, communication, training, teamwork, involvement, and self-discipline—a common-sense, low-cost approach to improvement 2 .
A process-oriented approach should also be used when implementing various kaizen tools: the plan-do-check-act (PDCA) cycle; cycle “standardize-do-check-act”, “total quality management” (TQM); "just in time", "total equipment maintenance" (TPM). Kaizen tools have failed in many companies simply because they ignored the process. The most critical element in the kaizen process is the commitment and involvement of top management. To ensure success, this attitude must be demonstrated immediately and consistently followed.
Basic Kaizen systems.
What follows is a description of the basic systems needed to achieve kaizen goals.
Toyota Motor Company's just-in-time manufacturing system, created by Taichi Ohno, involves eliminating activities that do not generate revenue and moving toward "lean manufacturing" that is flexible enough to accommodate a variety of customer demands.
This production system relies on concepts such as takt time (the time it takes to produce one unit of output rather than cycle time), one-piece flow, pull manufacturing, jidoka (autonomy), and U-shaped cells. and reduction in setup reduction time.
To implement an ideal JIT production system, a series of kaizen activities must be performed continuously to eliminate activities that do not add value to the gemba. The Just-in-Time production system significantly reduces costs, allows for timely delivery of products and significantly increases company profits.
Management must set clear goals for everyone and take the lead in all improvement efforts to achieve them. Kaizen strategy in action requires careful monitoring of the implementation process.
The central idea of kaizen is that not a day should pass without improvement in the company.
2. Methodological approaches to management
Since our founding in 1937, we, TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION and all of our subsidiaries, have continually strived to contribute to the sustainable development of society by producing and offering innovative products and services of the highest quality. Thanks to this commitment, we have been able to develop our own philosophy, values and management methods, which are passed on to the company from generation to generation.
We have summarized this management philosophy in the Toyota Guiding Principles (originally released in 1992 and revised in 1997), which outline our vision of the kind of company we want to be. “We sincerely believe that our activities and our contribution to society are consistent with these principles. Our values and our practices were outlined in the book “The Toyota Way” (published 2001), because putting the Toyota Way into practice requires that our values and practices be shared by our employees throughout our businesses. all over the world. We are confident that new generations will follow the Toyota Philosophy.
In recent decades, our company has expanded its operations around the world, and at the same time, society's expectations regarding the role of corporations in sustainable development have increased. Taking this into account, we have tried to interpret the Toyota Guiding Principles from the perspective of how we can promote sustainable development by engaging with all stakeholders.
All employees of our company know and share these principles, and we will continue our efforts aimed at sustainable development. We also hope that our partners will support this initiative and act in accordance with it.
Toyota's Guiding Principles
Respect the letter and spirit of the law of each country, and conduct business openly and honestly in order to be a worthy corporate citizen of the world.
Respect the culture and traditions of all nations and contribute through their activities to the economic and social development of society.
Direct efforts to produce environmentally friendly and safe goods and improve the quality of life around the world.
Develop and develop advanced technologies and offer products and services of the highest quality.
Develop a corporate culture that stimulates individual and team creativity and promotes mutual trust and respect between employees and management.
Strive to grow in harmony with the global community through innovative management methods.
Collaborate with business partners in research and development for sustainable long-term growth and mutual benefit, while remaining open to new contacts.
Make management decisions with a long-term perspective, even if this is detrimental to short-term financial goals.
A continuous flow process helps identify problems.
Use a "pull" scheme to avoid overproduction. The organization of production requires that the consumer receives what he needs at the right time and in the right quantity.
Equalize the amount of work. In order to create proper lean manufacturing and achieve improved service quality, you need to align the production schedule without always strictly following the order in which orders are received.
Stop production if quality requires it.
Standard tasks and delegation of authority to employees are the basis for continuous improvement.
Use visual inspection so that no problem goes unnoticed.
Use only reliable, proven technology.
Develop leaders who thoroughly know their business, profess the company’s philosophy and can teach this to others.
Develop exceptional people and form teams that adhere to the corporate philosophy.
Respect your partners and suppliers, set difficult tasks for them and help them improve.
If you want to understand the situation, look at everything with your own eyes.
Make your decision slowly, after weighing all possible options.
Make your company a learning organization through relentless analysis and continuous improvement.
3. Analysis of the internal and external environment of the organization
The author of the course work set himself and successfully solved the problem of describing the interaction of the main functional areas of the company. And it turned out that this automobile giant acts in such a way that, simultaneously with production itself, it is rapidly accumulating funds in quantities unimaginable for an industrial enterprise. We used to hear about these riches and were surprised at their appearance. Now we know how exactly, through what mechanisms and in the name of what such accumulation occurs. Every four years, Toyota produces a new car model, costing it at least $365 million. These are large investment projects provided through optimal combinations of own and borrowed funds. Huge cash reserves guaranteed the company a relatively calm life during periods of various disasters, such as the first and second oil crises.
In addition, Toyota is actively building new enterprises in various parts of the world, and more recently in our country, which also requires considerable funds. And then there are shareholders and other interested parties. To ensure their interests, the company annually creates target costs at the stage of developing new products, which are then transformed into kaizen costs during the production process. This provides a mechanism for continuous improvement, accompanied by continuous cost reduction both during the design of new products and during production 4 .
In a centralized company like Toyota, problems inevitably arise in coordinating the activities of functional departments. To overcome such difficulties, the company has developed an original mechanism - a functional assembly. This is a body that, seemingly without administrative power, nevertheless plays a decisive role in coordinating all actions within the framework of a project. This primarily concerns quality control and cost management. This is where senior management decisions are made and coordinated action plans are drawn up for each department.
Somehow, amazingly, the company manages to combine centralization with a flat structure. In this structure, the just-in-time approach is applied not only in the production process, but also in decision-making at all levels of management, which significantly affects the reduction of cycle time, that is, the time between the receipt of an order and the customer receiving the expected product and/or service. And within the company's approach, reducing cycle time is an absolute benefit.
We especially note that the company spends enormous efforts on reducing the number of management levels, reducing the distance between people, and introducing addressing higher-level employees by name, rather than by last name and position, which is traditional for Japanese companies. Such, at first glance, trifles, it turns out, play a huge role in strengthening team spirit.
