Taiichi Ohno's Book "Workplace Management" Returns to Print in 2007

Almost two years ago I set out to read Taiichi Ohno's recently reissued book Gemba Keiei (Workplace Management) in Japanese and summarize one chapter per week. My goal was to have all 37 chapters posted here by September 2005. Well no plan goes according to plan and here we are two years later and still five chapters away from that goal.

I wondered what I would do to get my weekly Ohno fix after finishing this project since unlike Shigeo Shingo, Taiichi Ohno did not write many books. To be exact, Ohno did not actually write any books, as The Toyota Production System and Just in Time for Today and Tomorrow were both ghost-written (Toyota Production System) or co-written (Just In Time) by Setsuo Mito. We learned that Gemba Keiei was actually the transcript of a series of interviews rather than a text Ohno wrote, which explains a lot about the warm and familiar tone of the book. More on that later.

We are happy to announce that Taiichi Ohno's Book "Workplace Management" will return to print in 2007. Gemba Research LLC has obtained the translation and publishing rights for this classic. We will make this book available again to students of kaizen, the Toyota Production System, Lean manufacturing and other brands of continuous improvement. I want to give special thanks to the team from Gemba's Japan office for all of their hard work in making it possible to bring Taiichi Ohno's Workplace Management back in print in 2007.

Taiichi Ohno (1912 - 1990) was the architect of the Toyota Production System. Most of what is known as Lean manufacturing today traces its origin through Taiichi Ohno and the work done at Toyota during and immediately after his tenure there.

Taiichi Ohno's book Gemba Keiei (Workplace Management) is a delight because not only does it explain some of the ideas and tools that make up the Toyota Production System, it gives context to the development of some of these ideas, and the basic values and philosophies that underly them. Without the polish of a ghost-writer, the book has the feeling of a raw gem, one that requires that you stare long and hard into it before you can appreciate its true beauty.

Check back here for progress on the translation, details on how to pre-order your copy of Taiichi Ohno's book, and news on other books that we will publish.

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