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Monday, June 16, 2025

Ohno - Work Place Management - Book Information - Important Points

 Ohno - Work Place Management

1988 Productivity Press, Inc.

Originally published as Genba keiei, 1982


Table of Contents 


1. The superior person knows how to adapt 1 

2. If you are wrong, admit it! 4 

3. Illusions lower efficiency 7 

4. Confirm failure with your own eyes 12 

5. Illusions that lurk within conventional wisdom 16 

6. Arithmetic's blind spot 20 

7. Don't be afraid oflost opportunities 25 

8. Limited-volume management means making things inexpensively 29 

9. Less inventory and more work-in-process 32 

10. The misconception that mass production 

is cheaper 37 

11. Wasted motion is not work 41 

12. Agricultural people have a penchant for storage 46 

13. Cut production and raise productivity at the same time 50 

14. Rationalize your operation when business is booming 55 

15. Just-in-time 58 

We use the word "just" to convey the sense of being on time without being too early or too late.  P.59.


16. Toyoda Sakichi's theory of autonomation 62 

17. The goal: a tenfold increase in productivity 66 

18. The supermarket system 71

19. Without Toyota there would be no kanban system 75 

20. What Toyota do Brasil taught us about forging setups 80 

21. Rationalization means conforming to reason 85 

22. Don't hesitate to shut down machinery 89 

23. How can we make things less expensively? 93 

24. Don't succumb to the robot craze 98 

25. Work is a contest of wits with subordinates 102 

26. Offices without supervisors 105 

27. Things can always be more rational 109 

28. Be a boss people can count on 112 

29. Organization, orderliness, cleaning up, cleanliness, discipline 116 

30. Improvement adheres to a certain order 121 

31. Rates of operability and operation 128 

32. Production technology versus manufacturing technology 133 

33. The cost-accounting trap 137 

34. The monaka system . 140 

35. Only the workplace can cut costs 144 

36. The best standard times are the shortest 150 





Table of Contents 


1. The superior person knows how to adapt 1 

2. If you are wrong, admit it! 4 

3. Illusions lower efficiency 7 

4. Confirm failure with your own eyes 12 

5. Illusions that lurk within 

conventional wisdom 16 

6. Arithmetic's blind spot 20 


Those of us involved in industrial engineering tend to see things in terms of Formula #1. We are always thinking about ways to cut costs. For us, costs are things to be lowered rather than things to be calculated. No matter what we do, the single most important issue for us is whether costs have been lowered. 


Our company does everything it possibly can to reduce labor costs. It is a common misconception, however, to think that reducing labor costs means that overall costs will be lowered.


It is a common misconception, however, to think that reducing labor costs means that overall costs will be lowered. - Ohno - page 24,  Work Place Management.


7. Don't be afraid of lost opportunities 25 

8. Limited-volume management means making things inexpensively 29 

9. Less inventory and more work-in-process 32 


The fact remains, however, that many people simply go by the numbers and fail to understand clearly whether costs are high or low.



10. The misconception that mass production is cheaper 37 

There are many illusions at work in the world.


11. Wasted motion is not work 41 

12. Agricultural people have a penchant for storage 46 

13. Cut production and raise productivity at the same time 50 

14. Rationalize your operation when business  is booming 55 


Rationalization ought to be carried out when business is booming or when you are making money. [The term "rationalization" is often used in Japan to indicate activities undertaken to upgrade technology, improve quality, and reduce cost.] -  Ohno - Work Place Management, Page 56


We need to lower costs in a truly rational, scientific way by totally eliminating waste. This, it seems to me, constitutes the single most important task facing the industrial engineer. - Ohno - Work Place Management, Page 57.


15. Just-in-time 58 

16. Toyoda Sakichi's theory of autonomation 62 

17. The goal: a tenfold increase in productivity 66 

18. The supermarket system 71

19. Without Toyota there would be no kanban system 75 

20. What Toyota do Brasil taught us about forging setups 80 

21. Rationalization means conforming to reason 85 


When first shown American plants in 1956 or 1957, I saw nothing I hadn't expected.  Even on "streamlined" or "rationalized" production lines, there was nothing the least bit startling. The more rationalization, the more it appeared to be doing things the way they ought to have been. Indeed, something might have been amiss if things had appeared startling. 


In the final analysis,  rationalization means doing things in conformity with reason, so by rights it should hold no surprises. I am saying that things should be as one would expect them: round objects are most easily rolled and heavy objects can be moved more easily when rollers are attached. 


By rights, a rationalized operation should have no work-in-process at all. Isn't it contrary to reason to carry two items when you only need one?



22. Don't hesitate to shut down machinery 89 

23. How can we make things less expensively? 93 

24. Don't succumb to the robot craze 98 

25. Work is a contest of wits with subordinates 102 

26. Offices without supervisors 105 

27. Things can always be more rational 109 

28. Be a boss people can count on 112 

29. Organization, orderliness, cleaning up, 

cleanliness, discipline 116 

30. Improvement adheres to a certain order 121 

31. Rates of operability and operation 128 

32. Production technology versus manufacturing technology 133 

33. The cost-accounting trap 137 

34. The monaka system . 140 

35. Only the workplace can cut costs 144 

36. The best standard times are the shortest 150 




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