For a harmonious production process, it is important that sales are balanced with production and with new developments. To do this, you must first link production with sales. At the same time, however, it is still important to equalize the volume of daily production. And this, in turn, is only possible if the entire or almost the entire range of manufactured products is produced every day. The company managed to find an approach that made production sensitive to fluctuations in market demand (market pressure) and at the same time loaded evenly as much as possible. To achieve this, sales people must work closely with production people.
On the other hand, it is important to establish the process of developing new cars. Here Toyota found an interesting organizational solution - the system of chief engineers. These are leaders who combine deep engineering knowledge with the talent of coordinating managers. They are not found spontaneously when needed, but are carefully prepared for the future. It is interesting that their administrative power is not great at all - everything rests on leadership authority.
The process of developing a new car naturally begins with market analysis. It is clear that the connection between production and the market is organized at two levels: through dealers and through suppliers. These complex interactions are carried out using information systems specially designed for the conditions of a particular company. It has been noticed for quite some time that the standard solutions offered by the market in the field of information technology do not meet the needs of organizations and do not give the expected financial result. This became especially clear after the company began to be guided by the principles of continuous improvement, which required a systematic review of business processes.
Toyota's experience in this area is instructive. She develops her information systems herself. And at the time the book describes, the company has three interconnected information systems: a strategic information system (SIS), an integrated manufacturing management system (CIM) and a just-in-time (JIT) system, implemented in the form of the famous kanban pull system. Thanks to the interconnection of these systems, prompt receipt of information from dealers, timely information to suppliers and flexible production management are achieved. At the same time, it is the kanban system that provides a specific linkage of processes to place and time and makes the use of ERP systems in operational management unnecessary.
From these positions, Toyota's production system appears much more clearly. It becomes clear how the absence of defects is achieved, how the eternal war against losses is waged, how delivery discipline is ensured. Finally, how project teams are formed and work. We missed all this in the books about Toyota that we read before in Russian.
The world is changing rapidly. Now, no analysis of any large company can be complete without considering its international global strategy. This is clearly seen in the example of Toyota. Therefore, the author concludes the book with a detailed examination of globalization strategy, and talks not only about Toyota, but also about other Japanese auto companies. Thanks to this, we get a comprehensive picture of the international activities of automakers. One of the central ideas of the book is the social role of Toyota as a global automobile manufacturer and its constant desire for efficiency through flexibility, efficiency, high productivity and profitability of all activities.
4. Toyota strategy
Toyota CEO Katsuaki Watanabe's goal of cutting the number of auto components Toyota uses to build its cars in half is a radical idea that would allow him to turn a new page in the auto industry's history. He also wants to build new types of car factories, faster and more adaptable to the introduction of new models, that could assemble simplified cars.
His ultimate goal is to cut car production costs by at least 1 trillion yen (about $8.7 billion) over the next three to four years, or about $1,000 per car, and then continue cutting costs at the same pace. This goal seems quite achievable - from 2000 to 2004, Toyota managed to reduce the cost of purchasing auto parts by exactly 1 trillion yen, and it was Watanabe, who then headed the purchasing department in the company, who led this project. General Motors recently reported similar cost cuts, but the majority of those cuts were driven by layoffs.
Toyota is increasing its market share and increasing profits, while its American competitors are experiencing unprecedented declines. Toyota now has about 12% of the global car market, including sales from its two affiliated companies, making it No. 2 in the world, behind only General Motors. Beating the struggling Detroit company is the Japanese manufacturer's ultimate dream. One of the main reasons why Toyota is thriving while American industry giants are languishing is Watanabe's series of production improvement programs with rather long and pretentious names.
Also a strategic goal is to create a completely new type of low-cost factories. At such a plant, they say, workers would be able to assemble more than 10 different car models, and a new car would roll off the assembly line every 50 seconds or less. The company's fastest plant now produces a new car every 56 seconds. Considering the scale of the automotive industry, the planned acceleration of production looks significant and will increase productivity without hiring additional employees.
But the main task remains reducing the number of automotive components. “We started asking ourselves: why are we installing 60 different microcomputers in one car? says Hiroshi Ohashi, the company's senior engineer, who has been responsible for the company's cost-saving innovation program since 2005. “Why don’t we reduce the number of identical components and increase the number of functions they perform?”
One of the goals for the next decade is to make a car with one antenna and one receiver that would handle all wireless communications in the car, including door locking. Now there are more than 10 such devices in Toyota cars.
Difficult times for Toyota began in the early 90s, when there was a sharp rise in the value of the yen - the company had to respond to this by increasing price competitiveness. In the mid-90s, a cost reduction program was implemented, which made it possible to achieve competitiveness of products at an exchange rate of 95 yen to the dollar. When the yen subsequently depreciated, Toyota benefited twice as much. However, the domestic market fell from 6 million cars a year to 4 million, and Toyota faced increased competition from Honda and Nissan. Thanks to another cost-cutting program, the company managed to increase its share of the domestic Japanese market from 38% in the mid-90s to 44.6% in 2004. Since the import of European brands Volkswagen, BMW, and Mercedes increased and they occupied 7% of the Japanese market (primarily expensive models), Toyota had to start selling Lexus cars in the domestic market.
But conquering the domestic market was an easy task compared to conquering the global one. Toyota has set itself the task of producing more cars abroad. To complete the task, 5 new factories were built outside Japan: three in North America and two in Europe. From 1993 to 2003, car production abroad more than doubled to 2 million, while in Japan it fell from 3.5 to 3 million (the volume then recovered due to export demand - 50% of domestic production is exported).
The process of globalization has significantly changed the face of Toyota. In 1980, it had 11 factories in 9 countries, in 1990 - 20 factories in 14 countries, and now - 46 factories in 26 countries, as well as design centers in California and France, design centers in Detroit, Belgium and Thailand. Sales in the North American market exceeded 2 million vehicles for the first time, and in the European market - 1 million (5%). Toyota's success in Europe was greatly influenced by the opening of factories in Turkey and France, as well as the release of the Yaris model developed in Europe. And in the American market, sales growth was helped by the presentation of pickup trucks and SUV models.
