https://lei.podbean.com/e/the-toyota-triangle-and-problem-solving/
Showing posts with label Toyota Production System. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Toyota Production System. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 17, 2026
Thursday, March 12, 2026
Seven Flows of Manufacturing - Toyota Production System Industrial Engineering
TPS is Industrial Engineering System of Toyota Motors.
IE is a system and the Toyota production system may be regarded as Toyota style IE.
Taiichi Ohno on Industrial Engineering - Toyota Style Industrial Engineering
https://nraoiekc.blogspot.com/2013/11/taiichi-ohno-on-industrial-engineering.html
Toyota Production System has a system or process design component and system and process improvement component. The Jidoka pillar of TPS describes these activities. The other pillar JIT deals with quantities of material flowing in the system. JIT is a small batch quantity production system.
Seven flows are important in process design and process improvement.
They are:
The flow of raw material
The flow of work-in-process
The flow of finished goods
The flow of operators
The flow of machines
The flow of information
The flow of engineering
Industrial engineers must first observe each of these flows to gain full understanding. Based on observation, they have to take notes and sketch out the seven flows.
https://www.reliableplant.com/Read/19651/underst-implement-7-flows-of-manufacturing
2026
Post by Sameer Kataria
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7437573843746975744/
OCTOBER 21, 2007 BY MARK
The Seventh Flow - The flow of engineering
http://theleanthinker.com/2007/10/21/the-seventh-flow/
Understand and implement the 7 flows of manufacturing.
Published on February 5, 2016
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/understand-implement-7-flows-manufacturing-graham-chick/
Nakao-san and Shingijutsu-Kaizen
August 4, 2014 by Bob Emiliani
https://bobemiliani.com/nakao-san-and-shingijutsu-kaizen/
A kaizen method like no other!
Shingijutsu-Kaizen: The Art of Discovery and Learning describes how, for more than three decades, Kaizen consultants from Shingijutsu USA Corporation have been helping manufacturing and service organizations improve processes by teaching people the methods and tools of flow production.
https://bobemiliani.com/book/shingijutsu-kaizen/
http://www.shingijutsuusa.com/
Chihiro Nakao - Taiichi Ohno’s best student from outside of Toyota proper.
The Most Dangerous Idea in the World
By Jon Miller • Published: June 22nd, 2015
https://blog.gembaacademy.com/2015/06/22/the-most-dangerous-idea-in-the-world/
Nakao was in charge of development activities in a supplier company.
https://books.google.co.in/books?id=cNs_CQAAQBAJ&pg=PA13#v=onepage&q&f=false
Flow Analysis is part of Toyota Kaizen Course in 1968
Improving Flow - Lee Candy
Document or Map the process - Process Chart, Value Stream Map
Identify and log all problems the process owners/managers/engineers/operators experience
Identify all waste in the current process
Develop ideas for improvement opportunities
Do engineering of improvement ideas
Develop Process Chart or Map of the Revised Process
Develop an action plan to install the revised process
Actively monitor the new processes put into place to assure improvement expected.
Create performance measures for control in the operations
https://online.kettering.edu/news/2016/07/07/understanding-principle-flow-lean-manufacturing
A Toyota Leader on Misunderstandings About the Toyota Production System
By Mark Graban On Apr 24, 2019
It's a talk given by Nampachi Hayashi at the “Building on Success 2018 Conference.”
Mr. Hayashi says the name “should have been TPS = Toyota Process Development System.”
Built-in quality and improved flow leading to lower cost… as a result. Cost reduction isn't the primary lever that's pulled (as we see attempted in so many Western companies, including hospitals)… it's a result. Simple cost-cutting might not lead to better quality and flow (it's often quite the opposite that happens). But better flow and better quality always leads to lower cost, in my experience. Productivity is also a forward activity. It focuses on fully utilizing the machine and man to do a job with less resources. This it results in lower cost.
Discussion in LinkedIn Topic https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6866080389295874048
When you talk about Flow - what else can be added to the information below!
Sivakumar Shanmugasundaram
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sivakumar-shanmugasundaram-84b9665a/
Operator flow .....
Are the operators knowledgeable about the process ?
Have the operators acquired the required skills to execute the work?
Is their fatigue level is same throughout the operating hours ?
Are they able to identify the defects ?
Are they able to identify the abnormalities in the machine ?
Are they able to measure and adjust the machine to produce zero defects ?
Material flow....
Is the material flow visible throughout the value stream ?
Is the material defect free ?
Is the material easy to handle ?
Information flow...
Does the right information reach the right person at the right time ?
What is the mode of information flow ?
verbal, hardcopies, or electronic
Has the receiver able to understand the information and execute effectively?
Ud 12.3.2026, 16.11.2021
Pub 3.5.2021
Friday, March 6, 2026
The Toyota Production System - Features, Principles and Mechanics - Shigeo Shingo - Industrial Engineering
The success of Toyota in cost reduction, productivity improvement, and international competitiveness and its celebrated Toyota Production System, fulfilled the dream of Yoichi Ueno (that Japan can guide US in improved practices of efficiency improvement). The success of #Toyota and the World Class #TPS was built on the sustained efforts many Japanese persons who understood Taylor and Gilbreth's writings and improvised them in implementing them in Japanese companies.
Shigeo Shingo said 80% of the TPS is waste elimination that is industrial engineering, 15% production management and 5% kanban communications. In other words, we can say, "Toyota production system (TPS) is 80% process improvement (Jidoka) and 20% production planning improvement (JIT)."
Based on the above statement of Shigeo Shingo and the description of Jidoka and JIT provided in many books, I interpret Jidoka as process improvement. JIT is production quantity planning and information sharing.
Toyota production system was developed by managers of Toyota with major contribution from Taiichi Ohno by implementing waste elimination methods advocated by industrial engineering. Taiichi Ohno specially applauds industrial engineering as profit making engineering for Toyota.
Toyota production system was developed by managers of Toyota with major contribution from Taiichi Ohno by implementing waste elimination methods advocated by industrial engineering. Taiichi Ohno specially applauds industrial engineering as profit making engineering for Toyota.
Shingo builds up on the Ohno's explanation of TPS by clearly bringing out the role of industrial engineering in the development of TPS in his book. The following content is from Shingo's Book:
A Study of the Toyota Production System from Industrial Engineering Point of View
Industrial engineering point of view is IE Strategic View, Facilities Industrial Engineering, Process Industrial Engineering, Operations Industrial Engineering and Engineering Element Industrial Engineering.
The principal feature of the TPS is eliminating the total cost associated with inventory - the total of inventory carrying cost, setup or order cost and shortage cost. Hence, TPS is described as stockless or non-stock system.
Stock occur due to two reasons:
Naturally Occurrence:
Stock accumulates because of
* Incorrect market demand forecasts
* Overproduction just to be on the safe side due to likely defects
* Lot production (Batch production)
* Due technological and capacity constraints in certain processes. Heat treatment in three shifts but doing further operations in one shift.
Stock that get accumulated due to inefficiencies in the production system
* Production cycle being longer than order-to-delivery cycle.
* Stock produced in advance to take care of extra demand in the future
*Stock produced to compensate for delays in inspection and transport
* Stock produced to compensate for machine breakdowns
*Stock maintained as buffer between machines to take care of defectives
*Stock generated as per calculation of economic batch quantity to take care of high setup or order cost.
Stock reduction was carried out rationally in Toyota production system.
Three strategies can be pursued to approach the idea of non-stock production.
* Reduce the production cycle
* Eliminate the breakdowns - do preventive maintenance to make the machine available all the time for production (Total productive maintenance)
*Eliminate defect - zero defects through process improvement - detect the reasons for defects and remove
them from the process.
* Reduce setup times and reduce batch quantity to single piece.
Stock
The Toyota Production System is 80 percent waste elimination (Industrial Engineering), 15 percent production system and only 5 percent kanban communication.
Some Commonly Used Terms in TPS
Waste of Overproduction
There are two types of overproduction:
* Making more than required quantity for a delivery period.
* Making a product before it is needed.
Many systems are happy to produce an item before its delivery date and feel comfortable. But Toyota system does not want both types of overproduction.
Just-in-time
JIT also means just-on-time. An item should be made available when it is required not before or after the required time.
Separation of Worker from the Machine
The whole productivity movement of Toyota was based on the fact that per worker production of cars in America was 10 times that of Toyota company. Toyota wanted to improve their productivity and therefore concentrated on reducing the time spent by a worker on the machine. Machines must work without the assistance of the worker as much as possible. Jidoka or autonomation is the name given to this activity. Along with JIT or stockless production, separation of worker from the machine forms the two pillars of Toyota Production System.
