Jidoka - Human Effort Engineering and Industrial Engineering in Toyota Production System

 

Jidoka refers to Process Design and Process Improvement in Toyota Production System.

Mr. Michel Baudin described the human effort engineering and human effort industrial engineering in Toyota Production System in his "Working with Machines: The Nuts and Bolts of Lean Operations with Jidoka."

Two Pillars of TPS - Jidoka and JIT

Jidoka - Process designs that eliminate waste

https://global.toyota/en/company/vision-and-philosophy/production-system/

JIT - Material procurement and flow system that eliminates waste.

Jidoka is based on engineering - Product engineering, process engineering, facilities engineering. product industrial engineering, process industrial engineering, facilities industrial engineering,  human effort industrial engineering.

Toyota Production System - Vision & Philosophy (From Company's Website)

Toyota Production System is a production system based on the philosophy of achieving the complete elimination of all waste in pursuit of the most efficient methods.

This production control system was established  with the objective of making the vehicles ordered by customers in the quickest and most efficient way, in order to deliver the vehicles as swiftly as possible. The Toyota Production System (TPS) was established based on two concepts: "jidoka" (which can be loosely translated as "automation with a human touch"),  and the "Just-in-Time" concept, in which each process produces only what is needed for the next process in a continuous flow.

Based on the basic philosophies of jidoka and Just-in-Time, TPS can efficiently and quickly produce vehicles of sound quality, one at a time, that fully satisfy customer requirements.

TPS and its approach to cost reduction are the wellsprings of competitive strength and unique advantages for Toyota. 

The TPS concept

For Toyota, jidoka means that  machines come to a safe stop whenever an abnormality occurs.  

To develop such intelligent machines and processes incorporating these machines, engineers meticulously build each new line component to exacting standards and further improve them  through incremental kaizen (continuous improvement). Engineers simplify the operations. They create instruction sheets so that the skills of engineers are transferred to operators. The process instruction sheet and the training associated with it enables any operator to use the line to produce the same result.

Once the line is producing the required quality production, the jidoka mechanism is incorporated into actual production lines. Through the engineering repetition of this process by engineers, machinery becomes simpler and less expensive, while maintenance becomes less time consuming and less costly, enabling the creation of simple, slim, flexible lines that are adaptable to fluctuations in production volume.

The work done by engineers by their own hands in this process is the bedrock of engineering skill. Machines and robots do not think for themselves or evolve on their own. Rather, they evolve as we transfer our skills and craftsmanship to them. In other words, craftsmanship is achieved by learning the basic principles of manufacturing through actual work, then applying them on the factory floor to steadily make improvements. This cycle of improvement in both human skills and technologies is the essence of Toyota's jidoka. Advancing jidoka in this way helps to increase machine capabilities and human resource capabilities.

Human wisdom and ingenuity are indispensable to delivering ever-better cars to customers. Going forward, we will maintain our steadfast dedication to constantly developing human resources who can think independently and implement kaizen.

Just-in-Time

―Improving productivity―

Making only "what is needed, when it is needed, and in the amount needed"

Producing quality products efficiently through the complete elimination of waste, inconsistencies, and unreasonable requirements on the production line (known respectively in Japanese as muda, mura, muri).

In order to fulfill an order from a customer as quickly as possible, the vehicle is efficiently built within the shortest possible period of time by adhering to the following:

When a vehicle order is received, production instructions must be issued to the beginning of the vehicle production line as soon as possible.

The assembly line must be stocked with the required number of all necessary parts so that any kind of ordered vehicle can be assembled.

The assembly line must replace the parts used by retrieving the same number of parts from the parts-producing process (the preceding process).

The preceding process must be stocked with small numbers of all types of parts and produce only the numbers of parts that were retrieved by an operator from the next process.

Chapter 1. Using Machine Controls

Unloading and Loading

Some ideas mentioned.

To preserve first in first out principles of parts and keep the workpiece oriented for easy loading in the next machine, dumping parts into a bin is not appropriate. Special arrangements are required.

To unload heavy work pieces, devices that hold the work piece from below and move them between machines are to be used.