At such a rate of expansion of the company, it is very important to maintain a high standard of quality, as well as organizationally become a truly transnational corporation. For now, Toyota is a large national exporting company with a developed network of foreign production facilities. The entire Toyota empire is gradually becoming less centralized: managers of foreign divisions can manage the daily activities of their structures independently, without seeking approval from the center. The foundation has been laid for a system of training and retraining of our own management personnel - Toyota Institute. In addition, Toyota has a special mobile division that trains ordinary workers on site - at new factories, as well as at those factories where production of new models begins.
Toyota has established joint ventures with General Motors in California, PSA Peugeot Citroen in the Czech Republic and China. Toyota believes that cooperation with the French partner will allow it to learn more about the most productive methods of working with suppliers in the European market.
One General Motors employee, speaking about the future of the corporation in light of the rapid growth of Toyota (the main competitor in the global market), noted that the future of the Japanese auto giant is cloudless and it will not stop at any difficulty if it manages to maintain an unparalleled corporate culture.
5. Mission and management mechanism
In January last year, Toyota Motor Corporation released a document called “Contribution to Sustainability,” which outlines the company's corporate social responsibility (CSR) policy. This document has been prepared to provide our shareholders, employees and business partners with a better understanding of Toyota's position on corporate social responsibility.
We are convinced that the growth of Toyota's business in Russia is directly related to our ability to meet society's expectations. Despite significant differences between the automotive markets in Russia and other countries, the need for large corporations to participate in public life may be even greater here than elsewhere. Therefore, we must make every effort to ensure that Toyota's policy on contribution to sustainable development is effectively implemented 6 .
We, TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION, and all of our subsidiaries are committed to promoting the harmonious and sustainable development of society throughout the world, based on our Guiding Principles.
We follow the letter and spirit of local, national and international laws and regulations and conduct our business with honesty and integrity.
We believe that management's engagement with all stakeholders in accordance with the principles below is essential to sustainable development, and we will make every effort to strengthen relationships by freely providing accurate information.
Toyota's trump card is its network of independent car dealers, which until recently was divided into five competing sub-networks, each of which specialized in certain parts of the company's model range. In February 2003, the entire network was reformed: the number of subnets was reduced to four, one of them was aimed at the target audience - young buyers. The company had to adapt to the high fragmentation of the market: in our time it is impossible to successfully sell a small number of models; the range of products must be as diverse as possible.
6. Justification of the effectiveness of our managers
The Japanese automobile manufacturing concern Toyota has decided to speed up the training of management of the concern's departments. This is due to the fact that Toyota’s global production is constantly expanding and the concern wants to avoid losses as a result of inexperience or incorrect actions of management. Management will now study in Tokyo at the company's new Global Production Center. This is due to the fact that the usual method of sending Japanese specialists to the field is ineffective. This was stated by Toyota Vice President Kozuke Shiramitsu.
So now the heads of Toyota branches and representative offices will undergo training in Japan, and then, armed with training materials, teach staff locally. Toyota plans to open similar training centers in Europe and North America later.
Toyota is fully aware of its responsibility to society. When determining the development strategy and in current activities, the company proceeds from the fact that a prerequisite for sustainable business development is strict adherence to the principles of social responsibility. In accordance with these principles, the company sees its objectives not only in producing products necessary for society, but also in promoting social progress, increasing the well-being of society in general and improving the standard of living of its employees in particular.The company strives to carry out its production activities in strict accordance with the requirements of not only the legislation of the Russian Federation in the field of ecology and environmental management, but also its own environmental policy, as well as in accordance with the Toyota Environmental Charter (for more details, see the section “Environmental Policy”).
In practice, this means that every employee in the office or in production strives to take care of natural resources, namely, save electricity and water, use paper rationally, trying to primarily use electronic reusable media.
Relationships between management and employees are built on the principles of social partnership. The company provides employees with a competitive level of remuneration.
Toyota pays special attention to the professional development of employees. Education and training programs and various trainings are offered on an ongoing basis.
Toyota conducts active charitable and sponsorship activities, both independently and in partnership with public and government organizations, involving its employees in participating in socially effective projects in the social and environmental spheres.
As part of its social responsibility policy, Toyota promotes the development of culture, sports and education.
The company pays special attention to programs related to road safety. In particular, Toyota constantly promotes the use of seat belts. Experts firmly believe that it was this simple device that saved the lives of millions of motorists in extreme situations on the road.
The seemingly unshakable American automobile “Big Three” - General Motors, Ford and DaimlerChrysler - are in danger for decades. In August 2003, for the first time in history, Japanese Toyota sold more cars in America than American Chrysler, and in the third quarter of 2003 it overtook Ford in terms of the number of cars sold. It had to come a long way, painstakingly increasing productivity, and today Toyota's leadership is more than stable. It is based on the uniquely efficient Toyota Production System, the principles of which have had a huge influence on production philosophy and are today adopted by companies in a wide range of countries and industries - from metallurgy to retail.
Slim production opens up enormous opportunities for business development in areas that previously no one paid attention to from this point of view. Today it is believed that lean production can primarily increase productivity in a variety of industries. And although it is known how difficult it is to instill its principles, they are adopted not only by manufacturing companies, but also by service sector enterprises, and thanks to them they break out into leadership positions in the industry.
Taichi Ohno, founder of lean manufacturing and executive vice president of Toyota Motor since 1975, formulated the basic principles of the Toyota Production System, on which it stands until today.
Produce only what is needed, and only when needed. The rule applies to spare parts, to the organization, to product characteristics. Everything else is waste.
When an error occurs, you should immediately find its cause, eliminate it, and prevent its occurrence in the future. Goal: no errors.
All employees and suppliers must continually improve product quality and improve the production process.
And then Taichi Ono made an unexpected discovery: it turned out that it was more profitable to produce parts in small batches than in large ones. Even if at any stage an error occurred or a defect appeared, the car was still assembled to the end, and only the product that had already left the assembly line was checked for quality and the defect was eliminated, spending a lot of effort, resources and time on this. Producing parts in small batches made it possible to avoid such losses.
But in practice, creating a system in which parts were produced in small batches exactly according to production requirements, with a minimum rate of waste during assembly, was not easy: it required that workers themselves strive to constantly improve quality.
The Taylor system excluded the possibility of such an attitude of workers towards their work, and the solution found at Toyota dealt another blow to the ideology of mass production. To eradicate the vicious practice in which defects are not eliminated immediately, but pass through one production stage after another, aggravating the error, Taichi Ono decided to implement the main nightmare of the American manufacturer: he ordered each Toyota assembly line team, in the event of a defect, to stop the line for the time necessary to eliminate it.