Low Utilization Rates
Toyota's machine-output ratio is two to three times that of similar companies. This could be due to flow production systems or due to planned extra machine capacity to take care of extra demand. But one must always remember that Toyota's main goal is cost reduction and every decision in Toyota is subjected to engineering economic evaluation.
Multi-machine Handling
In 1955, 700 workers were handling 3500 machines. Hence sometimes machines are idle because worker is busy with other machines and cannot load the machines. Toyota permits machine idle times but it does not permit man idle time. The reason is that a machine costs $500 per month but a man costs twice or thrice more.
Equipment Planning and Low Operating Rates
As low operating rate is expected, Toyota buys less expensive machines. But it improves the machines to suit its requirements continuously. Because in normal times machines have excess capacity or low operating rates, peak demand can be handled by hiring temporary workers.
Perform Operation and Remove the Defective Part
Whenever a problem appears, Toyota insists on proper diagnosis of the root cause and demands that an operation is done to remove the replace the defective part of the process. It is not content with the temporary cure of rework on the defective workpiece.
Adopting a Non-Cost Principle
Elimination of Waste
Eliminating waste through fundamental process improvements
Processing purpose evaluation and rationalization
Inspection purpose evaluation and rationalization
Transport purpose evaluation and rationalization
Delay reason evaluation and rationalization
Storage purpose evaluation and rationalization
Eliminating waste through fundamental operation improvement
Setup improvement
Auxiliary improvement
Job allowance improvement
Workshop allowance improvement
Improving processing and essential operations
Ask the "five W's and one H" and "Why?" Five Times
What - What is being produced - Is it required - Value engineering
Who - Men, machines, tools and jigs used for the production
When - Time - Production planning also comes here.
Where - Space (Layout)
Why - rational for the use of everything used in production. Because it provides opportunities for improvement.
How - The methods - motion used by man, speed and feeds used by machines
At Toyota specially, 5 Whys are used to identify root causes for defects and appearance of problems.
Mass Production and Large Lot Production are not same
Mass production is beneficial. Large lot production has extra cost. It can be reduced with SMED.
Order-based Production
Characteristics of Order-based Production
To take care of fluctuations in the orders, Toyota sets basic productions capacity at minimum demand level and handles increases through overtime and the use of excess machine capacity and temporary workers.
Overtime: There are four hour breaks between the two shifts and overtime can be given in either shift as needed.
Excess capacity: During the minimum load, many workers manage ten machines but up to 50% capacity only. As demand increases, temporary workers are hired and machines can work at 100% capacity. But machine work has to be simplified and standardized so that temporary workers can be trained in three days and they operate the machines.
Strong Market Research
Toyota does spend on market research to know market requirements. Twice in a year 60,000 people are surveyed. Five or six additional surveys are done in a year.
Production Planning
Long term planning is done.
Annual planning is done.
Monthly planning is done.
Daily planning is done. Daily planning based on actual orders. The actual orders are informed to the first stage of assembly section and they draw the components as required from component supply stages.
Toyota's Supermarket System
In the supermarket system of Toyota, stocking is triggered by actual demand for the components for a daily requirement.
Differences between Ford and Toyota Systems
Large lot versus small lot production
Mixed model assembly in Toyota system
More consistent one piece flow in Toyota system
Toyota makes efforts and reduces production cycle.
Seven Principles for Shortening the Production Cycle
Reduce process delays
Reduce lot delays
Reducing production time
Employ layout, line forming, and the full work control system
Synchronize operations and absorb deviations
Establishing tact time
Ensure product flow between processes
Adopting SMED
Elimination of Defects
Inspection to prevent defects must be practiced.
100% inspection must be adopted.
Poka-Yoke has to be used as a means for zero defects.
Eliminating Machine Breakdowns
It is also process improvement in TPS. Workers are asked to stop a machine if there is some trouble. Supervisors are given training and are urged to try to keep machines running. When a trouble appears, a visual indication is given and all try to take care of the problem. Preventing recurrence is the motto of TPS.
What is Leveling?
Leveling is a method of balancing load and capacity in a way different from the traditional way.
For example if load on car assembly plant is 300,000 sets of model A, 600,000 sets of model B and 900,000 units of model C and capacity is 1,800,000 units, the traditional solution is to make 300,000 sets of model A and 300,000 sets of model B in the first 10 days, 300,000 sets of model B and 300,000 sets of model c and in the next 10 days, and 600,000 units of model C in the last 10 days. The load is balanced at the month level, but it gives rise to inventories of various models and even shortages of some models.
But Toyota followed a different way because it has as its aim prevention and reduction of over production. In the first 10 days, production of 100,000 units of model A, 200,000 units of model B and 300,000 units of model C are produced. We can see now that inventory will come down. It the 10 day planning/production period can be further reduced, all models are produced in much smaller periods the over production can further be reduced. Toyota uses this approaches and reduces the planning period in which all models are made further and further. This is called "mixed production" and on assembly line it is called "mixed model assembly."
Segmented Production
Making production plans for half a month(H), ten days (T), week (W) and Day (D) are segmented production plans.
Mixed Production and Tact Time
Toyota combines product A with 30 Seconds and product B with 25 seconds and specifies 55 seconds as tact time for A+B.
Nagara System
The nagara system facilitates one piece flow by laying out machines in the sequence of operations by transcending the earlier shop divisions and training and facilitating operators to operate multiple unrelated machines in sequence.
Smooth production flow, ideally one piece at a time, characterized by synchronization (balancing) of production processes and maximum use of available time; includes overlapping of operations where practical. A nagara production system is one in which seemingly unrelated tasks can be produced simultaneously by the same operator.
Nagara is multi-machine handling in a process or flow system. The operator works with two or more different machines.
The example given in the body refers to a spot welding operation, followed by a press operation and then a welding operation that attached the pressed part to a body.
Operations concern the flow of equipment and operators in time and space. Improvements in operations have long been emphasized in the Toyota Production system.
Components of Operations
1. Preparation and after-adjustment
2. Principal operations
3. Marginal allowances
Preparation and After-Adjustment
Reduce them through SMED
Margin Allowances
Personal allowances - For fatigue and personal needs
Non-personal allowances -
Operational allowances: Oiling, clearing away chips etc.
Workplace related: parts arriving late and machine breakdowns
Standard Operation and Standard Operation Sheets
Standard operation implies optimization of work conditions by analyzing
What is produced
Who - persons, machines, tools,and jigs
How - Method - machine speeds and feeds, man's movements
Where - Layout of the equipment and man - Work Station Design
When - Standard time, and Schedule
Present
There has to be a standard operation sheet by the side of the machine using which new workers are trained.
Future:
The Toyota system demands that all work is done within standard time and supervisor is charged with the responsibility. He has to train the worker. Also supervisor is responsible for improvements.
Types of Standard Operating Charts
Capacity charts by part
Standard task combination
Task manual
Task instruction manual
Standard operating sheet
The topic of standard operations is discussed in more detail in
Standard Operation and Standard Operation Sheets in Toyota Production System
1. Improvements in human motions
2. Improvement in machine movements - increasing machine cutting speeds, reducing time through simultaneous cutting on multiaxis machines, and using multiple turret heads to shorten tool replacements.
3. Mechanizing human motions.
Improving human motions
Motion study can be used to reduce the operation time or the operator time. Motion study improves the movements or motions made by the operator and also improves the arrangement of materials and tools. 5S movement of Japanese industry is basically the offshoot of principles of motion economy.
Items must be arranged neatly, they must be easily accessible and they must be uniformly aligned.
Improvements in Machine Movements
Examples include raising output by increasing machine cutting speeds, reducing time through simultaneous cutting on multi-axis machines, and using multiple turret heads to shorten tool replacement time. This could involve using faster cutting processes like milling in the place of slower process like shaping.
Mechanizing Human Motions
In Toyota, first the human motions are optimized and then mechanization is attempted. Whenever mechanization is thought of its economics are thoroughly investigated. Toyota insists on kaizen - good change.
Workers are stationed with in a U layout so that they can easily help one another in case of need. Toyota encourages workers to assist each other in case of need or necessity. It discourages island mentality. The system requires each worker to learn the operations performed at the two processes adjacent to his or her own and help the others when needed.
