The Lean System is Making the Most of What You've GotBy Jon Miller | Post Date: May 2, 2009 11:54 AM | Comments: 3 If I had a dollar bill for every time someone said to me "This is not Japan" or "We don't build automobiles" or "We don't make the same thing over and over again like Toyota" then I would have a lot of dollar bills. What people are objecting to in these remarks is not the overall idea of the Toyota Production System or its details but rather a protest that the characteristics and context of their business is different if not unique, and does not easily lend itself to the application of a lean system. Those of us who make a living helping people build Toyota-like operating systems tend to dismiss these charges, but they are valid. The lean system is not about copying Toyota as closely as possible; it is about making the most of what you've got. So the question becomes "what have we got?" This is a very broad question but we can learn how to answer it by reflecting on the characteristics and conditions that faced Toyota when they were building their world class production system. In The Birth of Lean, chapter IV, from the paper Toyota production system and Kanban system - materialization of just-in-time and respect-for-human system by Y. Sugimori, K. Kusunoki, F. Cho and S. Uchikawa, the authors share eleven characteristics of "what Toyota had", namely the context for the development of the Toyota Production System. Natural environment 1) The most distinctive feature of Japan is its lack of natural resources People and society 2) Group consciousness, desire to improve, diligence Corporate customs 5) Lifetime employment system The automotive industry and its challenges 9) Mass production, with small losses having a large overall effect Taken as a whole, these 11 characteristics made the environment in which Toyota and its famous production system rather unique. But no single one of these characteristics are unique. Our ability to change the natural environment, industry and the people and society are limited. Corporate customs may not be totally within the control of the management. In some cases we may be much better off than Toyota was 50 years ago when they started developing their system. Like anything worth doing, the lean system requires making the most of what we've got. What the United States has: Natural Environment 1.The most distinctive feature of the United States is its abundance of natural resources People and Society 2.Individual Consciousness, desire to expand one’s personal sphere, vision Corporate Customs 5. Temporary employment in every industry Industry and its challenges 9. Mass Production, with a desire to sell whether or not product is needed by society Poster: Isaac D. Curtis | Post Date: May 4, 2009 8:35 AM Issac's comments although hilarious are somewhat true. Thanks! Sharma Poster: sharma | Post Date: June 22, 2009 3:42 AM |
(1) is interesting. I guess it's still technically true, but it seems to capture a particular historical moment more than an eternal truth. (Or maybe it *is* an eternal truth, and we should *all* consider lack of natural resources a distinctive feature of life on Earth.)