Not surprisingly, the conveyor began to stop every minute. But the reformer, despite the discontent of the workers, went to the end: if in the West the mistake was corrected and forgotten about, hoping that it would not happen again, then Ono forced the workers to carefully analyze the reasons that gave rise to it. The entire process was then carefully standardized and documented to prevent a similar error from occurring in the future.
The consolidation of production into a common flow also contributed to the reduction in the number of defects. As a result, the quality of finished products at the Toyota plant has noticeably improved, and at the same time, the need to correct defects has practically disappeared. Thanks to this, in terms of productivity, Toyota was noticeably ahead of traditional automakers, in whose factories “working out mistakes” took up almost a quarter of the time, not to mention the fact that this required at least one-fifth of the production space.
Table No. 1
In the end, by consistently pursuing its line, Toyota overcame the seemingly inevitable compromise between quality, time and costs: it turned out that quality is not necessarily expensive and time-consuming. By proving in practice that it was possible to reduce costs while increasing quality, Toyota overturned traditional manufacturing philosophy and became a model for all manufacturing companies around the world. Toyota's solutions were so effective that other automobile companies had no choice but to implement its methods, which made it possible to increase sales volumes and shareholder returns by 10-15%, increase labor productivity by 30% and halve the time to market a new product. (from concept to production). It was the latter factor that became very important in conditions that forced companies to respond flexibly to demand.
Over time, lean manufacturing principles evolved from the Toyota Production System.
1. Waste is any activity that, without creating value, increases costs, stalls the flow of products or information, and interferes with satisfying customer needs. In other words, these are activities for which clients do not have to pay. There are eight types of waste: overproduction, unnecessary movements and transportation, repairs of any kind, excess processing, downtime caused by waiting (until the necessary components are delivered or the machine completes the processing cycle), excess inventories, and incomplete use of intellectual resources. By eliminating waste as much as possible, companies can reduce costs and gain a competitive advantage.
2. Deviation from the standard in technological processes, labor organization, operation of equipment and components also leads to losses.
3. Finally, due to the lack of flexibility in the production system, companies cannot always fully satisfy customer demands. If, for example, they set a minimum order size and deadlines, they automatically lose customers who are not satisfied with these conditions. Lean production allows companies to respond more quickly to changes in demand.
The Toyota Production System is a philosophy, not a set of techniques. Many companies liked the idea, they rebuilt production, organized the conveyor in a new way, optimized some technological processes, and overall achieved an increase in productivity. And they stopped there.
Toyota approaches things differently. Tireless improvement and the desire to minimize costs are one of the laws of her life. No one ever stops at what they have achieved - this is what the shift supervisors instilled in me from the very first day of work. If the operation now takes 60 seconds, then what needs to be done to complete it in 57? If a machine broke down 10 times last month and did not work for 5 hours in total, then how to reduce this time by at least 10%? If 100 defective parts were produced in a month, how can we ensure that there are no more than 70 of them? Everything that can be measured in terms of quality, costs, delivery times is constantly in the spotlight and must be improved. Questions are asked again and again: where are we standing idle, why, how to avoid repeating the mistake?
Optimization at Toyota concerns everything and everyone - at the workshop level, at the plant level, and at the concern level. This explains Toyota's ever-growing competitive advantage. It reduces prices by 5% annually throughout the supply chain. Purchases of materials cost it 40% less than European competitors. It takes her half as much time to produce the same volume of products. In the US, Toyota has a delivery time of no more than two weeks, while for other companies it is calculated in months. And here's the result: in an extremely unfavorable environment in 2002, Toyota received an operating profit of over $8 billion - almost 40% more than in 2001.
Conclusion
Any manager, whether he manages workers or engineering personnel, or works in the manufacturing or service sector, by studying Toyota management, will learn what amazing changes can be achieved by eliminating waste of time and resources; integrating quality into the workplace organization system; searching for cheap and reliable alternatives to new expensive technologies; creating a culture that embraces learning and continuous improvement.
Western managers and economists have always been interested in the secrets of the efficiency of Japanese manufacturers. When Japanese companies first took a significant share of the American market with their inexpensive, high-quality cars, it was believed that the key to their success lay in the ability of Japanese workers to work without sleep or rest. But when the Japanese built their factories in America and achieved the same amazing successes - in production efficiency and product quality - but with American workers, American competitors were completely discouraged. It turned out that the whole secret lies in the uniquely efficient production organization. Upon closer examination, it turned out that the Japanese pay a lot of attention to such seemingly obvious things as meeting customer needs, product quality, savings, and eliminating unnecessary operations. But these brilliantly simple principles, which later formed the basis of the concept of “lean manufacturing,” turned out to be so effective that American companies had to master them in order to keep up with the competition.
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Jeffrey K. Liker. The Toyota Way: 14 management principles for the world's leading company. – M.: Alpina business books, 402 p.
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Shigeo Shingo. Study of the Toyota production system from the point of view of production organization Translated from English. – M.: ICSI, 2006. – 295 p.
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Taiichi Ono. Toyota production system. Moving away from mass production. Translation from English 2nd ed., revised. and additional M.: Publishing house "ICSI", 2006. -208 p.Financial and industrial groups of the Japanese type. Kuznetsova N.V. // Management in Russia and abroad No. 1 / 2004.
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www.cfin.ru
www.hrmanagements.ru
www.toyota.ru
www.toyota-russia.ru
1 Shigeo Shingo. Study of the Toyota production system from the point of view of production organization Translated from English. – M.: ICSI, 2006. – 295 p.
2 Financial and industrial groups of the Japanese type. Kuznetsova N.V. // Management in Russia and abroad No. 1 / 2004.
3 Jeffrey K. Liker. The Toyota Way: 14 management principles for the world's leading company. – M.: Alpina business books, 402 p.
4 Taiichi Ono. Toyota production system. Moving away from mass production. Translation from English 2nd ed., revised. and additional M.: Publishing house "ICSI", 2006. -208 p.
5 www.toyota.ru
6 www.toyota-russia.ru
7 Taiichi Ono. Toyota production system. Moving away from mass production. Translation from English 2nd ed., revised. and additional M.: Publishing house "ICSI", 2006. -208 p.