In 1955 itself, Toyota operated 3,500 machines with only 700 workers. So one worker operates five machines on an average. In recent years (1981), Toyota managers started advocating multi-process handling. In multiple machine handling, the worker may handling the same type of machines. But in multi-process handling, the worker will handling multiple machines in accordance with the flow of operations or process. The capability of multi-process handling by a worker improves the flow of the process and also improves productivity.
# Cost Reduction through Industrial Engineering methods (elimination of waste)
# Emphasis on non stock production - elimination of overproduction
# Emphasis on labor cost reduction through elimination of waste motions and use of minimal permanent manpower.
# Use of SMED to have low set up times and realize small lot production. Ideal: One piece flow.
# Use order based production
# Follow the rule quantity produced must be quantity ordered.
# Active use of value engineering to optimize the design itself.
# Make effective use of division of labor in design of process
# Using Nagara system
# Inspection - depend on self inspection, successive inspection and poka-yoke
# Transportation - Use flow lay out through out the production system.
# Delay - All operations must have equal times as far as possible. Avoid process delay.
- Lots must be small - Avoid lot delay
Operation Features of TPS
# Use of SMED and its advanced and automated form one touch setups
# Use autonomatic machines as much as possible rationally (based on engineering economic analysis)
# Use nagara system (machines laid out in flow and operators handling multiple machines in the flow line.
# Autonomate material loading and unloading
# Encourage cooperative work and eliminate isolated person mentality. Operators have to help the upstream or downstream colleagues as needed and as possible.
# Actively pursue minimum manpower deployment in the production system.
Toyota production system brought two revolutionary changes in the production system thinking and practice.
First one is the thinking that market should pay cost plus profit. Toyota changed it to market expansion through cost reduction and price reduction achieved through identifying and eliminating waste from the product and production system design and operation.
Second, the traditional thinking was mass production in large lot based on forecasted demand and keeping inventories. Toyota changed it to small lot production based on no inventory and actual orders.
Based on the above two changes, Shingo concludes that Toyota Production System represents a revolution in production philosophy.
Ohno discussed the introduction of Kanban system with Shingo. Shingo remembered the tablet system in railways which is exchanged between the driver of the train and the station master. Until the tablet is put into a track switches, the station master cannot allow another train to get into the track segment. Similarly the station master removes the tablet from the next segment of the track and gives it to the driver. The driver cannot move from the station unless he was given the tablet. May be there is a system that will allow the tablet to be removed only when the earlier train completed its journey in the track segment. Shingo felt Kanban system was similar to it.
The batch quantity has to be more than the order point. Reduction in set up time allows the reduction in batch quantity and any reduction in production lead time results in reduction of order point. Thus each improvement in set up time can reduce batch quantity and resulting lead time reduction can reduce order point. Similarly, by attacking root causes that create the need for safety stocks like appearance of defects, machine breakdowns, worker absenteeism, material shortages can reduce safety stocks. Thus measures can be taken to reduce inventories in the system.
Supermarkets and the Kanban System
1. Consumers choose goods of their choice and take the items to the cash counter.
2. The store personnel restock, what has been removed by customers.
Using Kanban for communication is similar to the super market system.
Kanban meaning "Sign" in Japanese language has the three functions.
1. Identification tag - indicates what the product is.
2. Job instruction tag - indicates what is to be made, quantity and time
3. Transfer instruction tag - indicates where the item is to be delivered.
Kanban is also treated as a signal to make a pallet load of parts. Hence the number of kanbans or pallet loads permitted as work in process inventory is an important number.
Number of kanbans or pallet loads permitted as WIP (N) =
[Maximum stock permitted = Batch quantity + safety stock]/Capacity of one pallet (n)
In Toyota system, there are efforts to reduce WIP continuously to zero.
To make the lot size one and WIP zero various steps like implementing SMED, Minimum transport layouts, zero defect and zero breakdown programs etc. are necessary.
Regulatory Function of Kanban
Giving production instructions at the final assembly line allows the kanban system to make transmit the information on new car models (model required by the customers) automatically and easily to upstream processes.
Value analysis and engineering needs to be made. Also purpose analysis needs to be done.
Poka-yoke needs to be used to prevent defects. Self inspection and successive inspection are to be promoted.
Improve the layout and reduce the need for transport.
Use small lot sizes and minimize delay for the jobs. Allot multiple machines to workers such that there is no waiting time for them. If needed machines can be idle.
Use SMED and one piece flow and reduce production cycles.
Do motion studies
Kanban Rules
1. A process withdraws parts from the preceding process as per Kanban instructions and removes the Kanban from the pallet and leave the kanban there.
2. The earlier process makes parts in the quantities and order specified in the kanban that they pick up from the storage bin.
3. Nothing is transported and nothing is made without kanban.
4. Kanban always accompanies the parts themselves (identification tag must always be present.
5. Every part placed on a pallet must be of acceptable quality.
6. Efforts are to be made to reduce WIP by reducing kanbans over time.
Extending the System to Parts Suppliers
Toyota did not order suppliers to supply on JIT basis. It implemented JIT in its plants over a period of 20 years and then helped suppliers to implement it over a period of 10 years. Suppliers did not suffer because of the change but benefited through increased profits.
TPS and MRP
Shingo said MRP is not committed to the fundamental improvements like SMED, Zero defects and Zero breakdowns like TPS.
Shingo gave the opinion that companies may use MRP after doing fundamental improvement to the system as done by Toyota.
Shingo says people say Just on Time is better tern than Just in Time. But the JIT has become a popular term.
Shingo mentions some steps that companies can take to get orders early and thus increase order to delivery period.
* Solicit advance orders from previous users based on life expectancy of the purchased item.
* In the case of car, approach persons learning to drive.
* Approach people who are getting their building licenses or permissions
* Contact printing presses who prepare wedding invitations, find out the bride and bridegroom and propose various household appliances.
The above things point out to events that precede actual demand and action by sales people can give larger order-to-delivery period.
Of course, actions to reduce production cycle has to go on.
Companies have to move from SMED to One-Touch Setups
No-touch methods
Shingo points out that manufacture can be done in sets, so that one component is made after another component without the operator touching the machine. It means that even change of component is automated.
The Development of a Comprehensive Flow System
TPS presently uses supermarket system. Can it be eliminated and the entire system be made a flow system?
Extending mixed production to machine shop, presswork, welding, forging and casting.
Kanban System Developments
Shingo says he foresees further reduction in Kanbans between processes means less WIP.
Second,. Shingo says the Kanbans can go to further upstream processes instead of the preceding process and thus helping in cutting WIP further.
Developing low cost machines and implementing multi-process handling
It needs to be extended to all the production system.
Extending to Supplier Plants
Efforts will be made to spread the TPS to the entire supply chain.
Summary of Chapters 1 to 3
1. The Minus-Cost Principle
2. Non-Stock (JIT) - The First Cornerstone of Waste Elimination
3. Toward Flow Operation
4. Shortening Setup Changeover Times
5. The Elimination of Breakdowns and Defects
6. Fusing Leveling and Non-Stock Production
7. Toward Comprehensive Integrated Flow Operations
8. Labor Cost Reduction (Autonomation): The Second Cornerstone of Waste Elimination
9. From Mechanization to Autonomation
10. Maintaining and Developing Standard Operations
11. Toward a Kanban System
A thesis will have antithesis in dialectics.
There can be a compromise between the two to satisfy both the groups at a point in time.
But Shingo says, the proponents of thesis can try sublation.
In it's basic meaning, it stands for raising something, from a lower place to a higher place. Hegel, the famous proponent of dialectics, uses meaning and advocates the need to take the original thesis to a higher level, by preserving what is good in it and improving the disadvantages indicated by the antithesis.
Shingo gives the example that non-stock required deliveries from suppliers every two hours. The opposing argument pointed out that truck efficiency of the supplier or from the supplier end will go down drastically and will result in increased cost. This disadvantage assumes that one truck will carry the load of one supplier. The sublated solution was that a truck was going to various suppliers and collecting material from them. So trucks were loaded to capacity and trucking cost was not allowed to go up. Thus a higher-level plan involving a totally new method - frequent mixed load deliveries emerged.
The disadvantage of smaller lot sizes was tackled by reduction of set up cost through SMED.
The sublation approach is used in many problems in Toyota.
The primary features of the Toyota production are:
1. Elimination of waste based on the belief that a company's only legitimate source of profits is cost reduction.
2. Satisfy demand through order based non-cost production.
The TPS has been compared to squeezing water from a towel thought to be dry. Many people settle for placing that towel under sun to dry further. But there are some people who squeeze the towel further and bring out some more water. Similarly there are many who eliminate waste that everyone recognizes as waste. Certain problems are allowed to exist in companies are necessary evils and people have become hostage to them. But in TPS, such problems are understood with detailed observation supported by deep thinking and problem solving goes back to basic issues from which designs emerge to make revolutionary improvements.