Irina Krokhmal - Head of the Production System Development Department of KAMAZ-Metallurgy OJSC
Basic principles of T - TPS:
. JIDOUKA(Jidoka) - Combined processes, quality (previously they used the definition “Autonomization”)
. JIT (Just in time) - Right on time
. Cost Down- Cost reduction
. Motivation
. KAIZEN- Continuous improvements
T-TPS is an important part of the integrated TMS system, which also includes sales and service of the Toyota concern.
TMS - Toyota Management System
T-TPS -Total Toyota Production System
TDS - Toyota Development System
TSS - Toyota Sales System
TPS - Toyota Production System
Effect of Total Toyota Production System
Until 1980, Toyota was managed according to the “top-down” or Top-dovun Management principle. A top-level manager came to the production site and recommended eliminating the shortcomings; subordinates were given instructions on what exactly to do, and failure to comply entailed punishment. This approach led to overtime work and exhaustion to eliminate comments. Everyone worked ahead of the expectation of the next top check. The workers even created a secret warning system, and where the inspection intended to arrive, the workers scattered. I had to think and change my approach to production management.
Since 1980, the self-study method (Jichuken) has been proposed for production management. This formed the core of the Toyota production system:
- Independent analysis and ranking of problems;
- In-depth study of the causes of problems;
- Independent development of events;
- Improvement of the production site;
- High level of motivation.
This approach required the main thing - the activation of the company's personnel. As production personnel expand their scope of activities, Toyota pays great attention to the education and training of workers. Workers are also assigned functions that are very important to the built-in quality process and the continuous improvement process. Therefore, an important condition when building management using the Jichuken method is the training and development of workers.
When creating T-TPS and managing the Jichuken method, the logistics and quality departments became subordinate to production, and workers are trained and perform the functions of controllers and forwarders: they competently work with the parameters of suitable products and manage kanban cards. Currently, there are no quality control posts at Toyota; control is not needed at all during finishing operations, because Built-in quality is created in production, executed and guaranteed by production. And the quality department performs the functions of constant monitoring of parameters for assessing operations, develops, implements and monitors measures to improve product quality. All these changes made it possible to have 5-6 defective units out of the total number of items per 1,000,000 products. Under previous management, there were 3-4 defective units per 1000 units. Toyota's goal is 0 defective units and they are constantly working on this. Production workers at Toyota are the strongest link.
Differences between the old TPS system (Old TPS) and T - TPS
|
Emphasis on motivation and kaizen |
Modeling the operation of lines and flows |
Staff activation, continuous process improvement (kaizen) |
|
Interaction between management and workers |
Management through the direction of the manager |
Management through independent thinking |
|
Promoting management approaches through motivation |
Control and direction from above |
Everyone participates in kaizen |
|
Guaranteed quality |
Autonomation |
Combined processes |
|
Significant effect |
Any improvements |
Think and earn |
|
Cost reduction |
Active Flow Simulation |
Process engineering from line design |
Power of Company
Toyota experts assess the strength of a company by the level of strength of the company's personnel. To do this, use the formula
n
Company success =( P personality)*( A bility)*( M)
i=1 i i i
n= Works+Staff
Where
. P- personal qualities of a company employee (character)
. A- skills, professionalism of the employee
. M- level of employee motivation
This determines Toyota's success as a company, that is, profit and quality.
The role of a leader, a manager at any level of a company, is to constantly work to raise the level of skills and motivation of staff, in other words, to activate workers in sections, departments and office employees. Toyota management does not consider itself outstanding, but this principle that the company implements produces results and distinguishes it by its main strength; Toyota has very skillful and highly motivated people.
Toyota constantly evaluates itself using Global Benchmarking (GBM) with an emphasis on T - TPS in a five-point system. This helps determine the company's place at the global level. Toyota specialists were invited to evaluate other companies around the world using this system in the USA, Korea, China, and Japan. If the score reaches 3 points, the company is considered competitive in the world. Currently, only Toyota has a rating of 5 points. Most companies in the USA and Korea have 2-3 points and do not have 4-5 points; in China there are only 1-2 points so far.
The assessment is built according to a hexagon diagram, each of the corners means an assessment parameter, and the level from the center means points (from one to five).
Production sites and personnel
. standardization
. staff training
. logistics level
. equipment
. quality (how much can quality be guaranteed)
As already said, Toyota is distinguished from other companies by people with multifunctionality. This is an important advantage and is fully provided and supported. Each production site must have a matrix with a list of jobs (operations) and a list of workers in this site, in which the main indicators of the employee (skills) are reflected in the shaded sectors of the circles.
1 - completed training
2 - know how to perform the operation
3 - I can do quality work
4 - I can teach someone else
This way of assessing site workers and visualizing skills is important. If you need to increase the takt time, the volume of work, and the staff is not very trained, then it is unlikely that the work will speed up and the task will be completed. The more developed the multifunctionality, the easier it is to change takt time and production volume. Toyota always changes the takt time once a month. If qualifications allow, it is also useful to rotate employees.
Training at Toyota is systematized. People learn from the moment they enter. As workers undergo training, they are assigned skill ranks. The highest rank is S, very few people have it. Main ranks A, B, C…. The ranks of workers are also visualized and posted in the workshop areas. The training is carried out one-time, the theory is read and then you can begin to implement it. During training, workers have to grasp everything on the fly, because... The theory is taught only once. But during the construction of T-TPS, this knowledge must be applied in practice, so there are trainings, they are carried out several times. During the training, skills are acquired on how to do it correctly in practice. After listening to information once, it is not possible to remember everything. Therefore, the training step is important: to remember with your body the movements for a specific work operation without errors. Not wasting time repeating information is visualization. This method helps both the worker and the manager. Important: convey information and consolidate it.
The main tool for activating working production sites is “Quality Circles”. This form exists on an ongoing basis, its participants are members of the site team. The main goal of the “quality circle” is an independent analysis of identified problems in the production operations of the site, increasing the level of product quality and seeking to reduce production costs.
There is competition between sections of the enterprise (“quality circles”) on the quality of work performed and on solving production problems. The results are summed up once a month at a general meeting of “quality circles”. The best works are awarded. It is important. At the sites, the level of skills increases, the level of knowledge and motivation increases.
In addition to the basic technological requirements for performing work operations, Toyota’s main requirement is requirement not to make a marriage, not to transfer a marriage. In this direction, Toyota uses the ANDON tool in the production process. Any worker is given the right to stop the production line, if the problems are not corrected within 60 seconds of detecting a deviation in workmanship. As a rule, stopping happens extremely rarely.
Andon - warning system
Toyota is never punished for defects. On the contrary, if it happens that for some reason the marriage is made, discovered and presented, this is encouraged. Each work site plays the role of a quality controller. If a worker detects a deviation in the production process and this could lead to a defect, he immediately acts: he gives a signal using a button or cord, after which the signal lamp for the manager lights up. Each precinct has an Andong scoreboard. This is an electronic display that reflects all operational operations of the site. At the same time, it is a warning system for all workers on the site. The site manager immediately approaches the problem area at the signal of the yellow lamp. He has 60 seconds to solve and, as a rule, the problem is solved in 60 seconds. If they don’t decide, then after 60 seconds the red lamp will light up - this is a signal to everyone to stop the line. It is important.
At Toyota, visualization is very important. Visualization is a way to prevent and control an emergency situation. Visualization is a reminder of important information; it is a form of consolidating the acquired knowledge for a specific operation.
JIDOUKA (Dzhidoka) - Combined processes, quality (previously they used the definition “Automation”)
Built-in quality. Principle: only produce what is suitable. Do not produce defects, do not allow defects to appear, do not transmit defects.
Product quality management is a system of stops and warnings in case of defects. The quality control process is supported by inexpensive instruments and cheap control methods. In-process controllers are production workers who perform work operations. The production department bears full responsibility for quality. At each site, a suitable product is made and only suitable products are transferred from site to site. Therefore, it is customary to talk about combined processes or a combination of processes, and not autonomization, as was previously accepted.
A control matrix is available for a thorough assessment of controls. In traditional control schemes, it is difficult to assess where defects occur, a lot of time is lost, and as a result, stocks of defects are created! In most enterprises, defect data is taken from a personal computer and relies too much on unreliable information. The PC reflects only a small part of reality, so it is customary for Toyota to identify defects at every processing stage. If the cause of the defect is discovered, measures (kaizen) are immediately implemented. The first step is to perform an on-site analysis of the problem. Or as they say in Toyota: a crime is investigated at the crime scene, the weapon used to commit the crime.
All useful information on defects is posted in the “Quality Corner” at each site. A marriage sample and documents for this marriage are required. This is supported by the production department, not the quality control department. Built-in quality is created by those who produce, guarantee and ensure quality. The quality control department is assigned the function of supporting the production department. The quality control department performs various timing and time measurements.
There are tools to identify defects:
. In case of marriage STOP!
. Do not accept or transfer marriage!
. Quality check card with 5 levels: poor quality (BACK), slightly better, tolerable, good, very good.
The product defect level is represented by a matrix. This matrix is filled in for each section. There are operations on the site. All of them are recorded in a matrix. Operations are rated on a 5-point scale.
Table for rough example
(a) - assessment that the details of the required parameters and ease of execution
(b) - assessment based on checking the technical conditions of the operation
The parameters and characteristics of the required quality are included in the matrix being developed in relation to a specific site. For all low matrix scores, urgent measures (kaizen) are carried out. This improvement has significantly increased the level of quality.
Now at Toyota, such a quality report is also used in auxiliary production when improving processes at each workplace. People are encouraged to acknowledge the detected defect, the problem is urgently sorted out and the causes are eliminated.
Cost Down - Cost reduction
At Toyota, everyone thinks every day about reducing product costs. It is important not to do anything unnecessary! Do not create excess inventory, do not do work that no one ordered. They are engaged in cost reduction with the involvement of all personnel, starting with the design of new products. Production is actively engaged in cost reduction. Cost control is carried out by a dedicated foreman. He controls the cost of raw materials, energy costs, and labor costs.
Previously, information on cost at Toyota was closed, but today information on cost is transferred to production departments in order to reduce it. Every production department specialist must think about cost and look for ways to reduce it. With the previous approach, management was: heads of departments and workshops controlled work processes and gave instructions. Now, in addition to this, there is a requirement to reduce costs, be in contact with employees, activate workers, instill skills in introducing improvements, train staff, increase productivity and quality.
An important tool in achieving cost reduction is improvement (kaizen)
. 5 S =4 S +1 S (improvement)
. Visualization
. Execution of STANDARD operations
The effect is the activation of employees and a high level of motivation.
5 S assessment: conscious and subconscious
Toyota believes that it is necessary to grade each work site. It is necessary to clearly evaluate the effect of the 5 S - this is the activation of employees and areas. Grades improve skills and motivation. Toita is constantly working to improve workers' skills and motivation. As a rule, a group of people works at each site. The goals that the group sets for itself are achievable. If the group achieves the goal, then the participants are satisfied. It is important to maintain an atmosphere of joy. Scientists have concluded that the brain perceives joy as an addiction and strives to repeat it. The concept of 5 S ratings is built on these dependencies at Toyota. It is important to constantly influence the site group and move the group up to the real goal. There is no need to stabilize grades 2 and 3. This leads to a decrease in results and a decrease in the level of motivation. Any score can be good, but it can also improve. The manager must be well aware of the peculiarities of working with the group and be sure to praise the workers even for minor improvements. Promotion of improvements is especially necessary and important.
Thinking works with theory; it is important to build a transition from planning to action. For what reason do we not take action if we know everything well? It is required to influence the conscious and subconscious mind and, in particular, to increase motivation. Often the subconscious is not ready, even if the conscious mind determines the need for action. In order to transfer information from consciousness to the subconscious, it is necessary to increase motivation. Part of the brain is responsible for motivation. Managers must understand how to influence a person’s spiritual state and be able to increase motivation.
All activities of the previous Toyota production system were aimed at reducing inventories, reducing costs, and improving quality, that is, management did not think about the happiness of employees and the company. Total - TPS sets a goal: to achieve the level of happiness of each employee and thereby increase their level through the 5 S, “quality circles”, TPM and other tools.
If the purpose of TPS was to reduce workers, then today in T - TPS this is not relevant. It is necessary to start building a production system by activating personnel and increasing motivation.