Anyone undertaking the study of the Toyota production system comes face to face with SMED concept. Shingo said, "It is developed by me." SMED is now a theory and technique. It is now employed in hundreds of Japanese companies.
TPS is not entirely different from ordinary production management systems. But has unique concepts and special techniques to implement them. It would be dangerous to take any of the techniques of TPS and implement it in a hurry. This will lead to problems. Shingo himself gave a plan to implement the techniques in a sequence. One should not rush in to implementation of techniques. The objective is cost reduction and as long as the objective is being achieved, there is no need to rush into techniques. The importance is to be given achieve cost reduction in a continuous way and the next priority is schedule of implementing the next technique.
Chapter 4 Conclusions of Developing Non-Stock Production
The principal feature of the TPS is eliminating the total cost associated with inventory - the total of inventory carrying cost, setup or order cost and shortage cost. Hence, TPS is described as stockless or non-stock system.
Stock occur due to two reasons:
Naturally Occurrence:
Stock accumulates because of
* Incorrect market demand forecasts
* Overproduction just to be on the safe side due to likely defects
* Lot production (Batch production)
* Due technological and capacity constraints in certain processes. Heat treatment in three shifts but doing further operations in one shift.
Stock that get accumulated due to inefficiencies in the production system
* Production cycle being longer than order-to-delivery cycle.
* Stock produced in advance to take care of extra demand in the future
*Stock produced to compensate for delays in inspection and transport
* Stock produced to compensate for machine breakdowns
*Stock maintained as buffer between machines to take care of defectives
*Stock generated as per calculation of economic batch quantity to take care of high setup or order cost.
Stock reduction was carried out rationally in Toyota production system.
Three strategies can be pursued to approach the idea of non-stock production.
* Reduce the production cycle
* Eliminate the breakdowns - do preventive maintenance to make the machine available all the time for production (Total productive maintenance)
*Eliminate defect - zero defects through process improvement - detect the reasons for defects and remove
them from the process.
* Reduce setup times and reduce batch quantity to single piece.
Stock
Chapter 5 The Principles of the Toyota Production System
The Toyota Production System is 80 percent waste elimination (Industrial Engineering), 15 percent production system and only 5 percent kanban communication.
Some Commonly Used Terms in TPS
Waste of Overproduction
There are two types of overproduction:
* Making more than required quantity for a delivery period.
* Making a product before it is needed.
Many systems are happy to produce an item before its delivery date and feel comfortable. But Toyota system does not want both types of overproduction.
Just-in-time
JIT also means just-on-time. An item should be made available when it is required not before or after the required time.
Separation of Worker from the Machine
The whole productivity movement of Toyota was based on the fact that per worker production of cars in America was 10 times that of Toyota company. Toyota wanted to improve their productivity and therefore concentrated on reducing the time spent by a worker on the machine. Machines must work without the assistance of the worker as much as possible. Jidoka or autonomation is the name given to this activity. Along with JIT or stockless production, separation of worker from the machine forms the two pillars of Toyota Production System.
Low Utilization Rates
Toyota's machine-output ratio is two to three times that of similar companies. This could be due to flow production systems or due to planned extra machine capacity to take care of extra demand. But one must always remember that Toyota's main goal is cost reduction and every decision in Toyota is subjected to engineering economic evaluation.
Multi-machine Handling
In 1955, 700 workers were handling 3500 machines. Hence sometimes machines are idle because worker is busy with other machines and cannot load the machines. Toyota permits machine idle times but it does not permit man idle time. The reason is that a machine costs $500 per month but a man costs twice or thrice more.
Equipment Planning and Low Operating Rates
As low operating rate is expected, Toyota buys less expensive machines. But it improves the machines to suit its requirements continuously. Because in normal times machines have excess capacity or low operating rates, peak demand can be handled by hiring temporary workers.
Perform Operation and Remove the Defective Part
Whenever a problem appears, Toyota insists on proper diagnosis of the root cause and demands that an operation is done to remove the replace the defective part of the process. It is not content with the temporary cure of rework on the defective workpiece.
Fundamentals of Toyota Production System
Adopting a Non-Cost Principle
Elimination of Waste
Eliminating waste through fundamental process improvements
Processing purpose evaluation and rationalization
Inspection purpose evaluation and rationalization
Transport purpose evaluation and rationalization
Delay reason evaluation and rationalization
Storage purpose evaluation and rationalization
Eliminating waste through fundamental operation improvement
Setup improvement
Auxiliary improvement
Job allowance improvement
Workshop allowance improvement
Improving processing and essential operations
Ask the "five W's and one H" and "Why?" Five Times
What - What is being produced - Is it required - Value engineering
Who - Men, machines, tools and jigs used for the production
When - Time - Production planning also comes here.
Where - Space (Layout)
Why - rational for the use of everything used in production. Because it provides opportunities for improvement.
How - The methods - motion used by man, speed and feeds used by machines
At Toyota specially, 5 Whys are used to identify root causes for defects and appearance of problems.
Mass Production and Large Lot Production are not same
Mass production is beneficial. Large lot production has extra cost. It can be reduced with SMED.
Order-based Production
Characteristics of Order-based Production
To take care of fluctuations in the orders, Toyota sets basic productions capacity at minimum demand level and handles increases through overtime and the use of excess machine capacity and temporary workers.
Overtime: There are four hour breaks between the two shifts and overtime can be given in either shift as needed.
Excess capacity: During the minimum load, many workers manage ten machines but up to 50% capacity only. As demand increases, temporary workers are hired and machines can work at 100% capacity. But machine work has to be simplified and standardized so that temporary workers can be trained in three days and they operate the machines.
Strong Market Research
Toyota does spend on market research to know market requirements. Twice in a year 60,000 people are surveyed. Five or six additional surveys are done in a year.
Production Planning
Long term planning is done.
Annual planning is done.
Monthly planning is done.
Daily planning is done. Daily planning based on actual orders. The actual orders are informed to the first stage of assembly section and they draw the components as required from component supply stages.
Toyota's Supermarket System
In the supermarket system of Toyota, stocking is triggered by actual demand for the components for a daily requirement.
Differences between Ford and Toyota Systems
Large lot versus small lot production
Mixed model assembly in Toyota system
More consistent one piece flow in Toyota system
Chapter 6 Mechanics of the Toyota Production System
Improving the Process - Schedule control and Just-in-Time
Toyota makes efforts and reduces production cycle.
Seven Principles for Shortening the Production Cycle
Reduce process delays
Reduce lot delays
Reducing production time
Employ layout, line forming, and the full work control system
Synchronize operations and absorb deviations
Establishing tact time
Ensure product flow between processes
Adopting SMED
Elimination of Defects
Inspection to prevent defects must be practiced.
100% inspection must be adopted.
Poka-Yoke has to be used as a means for zero defects.
Eliminating Machine Breakdowns
It is also process improvement in TPS. Workers are asked to stop a machine if there is some trouble. Supervisors are given training and are urged to try to keep machines running. When a trouble appears, a visual indication is given and all try to take care of the problem. Preventing recurrence is the motto of TPS.
Chapter 7 Mechanics of the TPS
Improving Process - Leveling and the Nagara System
What is Leveling?
Leveling is a method of balancing load and capacity in a way different from the traditional way.
For example if load on car assembly plant is 300,000 sets of model A, 600,000 sets of model B and 900,000 units of model C and capacity is 1,800,000 units, the traditional solution is to make 300,000 sets of model A and 300,000 sets of model B in the first 10 days, 300,000 sets of model B and 300,000 sets of model c and in the next 10 days, and 600,000 units of model C in the last 10 days. The load is balanced at the month level, but it gives rise to inventories of various models and even shortages of some models.
But Toyota followed a different way because it has as its aim prevention and reduction of over production. In the first 10 days, production of 100,000 units of model A, 200,000 units of model B and 300,000 units of model C are produced. We can see now that inventory will come down. It the 10 day planning/production period can be further reduced, all models are produced in much smaller periods the over production can further be reduced. Toyota uses this approaches and reduces the planning period in which all models are made further and further. This is called "mixed production" and on assembly line it is called "mixed model assembly."
Segmented Production
Making production plans for half a month(H), ten days (T), week (W) and Day (D) are segmented production plans.