Statistics also show that in the course of daily work, workers become more aware and aware of the causes of equipment failure. The workers themselves make proposals for improving the maintenance of equipment and improving the process using the equipment. Essential workers perform maintenance work on operating equipment: know how to perform maintenance and perform inspections, cleaning, and minor repairs. This is done everywhere at Toyota, which is why this practice is called universal TRM equipment maintenance. But major repairs and scheduled maintenance are performed by service departments.
Work site crews regularly participate in meetings to evaluate TRM performance. Such meetings are called Bu-ay. Bu-ay is assessed by all teams (for example, at 2 factories there are 100 teams of 7 people per team). During the assessment, a list of 200 teams is compiled (from best to least good). At Bu-ay meetings, it is revealed which brigades are more active and which are less active. The meetings are attended by workers and plant management. The assessment affects crew salaries starting next month. That is, it can change every month depending on Bu-ay's assessment. Such a system creates healthy competition and a constant desire to work to improve the process. The meetings are very necessary and are a positive tool for Toyota.
JIT (Just in time) - Just in time
An important element of the Toyota production system is organized internal and external logistics.
The movement of diesel forklifts is prohibited in Toyota production buildings. Only electric vehicles with trailed trolleys are allowed. Paths are marked for the movement of electric vehicles and people: red for electric cars and trolleys, green for workers. Marked tape is placed along the supply route as a guide. The “agevi” system works (carts and movable structures, such structures are developed by the workers themselves). All Toyota employees think about reducing costs and impeccably carry out standard work and measures to reduce costs, including in logistics. Workers do not make unnecessary movements and do not perform work that does not bring value. Toyota racks are no more than 1.5 meters high, the level of the racks is tilted, allows you to visually view products, flows, traffic and does not block contact with managers.
An important achievement at Toyota is the elimination of interoperable inventories. In order not to create inventories of work in progress, much attention is paid to logistics and the KANBAN tool with kanban cards (quantity information for the delivery of components to the operation). The layout of the equipment is handled by production workers. They optimally arrange workplaces and create routes for the delivery of components. The logistics department is also part of production. This allows you to optimize logistics schemes.
The entire production process is visualized by an electronic display. It necessarily shows areas and processes, takt time, plan, fact, deviation, % of equipment utilization.
There are markings along the movement of the conveyor that allow you to evaluate the actions being performed in 12 seconds. In preparatory operations, a set of modifications is used for the main process, observing the necessary sequence. Parts assembly diagrams are used. Previously, assembled components lay on racks next to work stations, but now they are constantly delivered. Inventories from wheels are only multiples of the operation takt time. Essentially there are no reserves. The pull system is working. To organize your work this way, you need to constantly work with the plan and make timely adjustments. If production areas do not comply with the rhythm of plan implementation, then problems arise and confusion is created in accounting at processing stages. The KANBAN system works from the last section and does not create inventories, because the previous section does not do anything that is not required by the subsequent one.
KANBAN is also the movement of information. A Kanban card is a record. Toyota doesn't do anything unless there is confirmed information. The plan must be managed. Visual kanban cards are used as a tool at the boundaries of areas. In Toyota production, 90% of operations are organized using kanban cards and the kanban card is considered the most successful tool for adjusting production planning. Each previous section serves the next one. The container has a multiplicity of packaging spaces for the required order quantity. The card received with the container is transferred to a box and sent with information for the previous operation: delivery time, quantity (min, max), and other clarifications if necessary. Red and green cards are used. Red for transportation, green for production order (manufacturing). If manufactured parts are awaiting delivery they have a green card, and before transportation the green card is replaced with a red one. There are also
Kanban, it is used for batch management. If the supplier is in a remote area, then an electronic kanban is used, the supplier prints it, executes it and glues it into the container with the delivery of the ordered cargo.
To implement work with Kanban cards, serious training is required for both workers and managers. If you miss this, then kanban doesn't work.
In 2007, Toyota's profit amounted to $20 billion.
In 2008, Toyota's loss amounted to $5 billion
Toyota concluded that the reason was not the financial crisis, but that the company stopped paying special attention to inventory control. Any company needs to work with inventory management activities on an ongoing basis.
To reduce inventory levels, Toyota uses multiple deliveries: the more often we deliver, the better. Transport delivering goods must be equipped taking into account the production takt time, various necessary inventory items from different suppliers. It is important that inventories do not create excess storage and intermediate warehouses. If we compare the cost of transport and warehouse operations and excess inventory, it is more profitable to transport more often. When ordering to a supplier, the order is delivered in the order in which it is needed for production.
If the level of inventories of components and materials in production drops to a minimum, then the system operates in a similar way to ANDON; after sending an automatic signal to the supply service, it is triggered. This is how the pull system works. As for small parts, there is a place for them next to the operation (warehouse rack with hardware, washers, rivets, plugs...).
As a result, when working with supplies, a matrix for providing components, raw materials and materials is also created.
The level of logistics at Toyota is the highest in the world. And this level is provided by Toyota people. System JIT(Just in time) Just in time works due to high levels of motivation, skillful management of plans and well-trained personnel.
KAIZEN - Continuous Improvements
Kaizen at Toyota is a consequence of any analysis and study of the causes of problems. Staff activation is the main thing. Much attention is paid to production processes, improvement is an endless process. The T-TPS principles take Toyota to a development stage with an emphasis on improvement (kaizen) in the design of new lines before product release. The new approach to Toyota management is all kaizen. Previously, Toyota assessed both the submission and implementation of proposals. Now they only pay for implementation.
The main objective of the Toyota production system is to increase profits by reducing production costs, i.e. by eliminating the costs of unnecessary inventory and labor.
To achieve cost reduction, production must adapt quickly and flexibly to changes in market demand. This ideal is embodied in the just-in-time system, which ensures that the right quantity of the required product is produced at the right time. At the same time, production must be adapted to changes in volumes and range of parts. Such an organization requires shortening the order fulfillment cycle, since different elements must be produced every day. This is achieved using small-scale production, and single (piece) production and delivery. Small batch production can be achieved reduction of changeover time, and unit production - using multifunctional workers.
The production management system, developed and improved for Toyota, is based on the F. Taylor system (scientific production management) and the G. Ford system (conveyor line production). Reducing production costs is achieved together with the solution of three subtasks:
1) operational regulation of volume and nomenclature production, which helps the system adapt to daily and monthly changes in the quantity and mix of demand;
2) quality assurance, which allows each operation to be supplied with the highest quality parts from subcontractors;
3) activation of workers, which makes it possible to identify reserves for improving all processes and achieve high efficiency in the implementation of management decisions.