Mixed Production and Tact Time
Toyota combines product A with 30 Seconds and product B with 25 seconds and specifies 55 seconds as tact time for A+B.
Nagara System
The nagara system facilitates one piece flow by laying out machines in the sequence of operations by transcending the earlier shop divisions and training and facilitating operators to operate multiple unrelated machines in sequence.
Smooth production flow, ideally one piece at a time, characterized by synchronization (balancing) of production processes and maximum use of available time; includes overlapping of operations where practical. A nagara production system is one in which seemingly unrelated tasks can be produced simultaneously by the same operator.
Nagara is multi-machine handling in a process or flow system. The operator works with two or more different machines.
The example given in the body refers to a spot welding operation, followed by a press operation and then a welding operation that attached the pressed part to a body.
Chapter 8 Mechanics of the TPS
Improving Operations
Operations concern the flow of equipment and operators in time and space. Improvements in operations have long been emphasized in the Toyota Production system.
Components of Operations
1. Preparation and after-adjustment
2. Principal operations
3. Marginal allowances
Preparation and After-Adjustment
Reduce them through SMED
Margin Allowances
Personal allowances - For fatigue and personal needs
Non-personal allowances -
Operational allowances: Oiling, clearing away chips etc.
Workplace related: parts arriving late and machine breakdowns
Standard Operation and Standard Operation Sheets
Standard operation implies optimization of work conditions by analyzing
What is produced
Who - persons, machines, tools,and jigs
How - Method - machine speeds and feeds, man's movements
Where - Layout of the equipment and man - Work Station Design
When - Standard time, and Schedule
Present
There has to be a standard operation sheet by the side of the machine using which new workers are trained.
Future:
The Toyota system demands that all work is done within standard time and supervisor is charged with the responsibility. He has to train the worker. Also supervisor is responsible for improvements.
Types of Standard Operating Charts
Capacity charts by part
Standard task combination
Task manual
Task instruction manual
Standard operating sheet
The topic of standard operations is discussed in more detail in
Standard Operation and Standard Operation Sheets in Toyota Production System
Improving Methods of Operation
The operation, which is a man-machine combination can be improved through:1. Improvements in human motions
2. Improvement in machine movements - increasing machine cutting speeds, reducing time through simultaneous cutting on multiaxis machines, and using multiple turret heads to shorten tool replacements.
3. Mechanizing human motions.
Improving human motions
Motion study can be used to reduce the operation time or the operator time. Motion study improves the movements or motions made by the operator and also improves the arrangement of materials and tools. 5S movement of Japanese industry is basically the offshoot of principles of motion economy.
Items must be arranged neatly, they must be easily accessible and they must be uniformly aligned.
Improvements in Machine Movements
Examples include raising output by increasing machine cutting speeds, reducing time through simultaneous cutting on multi-axis machines, and using multiple turret heads to shorten tool replacement time. This could involve using faster cutting processes like milling in the place of slower process like shaping.
Mechanizing Human Motions
In Toyota, first the human motions are optimized and then mechanization is attempted. Whenever mechanization is thought of its economics are thoroughly investigated. Toyota insists on kaizen - good change.
Machine Layout and Worker Efficiency
Workers are stationed with in a U layout so that they can easily help one another in case of need. Toyota encourages workers to assist each other in case of need or necessity. It discourages island mentality. The system requires each worker to learn the operations performed at the two processes adjacent to his or her own and help the others when needed.
Multiple Machine Handling Operations
In 1955 itself, Toyota operated 3,500 machines with only 700 workers. So one worker operates five machines on an average. In recent years (1981), Toyota managers started advocating multi-process handling. In multiple machine handling, the worker may handling the same type of machines. But in multi-process handling, the worker will handling multiple machines in accordance with the flow of operations or process. The capability of multi-process handling by a worker improves the flow of the process and also improves productivity.
Shingo's Summary of the Toyota Production System - The Last Section of Chapter 8
Basic Features of the TPS
# Cost Reduction through Industrial Engineering methods (elimination of waste)
# Emphasis on non stock production - elimination of overproduction
# Emphasis on labor cost reduction through elimination of waste motions and use of minimal permanent manpower.
# Use of SMED to have low set up times and realize small lot production. Ideal: One piece flow.
# Use order based production
# Follow the rule quantity produced must be quantity ordered.
Process Features of TPS
# Active use of value engineering to optimize the design itself.
# Make effective use of division of labor in design of process
# Using Nagara system
# Inspection - depend on self inspection, successive inspection and poka-yoke
# Transportation - Use flow lay out through out the production system.
# Delay - All operations must have equal times as far as possible. Avoid process delay.
- Lots must be small - Avoid lot delay
Operation Features of TPS
# Use of SMED and its advanced and automated form one touch setups
# Use autonomatic machines as much as possible rationally (based on engineering economic analysis)
# Use nagara system (machines laid out in flow and operators handling multiple machines in the flow line.
# Autonomate material loading and unloading
# Encourage cooperative work and eliminate isolated person mentality. Operators have to help the upstream or downstream colleagues as needed and as possible.
# Actively pursue minimum manpower deployment in the production system.
Toyota production system brought two revolutionary changes in the production system thinking and practice.
First one is the thinking that market should pay cost plus profit. Toyota changed it to market expansion through cost reduction and price reduction achieved through identifying and eliminating waste from the product and production system design and operation.
Second, the traditional thinking was mass production in large lot based on forecasted demand and keeping inventories. Toyota changed it to small lot production based on no inventory and actual orders.
Based on the above two changes, Shingo concludes that Toyota Production System represents a revolution in production philosophy.
Chapter 9 The Evolution of the Kanban System
Kanban and Railway Tablet System
Ohno discussed the introduction of Kanban system with Shingo. Shingo remembered the tablet system in railways which is exchanged between the driver of the train and the station master. Until the tablet is put into a track switches, the station master cannot allow another train to get into the track segment. Similarly the station master removes the tablet from the next segment of the track and gives it to the driver. The driver cannot move from the station unless he was given the tablet. May be there is a system that will allow the tablet to be removed only when the earlier train completed its journey in the track segment. Shingo felt Kanban system was similar to it.
Then Shingo brings into discussion the order point formula.
Order point is equal to consumption during lead time plus the safety stock.The batch quantity has to be more than the order point. Reduction in set up time allows the reduction in batch quantity and any reduction in production lead time results in reduction of order point. Thus each improvement in set up time can reduce batch quantity and resulting lead time reduction can reduce order point. Similarly, by attacking root causes that create the need for safety stocks like appearance of defects, machine breakdowns, worker absenteeism, material shortages can reduce safety stocks. Thus measures can be taken to reduce inventories in the system.
Supermarkets and the Kanban System
1. Consumers choose goods of their choice and take the items to the cash counter.
2. The store personnel restock, what has been removed by customers.
Using Kanban for communication is similar to the super market system.
Kanban meaning "Sign" in Japanese language has the three functions.
1. Identification tag - indicates what the product is.
2. Job instruction tag - indicates what is to be made, quantity and time
3. Transfer instruction tag - indicates where the item is to be delivered.
Kanban is also treated as a signal to make a pallet load of parts. Hence the number of kanbans or pallet loads permitted as work in process inventory is an important number.
Number of kanbans or pallet loads permitted as WIP (N) =
[Maximum stock permitted = Batch quantity + safety stock]/Capacity of one pallet (n)
In Toyota system, there are efforts to reduce WIP continuously to zero.
To make the lot size one and WIP zero various steps like implementing SMED, Minimum transport layouts, zero defect and zero breakdown programs etc. are necessary.
Regulatory Function of Kanban
Giving production instructions at the final assembly line allows the kanban system to make transmit the information on new car models (model required by the customers) automatically and easily to upstream processes.
Chapter 10. Some Peripheral But Important Issues
Elimination of the Seven Kinds of Waste
1. Processing
Value analysis and engineering needs to be made. Also purpose analysis needs to be done.
2. The waste of making defective products
Poka-yoke needs to be used to prevent defects. Self inspection and successive inspection are to be promoted.
3. Transport
Improve the layout and reduce the need for transport.
4. Delay
Use small lot sizes and minimize delay for the jobs. Allot multiple machines to workers such that there is no waiting time for them. If needed machines can be idle.
5. Inventory
Use SMED and one piece flow and reduce production cycles.
6. Wasted Motions
Do motion studies
7. Overproduction
Reduce production for inventory rationally. Use SMED and decrease lot sizes. Improve informative inspection and avoid defects. Maintain machines such that there are no breakdowns and machines are available production all the time. Produce just-in-time for stockless production.Kanban Rules
1. A process withdraws parts from the preceding process as per Kanban instructions and removes the Kanban from the pallet and leave the kanban there.
2. The earlier process makes parts in the quantities and order specified in the kanban that they pick up from the storage bin.
3. Nothing is transported and nothing is made without kanban.
4. Kanban always accompanies the parts themselves (identification tag must always be present.
5. Every part placed on a pallet must be of acceptable quality.
6. Efforts are to be made to reduce WIP by reducing kanbans over time.
Extending the System to Parts Suppliers
Toyota did not order suppliers to supply on JIT basis. It implemented JIT in its plants over a period of 20 years and then helped suppliers to implement it over a period of 10 years. Suppliers did not suffer because of the change but benefited through increased profits.
TPS and MRP
Shingo said MRP is not committed to the fundamental improvements like SMED, Zero defects and Zero breakdowns like TPS.
Shingo gave the opinion that companies may use MRP after doing fundamental improvement to the system as done by Toyota.
Chapter 11 - The Future Course of the Toyota Production System
Shingo says people say Just on Time is better tern than Just in Time. But the JIT has become a popular term.
Shingo mentions some steps that companies can take to get orders early and thus increase order to delivery period.
* Solicit advance orders from previous users based on life expectancy of the purchased item.
* In the case of car, approach persons learning to drive.
* Approach people who are getting their building licenses or permissions
* Contact printing presses who prepare wedding invitations, find out the bride and bridegroom and propose various household appliances.
The above things point out to events that precede actual demand and action by sales people can give larger order-to-delivery period.
Of course, actions to reduce production cycle has to go on.
Companies have to move from SMED to One-Touch Setups
No-touch methods
Shingo points out that manufacture can be done in sets, so that one component is made after another component without the operator touching the machine. It means that even change of component is automated.
The Development of a Comprehensive Flow System
TPS presently uses supermarket system. Can it be eliminated and the entire system be made a flow system?
Extending mixed production to machine shop, presswork, welding, forging and casting.
Kanban System Developments
Shingo says he foresees further reduction in Kanbans between processes means less WIP.
Second,. Shingo says the Kanbans can go to further upstream processes instead of the preceding process and thus helping in cutting WIP further.
Developing low cost machines and implementing multi-process handling
It needs to be extended to all the production system.
Extending to Supplier Plants
Efforts will be made to spread the TPS to the entire supply chain.
Summary of Shigeo Shingo's Book - A Study of the Toyota Production System
Toyota Production System Industrial Engineering (TPS IE) Part 1
Chapter 12 - Introducing Toyota Production System
Introducing and Implementing the Toyota Production System - Shigeo ShingoChapter 13. The Toyota Production System in Summary
1. The Minus-Cost Principle
2. Non-Stock (JIT) - The First Cornerstone of Waste Elimination
3. Toward Flow Operation
4. Shortening Setup Changeover Times
5. The Elimination of Breakdowns and Defects
6. Fusing Leveling and Non-Stock Production
7. Toward Comprehensive Integrated Flow Operations
8. Labor Cost Reduction (Autonomation): The Second Cornerstone of Waste Elimination
9. From Mechanization to Autonomation
10. Maintaining and Developing Standard Operations
11. Toward a Kanban System
Chapter 14 Afterword
A thesis will have antithesis in dialectics.
There can be a compromise between the two to satisfy both the groups at a point in time.
But Shingo says, the proponents of thesis can try sublation.
What is sublation?
In it's basic meaning, it stands for raising something, from a lower place to a higher place. Hegel, the famous proponent of dialectics, uses meaning and advocates the need to take the original thesis to a higher level, by preserving what is good in it and improving the disadvantages indicated by the antithesis.
Shingo gives the example that non-stock required deliveries from suppliers every two hours. The opposing argument pointed out that truck efficiency of the supplier or from the supplier end will go down drastically and will result in increased cost. This disadvantage assumes that one truck will carry the load of one supplier. The sublated solution was that a truck was going to various suppliers and collecting material from them. So trucks were loaded to capacity and trucking cost was not allowed to go up. Thus a higher-level plan involving a totally new method - frequent mixed load deliveries emerged.
The disadvantage of smaller lot sizes was tackled by reduction of set up cost through SMED.
The sublation approach is used in many problems in Toyota.
The primary features of the Toyota production are:
1. Elimination of waste based on the belief that a company's only legitimate source of profits is cost reduction.
2. Satisfy demand through order based non-cost production.
The TPS has been compared to squeezing water from a towel thought to be dry. Many people settle for placing that towel under sun to dry further. But there are some people who squeeze the towel further and bring out some more water. Similarly there are many who eliminate waste that everyone recognizes as waste. Certain problems are allowed to exist in companies are necessary evils and people have become hostage to them. But in TPS, such problems are understood with detailed observation supported by deep thinking and problem solving goes back to basic issues from which designs emerge to make revolutionary improvements.
Anyone undertaking the study of the Toyota production system comes face to face with SMED concept. Shingo said, "It is developed by me." SMED is now a theory and technique. It is now employed in hundreds of Japanese companies.
TPS is not entirely different from ordinary production management systems. But has unique concepts and special techniques to implement them. It would be dangerous to take any of the techniques of TPS and implement it in a hurry. This will lead to problems. Shingo himself gave a plan to implement the techniques in a sequence. One should not rush in to implementation of techniques. The objective is cost reduction and as long as the objective is being achieved, there is no need to rush into techniques. The importance is to be given achieve cost reduction in a continuous way and the next priority is schedule of implementing the next technique.
MACHINE EFFORT INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING - Neglected Component of Industrial Engineering of F.W. Taylor.
"Through this lowering of the selling price the whole public, the buyer and user, of the joint product of the labor and machinery have profited by getting what they buy cheaper." - Taylor in Testimony.
Note products of industrial establishments are the joint product of the labor and machinery.
Celebrate the birthday of F.W. Taylor in your Industrial Engineering Department and Company. Share what you are implementing in your company from Taylor's Ideas.
Birthday of F.W. Taylor 20th March. Modern Industrial Engineering March 2026 Issue - Taylor Month of IE - Contribution of F.W. Taylor to Industrial Engineering and Productivity Management - Implemented and Neglected
Access Essays on F.W. Taylor's Writing - Belt Drive Design, Productivity System and Section, Shop Management, Productivity Science of Machining, and Scientific Management
#IndustrialEngineering #Productivity #CostReduction #Products #Processes #Facilities
Updated on 23.4.2022, 5.10.2021, 22 August 2019, 1 December 2014
Jidoka - Automation and Mechanization - Process Engineering, Facilities and Industrial Engineering in Toyota Production System
Industrial engineering has two important components - Machine Effort Industrial Engineering and Human Effort Industrial Engineering.
Jidoka - Human Effort Engineering and Industrial Engineering in Toyota Production System
Jidoka refers to Process Design and Process Improvement in Toyota Production System. It also includes operator work design and training. Jidoka is development of full process involving machines and operators.
"The deeper meaning of Jidoka is improving production process and machines so they can always do work that adds value instead of just spinning their gears. Ohno’s choice of spelling for Jidōka (See image below) emphasizes that if we remove non-value added work and improve value-added work the defects will ultimately be eliminated." - Jun Nakamuro, Fully Endorsed Expert for Organizational Transformation Based on the Ohno Method and TPS
Re-Translating Lean from Its Origin, January 5, 2017
"The concept of jidoka originated in the early 1900s when Sakichi Toyoda, founder of the Toyota Group, invented a textile loom that stopped automatically when any thread broke. Previously, if a thread broke the loom would churn out mounds of defective fabric, so each machine needed to be watched by an operator. Toyoda’s innovation let one operator control many machines. In Japanese, jidoka is a Toyota-created word pronounced exactly the same (and written in kanji almost the same) as the Japanese word for automation, but with the added connotations of humanistic and creating value."
https://www.lean.org/lexicon-terms/jidoka/
自動化
The word below in the picture is used in Toyota for Jidoka. It indicates machines with human touch or intelligence. It is automatic machines with human touch. It can be interpreted as a system having machines and people with appropriate roles that provides quality and productivity (lack of waste of resources).
Mr. Michel Baudin described some aspects of machine effort engineering and machine effort industrial engineering in Toyota Production System in his "Working with Machines: The Nuts and Bolts of Lean Operations with Jidoka." Baudin also discussed human effort engineering and industrial engineering in the book.
A Toyota Leader on Misunderstandings About the Toyota Production System
It's a talk given by Nampachi Hayashi at the “Building on Success 2018 Conference.”