Basic principles of the Toyota control system
1. "Just in Time"– production of the right type of product in the right quantity and at the right time.
2. Autonomation– employee’s independent control over defects. It supports the accurate delivery of products by eliminating the possibility of defective parts from upstream production processes entering the downstream process and preventing failures.
3. Flexible use of labor – changes in the number of workers depending on fluctuations in demand.
4. Development of creative thinking and introduction of constructive ideas employees.
3.1.1. Toyota control system methods
To implement these four principles, Toyota has developed the following methods:
1. Kanban system to ensure just-in-time production.
2. Method of leveling production by volume uninterrupted production to adapt to changes in demand.
3. Reducing equipment changeover time to reduce overall production time.
4. Work rationing to ensure balance in production operations.
5. Flexible placement of production equipment and use of workers who have several professions.
6. Rationalization activities of quality circles and a system for encouraging proposals to reduce the workforce and improve work morale.
7. Visual inspection system to ensure the principle of automatic product quality control at the workplace, etc.
Kanban system
In Toyota's system, as in any pull system, workers receive the parts they need from the upstream production process at the right time and in the right quantity. The type and quantity of items required are entered on a card called “ kanban", which is usually a rectangular card in a plastic envelope. In the card selection indicates the number of parts that should be taken at the previous processing site, while the card production order– the number of parts that must be manufactured at the previous production site. These cards circulate both within Toyota enterprises and between the corporation and its cooperating companies, as well as at its affiliated enterprises. Thus, Kanban cards carry information about the quantities consumed and produced, which allows for just-in-time production.
As a result, many areas of the enterprise are directly connected to each other, which allows for better control of the required quantity of products. The Kanban system is an information system that allows you to quickly regulate the quantity of products at various stages of production. Sometimes the Kanban system is identified with the Just-in-time system, but the Kanban system is only part of the Just-in-time system and means its implementation.
Leveling up production
The method of leveling production by volume, known as fine-tuning production using a kanban system, is the most important method for minimizing lost worker time and equipment downtime.
To avoid large variations in the quantity of parts required at all stages of production, as well as those obtained from external suppliers, it is necessary to minimize fluctuations in output on the final assembly line. Therefore, they must come off the assembly line minimum quantities each car model, realizing the ideal of one-piece production and delivery. In other words, different types of cars will be assembled one after another according to the daily production volume of each type. The assembly line will also receive the necessary parts from previous sections small batches.
Real production reveals a conflict between the need to diversify products and the balance of production. If product variety is not required, specialized mass production equipment is usually a powerful means of reducing costs. However, Toyota produces cars with various combinations of bodies, tires, and additional accessories in a wide range of colors. An example is the release of three or four thousand types of modifications and configurations of the “Crown” model. To ensure production with such a variety of products, it is necessary to have universal, or flexible, equipment.
The method of equalizing the volume of various production products consists of non-stop adaptation to changes in consumer demand through a gradual change in the frequency of production of product batches without changing their size.
Reducing equipment changeover time
The most difficult problem in ensuring smooth production is setting up and retooling equipment in order to reduce production time. For example, in environments where the end process is characterized by high product variety and inventory between the sheet metal stamping press and the downstream body assembly line is kept to a minimum, the press line must make frequent and rapid die changes to produce a wide range of parts.
For this purpose, the technology for removing and installing stamps has been improved. In particular, to reduce the time of changing a die, it is necessary to prepare in advance the necessary tools, die and materials, remove the dismantled die and install a new one (phase external adjustment). Operations that occur when the press is stopped constitute the phase internal adjustment. It is very important to combine internal and external adjustments as much as possible in time. At Toyota, die change times from 1945 to 1954 were about 2-3 hours, thanks to improvements made in 1955 and 1964. it was reduced to 0.25 hours, and after 1970 it dropped to 3 minutes.
Flexible placement of production equipment and use of workers
Initially, at the plant, all five turning, milling and drilling machines were installed side by side and each worker serviced one machine, for example, a lathe - only a lathe, etc. To ensure continuity of production flow, equipment placement had to be changed so that each worker could operate several different machines, for example, lathes, milling and drilling machines, and presses.
On a multi-function line, a worker operates several machines in succession, and work on each machine will continue until the worker completes his task. As a result, each part that falls on the line is followed by another part, and strictly after the completion of the previous one. This method is called piece production.
These transformations make it possible to eliminate inventories between operations, reduce the number of workers, increase the professional self-esteem of workers, and obtain interchangeability of multifunctional workers. The usual amount of work in progress is minimal, since it consists only of products that are on the machines at any given moment.
Work rationing
Production standards are indicated on technological maps and contain the following information: the sequence of operations that must be performed by the multi-machine operator; the order according to which the worker selects the workpiece, installs it on the machine, piece time, and the standard production reserve. Synchronization of operations on the line can be achieved when each worker implements all operations in accordance with the piece time.
Automatic quality control at the workplace
For trouble-free operation of the “just in time” system 100 % defective products must be delivered to subsequent production sites, and this flow must be continuous. Automatic quality control means the installation of such devices on the line that could prevent the massive appearance or failure of equipment.
Word " autonomization"("jidoka") should be understood as the organization and autonomous control of violations of the processing process. At Toyota factories, almost all machines are equipped with automatic stops, which makes it possible to prevent defects in mass production and turn off the equipment in the event of a breakdown. The so-called “protection against careless or inept handling” is one such device that prevents defects in operation. If there is any deviation from the norm on the line, the worker stops the entire line by pressing a button. The express scoreboard in the Toyota system plays an important role of visual control. If a worker needs help to eliminate a delay in work, he turns on the yellow light on the display. If he needs to stop the line to troubleshoot a problem, he turns on the red light. All in all, autonomization is a mechanism that allows autonomous detection of deviations in the production process.
Activation of the human factor
The activation of workers makes the Toyota system truly vital. Each worker has the opportunity to make suggestions and propose improvements at quality circle meetings, which are held under the guidance of a foreman on a regular basis. Proposals are reviewed by engineers, technologists, and managers and are implemented as much as possible into the production process. A system of measures of material and moral encouragement for active workers is provided.