Mr. Hayashi says the name “should have been TPS = Toyota Process Development System.”
Jidoka = Toyota Process Development System.
Built-in quality and improved flow leading to lower cost… as a result. Cost reduction isn't the primary lever that's pulled (as we see attempted in so many Western companies)… it's a result. Simple cost-cutting might not lead to better quality and flow (it's often quite the opposite that happens). But better flow and better quality always leads to lower cost, in my experience. Productivity is also a forward activity. It focuses on fully utilizing the machine and man to do a job with less resources. This it results in lower cost.
Autonomation describes a feature of machine design to effect the principle of jidoka (自働化)（じどうか jidouka), used in the Toyota Production System (TPS) .
Etymology
The word "autonomation" 自働化, a loan word from the Sino-Japanese vocabulary, is a portmanteau of "autonomous" and "automation" 自動化, which is written using three kanji characters: 自（じ ji） "self", 動（どう dou）movement, and 化（か ka）"-ization". In the Toyota Production System, the second character is replaced with 働（どう dou） "work", which is a character derived by adding a radical representing "human" to the original 動.
Two Pillars of TPS - Jidoka and JIT
Jidoka - Process designs (Process engineering, Process Planning and Process Industrial Engineering) 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 (industrial engineering - 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.
"Sakichi Toyoda worked with the problem and resolved it. Now the machine no longer has to stop. Hence, it is the ultimate form of jidoka: Make a machine that can run without stops!" Christoph Roger in https://www.allaboutlean.com/jidoka-3/
My comment on Rogers' post in Linkedin
Jidoka is to be interpreted as better and better machines and processes. It is better and better engineering. The interpretation of lean theory has distorted the meaning. Its interpretation has to better and better combination of machines and people (process).
Jidoka - Excellent Machines - Excellent Operators - Process Engineering and Industrial Engineering in Toyota Production System
https://nraoiekc.blogspot.com/2021/04/jidoka-automation-and-mechanization.html
How to implement Jidoka in Lean Manufacturing ? Autonomation
Knowledge Factory-Lean Six Sigma
"Jidoka, also known as automation with a human touch, comes from the Japanese word for 'autonomation'. It's about creating a system where machines, not humans, identify and resolve errors."
Shigeo Shingo on Toyota Production System Industrial Engineering
Shigeo Shingo - Toyota Production System Industrial Engineering (TPS IE) Part 1
https://nraoiekc.blogspot.com/2014/02/industrial-engineering-foundation-of.html
Shigeo Shingo - Toyota Production System Industrial Engineering (TPS IE) Part 2
http://nraoiekc.blogspot.com/2013/12/toyota-production-system-industrial.html
Shigeo Shingo - Introducing and Implementing the Toyota Production System Industrial Engineering - Part 3
http://nraoiekc.blogspot.com/2013/12/introducing-and-implementing-toyota.html
Michel Baudin - "Working with Machines: The Nuts and Bolts of Lean Operations with Jidoka."
Steps of Automation for Machining
1. Introduction of power feed.
2. Automatic stop and return to start position at the end of a cut
3. Automatic unloading of the workpiece
4. Automatic loading of the workpiece
5. Automatic error diagnosis
6. Automatic transportation between operations
Chapter 12: The Lean Approach to Automation
Toyota uses machines and automation at all appropriate places. In this if follows the principle advocated by Barnes. For each step in a process/operation, the best of automation, mechanization or manual work is to be used.
Jidoka is machine - people (machine-man) system. Toyota added man to classical machine symbol and created the symbol for Toyota's Jidoka (Baudin).
Mechanization designates the replacement of human or animal muscle with machines to perform work.
After mechanization of many activities, automation was started by engineers. In automation, machines are told through mechanical means, electrical means, hydraulic means, electronic means or through computer instructions when to start and when to stop and what to do.
Automation reduces amount of human intervention in working of machines. Any change that results in fewer or shorter operator intervention in work of the machines is automation.
Seven Steps in Automating Machining Operations
In early days Toyota engineers had a list of tasks to be done in automating machining. Now all their machines are automated to a very large extent. But engineers of companies that are in the process of automating can learn from the Toyota's automation steps list.
1. Adding a power drive: As we know, most of the machines now provide power to the work piece in case of lathe and to the rotary tool in case of milling machines.
2. Adding power feed: In case of lathe, tool feed is done through power. Still an operator is required to stop the cut.
3. Automatic stopping of the cut: If the machine can stop the cut automatically as specified, the operator can start the cut and go and attend another machine. If the tool can come to the starting position after completing a cut, it will save some more time of the operator.
4. Automatic unloading: If the operation is completed, the machine can eject the completed part.
5. Automatic loading: If the machine can eject the completed part and pick and load the new blank, it is the next level of automation. The operator's role and required time further gets reduced.
6. Automatic problem detection: If the machine can detect problems in its functioning through sensors, operator is further relieved of some monitoring functions. If a problem is detected, machine will stop and announce the situation through alarms. Operator can come and take care of the problem.
7.Automatic transportation: In this automation step, the completed part of a machining operation is moved to the next machine automatically.
What Baudin emphasizes is that automation is done in steps so that labor productivity increase takes and operators do not lose the jobs all of a sudden. The system's output expands to provide work to all operators and share the productivity benefit. The automation exercise is carried out taking into consideration the stability of the employment.
Principles Underlying Automation in TPS
1. Productivity improvement must not lead to layoffs.
In USA, large automation projects are implemented, layoffs are implemented. Not so in Toyota.
2. Capability of in-house development
Toyota develops capability to do custom development of machines it buys from standard outside vendors.
3. Decentralized control
Two machines can communicate and manage work in between them. Centralized control is not needed for local events.
4. Automation levels and skill management
As automation proceeds step by step on various operators also upgrade themselves step by step.
Chapter 13 Improving Legacy Automated Systems
In the chapter Baudin discussed the utility of automated production systems or facilities available like transferlines, FMS, rotary index machines and stacked conveyor loops in lean manufacturing systems.
Transfer lines
Transfer lines are arranged in a straight line for convenience of automatic material handling. The manufactured part moves in a fixed sequence through all the machines to become the machined part.
Transfer line is similar to automated machining cell for a group of a parts.
The machines in the transfer line are being replaced by high speed machining centers with pallet exchangers that can machine various features in a single piece production.
Toyota Engineers
Kiyohide Motiki - Casting Engineer - https://toyotatimes.jp/en/feature/028.html
GR Company GRZ Chief Engineer Yasunori Suezawa, who had served as Chief Engineer for the Yaris (Toyota Car Model) - https://toyotatimes.jp/en/chief_editor/065.html
Jidoka - Kiyoshi Suzaki
In the Process of the Challenge, and the Use of the Jidoka Concept
Kiyoshi Suzaki in Target, Spring 1988, pp. 4-9.
What is the target?
Is it to produce required products, at the required time, in the quantity required with highest quality at lowest cost?
Is it a challenge to continuous improvement?
Or is it simply the elimination of waste?
Jidoka is to manufacturing what disciplined exercise is to the nervous and muscle systems of our body. As we increase our athletic skills through training, our body eventually responds to necessary changes much more quickly and accurately than before. There is a similar need to train ourselves in manufacturing to compete and survive. But how we can effectively practice this Jidoka concept is clearly the challenge.
.In order to make changes effectively by incorporating people with the Jidoka concept, there are a few points worth summarizing:
1. Persons in charge of operations (operators) should satisfy their customer's needs (that is, the next process) in cost, quality, and delivery according to the prescribed standards. Naturally, this practice of following the standard procedure requires discipline.
2. Supervisors) should solve problems exposed from the procedures currently in place. Without standards, we can see no abnormality. If standards are not practiced by subordinates, the supervisor is not fulfilling his role.
3. Production managers should have an even broader knowledge, balanced perspective, a higher level of commitment to achieve goals, and the ability to lead the organization toward such goals. This person should be able to develop or introduce new standards on Jidoka mechanisms (Process and process improvement) into the organization and make sure each procedure, standard, and mechanism is well maintained.
Jidoka - More Online Resources
What Exactly Is Jidoka?
July 17, 2018 by Christoph Roser
https://www.allaboutlean.com/jidoka-1/
https://mag.toyota.co.uk/jidoka-toyota-production-system/
https://www.apo-tokyo.org/resources/p_glossary/jidoka-2/
https://leanmanufacturing.online/jidoka/
https://in.kaizen.com/blog/post/2016/10/12/jidoka-the-forgotten-pillar.html
Ohno's goals for Jidoka
http://www.process-improvement-japan.com/toyota-history.html
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3738342 41 page book
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405896319312844 Article in science direct.
Rethinking Jidoka Systems under Automation & Learning Perspectives in the Digital Lean Manufacturing World
DavidRomero1 PaoloGaiardelli2 DarylPowell3 ThorstenWuest4 MatthiasThürer5
IFAC-PapersOnLine, Volume 52, Issue 13, 2019, Pages 899-903
An Application of SMED and Jidoka in Lean Production
January 2019
DOI:10.1007/978-3-319-92267-6_45
In book: Proceedings of the International Symposium for Production Research 2018 (pp.530-545)
Authors:
Mahmut Tekin et al.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327041611_An_Application_of_SMED_and_Jidoka_in_Lean_Production
Jidoka means “Intelligent people and machines."
Masters Thesis
https://michelbaudin.com/tag/jidoka/
Recent References - Jidoka
Ansari et al., 2018a
F. Ansari, S. Erol, W. Sihn
"Rethinking Human-Machine Learning in Industry 4.0: How Does the Paradigm Shift Treat the Role of Human Learning?"
Procedia Manufacturing: 8th Conference on Learning Factories - Advanced Engineering Education & Training for Manufacturing Innovation, 23 (2018), pp. 117-122
Ansari et al., 2018b
F. Ansari, M. Khobreh, U. Seidenberg, W. Sihn
"A Problem-Solving Ontology for Human-Centered Cyber Physical Production Systems"
CIRP Journal of Manufacturing Science and Technology, 22 (2018), pp. 91-106
Bainbridge, 1983
L. Bainbridge
"Ironies of Automation"
Automatica, 19 (6) (1983), pp. 775-779
Baxter et al., 2012
Baxter, G.; Rooksby, J.; Wang, Y. and Khajeh-Hosseini, A. (2012). "The Ironies of Automation… Still Going Strong at 30?", 30th European Conference on Cognitive Ergonomics, pp. 65-71.
Billings, 1996
C.E. Billings
"Aviation Automation: The Search for a Human-Centered Approach", CRC Press (1996)
Bao et al., 2018
Z. Bao, Y. Wang, Z. Yang, C. Zhu, C. Jin
"Design on the Virtual Maintenance Training System of Some-Type Equipment Based on the Virtual Reality"
International Conference on Man-Machine-Environment System Engineering, Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering, 527 (2018), pp. 479-487
Camarinha-Matos and Afsarmanesh, 1995
L.M. Camarinha-Matos, H. Afsarmanesh
"Introduction: Towards Balanced Automation", Balanced Automation Systems: Architectures and Methods, Springer (1995), pp. xi-xii
Camarinha-Matos and Afsarmanesh, 1996
L.M. Camarinha-Matos, H. Afsarmanesh
"Introduction: Implementation Challenges for Balanced Automation", Balanced Automation Systems II: Implementation Challenges for Anthropocentric Manufacturing, Springer (1996), pp. xiii-xiv
Camarinha-Matos et al., 1997
L.M. Camarinha-Matos, R. Rabelo, L. Osório
"Balanced Automation", in Management and Control of Manufacturing Systems, S.G. Tzafestas (Ed.), Springer-Verlag (1997), pp. 376-413
Chen et al., 2010
H. Chen, R.R. Lindeke, D.A. Wyrick
"Lean Automated Manufacturing: Avoiding the Pitfalls to Embrace the Opportunities"
Assembly Automation, 30 (2) (2010), pp. 117-123
Hold et al., 2017
P. Hold, S. Erol, G. Reisinger, W. Sihn
"Planning and Evaluation of Digital Assistance Systems"
Procedia Manufacturing: 7th Conference of Learning Factories, 9 (2017), pp. 143-150
Jackson et al., 2011
M. Jackson, M. Hedelind, E. Hellstrӧm, A. Granlund, N. Friedler
"Lean Automation: Requirements and Solutions for Efficient Use of Robot Automation in the Swedish Manufacturing Industry"
International Journal of Engineering Research and Innovation, 3 (2) (2011), pp. 36-43
Kelleher et al., 2015
J.D. Kelleher, B. Mac Namee, A. D’Arcy
"Fundamentals of Machine Learning for Predictive Data Analytics: Algorithms, Worked Examples, and Case Studies", MIT Press (2015), pp. 1-3
17, 117, 179, 247, 323.
Lenz et al., 2018
J. Lenz, T. Wuest, E. Westkaemper
"Holistic Approach to Machine Tool Data Analytics"
Journal of Manufacturing Systems, 48 (2018), pp. 180-191
DOI: 10.1016/j.jmsy.2018.03.003.
Mora et al., 2017
E. Mora, P. Gaiardelli, B. Resta, D. Powell
"Exploiting Lean Benefits Through Smart Manufacturing: A Comprehensive Perspective", The Path to Intelligent, Collaborative and Sustainable Manufacturing, Lödding, H. et al. (Eds.), IFIP, APMS, AICT 513, Part I, Springer (2017), pp. 127-134
Romero et al., 2016a
D. Romero, P. Bernus, O. Noran, J. Stahre, Å. Fast-Berglund
"The Operator 4.0: Human Cyber-Physical Systems & Adaptive Automation towards Human-Automation Symbiosis Work Systems", Production Management Initiatives for a Sustainable World, Nääs, I. et al. (Eds.), IFIP, AICT 488, Springer (2016), pp. 677-686
Romero et al., 2016
Romero, D.; Stahre, J.; Wuest, T.; Noran, O.; Bernus, P.; Fast-Berglund, Å. and Gorecky, D. (2016b). "Towards an Operator 4.0 Typology: A Human-Centric Perspective on the Fourth Industrial Revolution Technologies", International Conference on Computers & Industrial Engineering, Tianjin, China, pp. 1-11.
Romero et al., 2018
D. Romero, P. Gaiardelli, D. Powell, T. Wuest, M. Thürer
"Digital Lean Cyber-Physical Production Systems: The Emergence of Digital Lean Manufacturing and the Significance of Digital Waste"
Part I, IFIP AICT, 535 (2018), pp. 11-20
Sheridan and Parasuraman, 2015
T.B. Sheridan, R. Parasuraman
"Human-Automation Interaction"
Reviews of Human Factors and Ergonomics, 1 (89) (2015), pp. 89-129
Google Scholar
Sezer et al., 2018
Sezer, E.; Romero, D. Guedea, F.; Macchi, M. and Emmanouilidis, C. (2018)."An Industry 4.0-enabled Low Cost Predictive Maintenance Approach for SMEs:AUse Case Appliedto aCNC Turning Centre", 24th International ICE-Conference on Engineering, Technology and Innovation, pp. 1-8, DOI: 10.1109/ICE.2018.8436307.
Strauch, 2017
B. Strauch
"Ironies of Automation: Still Unresolved After All These Years"
IEEE Transactions on Human-Machine Systems, 48 (5) (2017), pp. 419-433
Webel et al., 2013
S. Webel, U. Bockholt, T. Engelke, N. Gavish, M. Olbrich, C. Preusche
"An Augmented Reality Training Platform for Assembly and Maintenance Skills"
Robotics and Autonomous Systems, 61 (4) (2013), pp. 398-403
Systematic combination of Lean Management with digitalization to improve production systems on the example of Jidoka 4.0
Jochen Deuse, Uwe Dombrowski, Fabian Nöhring, ...
International Journal of Engineering Business Management
First Published August 25, 2020 Research Article
https://doi.org/10.1177/1847979020951351
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1847979020951351 - Open Access
Meanings 自働化 - Jidoka or Jidouka - Japanese - English
jidoka (自働化)（じどうか jidouka),
Entry Details for 自働化
Definition and Synonyms for 自働化
1. 自動化 高度な技術を用いた手段
Automation the act of implementing the control of equipment with advanced technology
Synonyms: 機械化, 自動化
2. 自動化 自動にする、制御するまたは自動に作動する
Automate make automatic or control or operate automatically
Synonyms: 自動化
3. 自動化 自動制御または操作を達成させるのに使用される装置
Automation equipment used to achieve automatic control or operation
Synonyms: 自動化
4. 自動化 自動的に操作または制御される状態
Automation the condition of being automatically operated or controlled
Synonyms: 自動化
5. 自動化 通常電子ハードウェアを含むこと
Automation usually involving electronic hardware
Synonyms: 機械化, 自動化
https://www.tanoshiijapanese.com/dictionary/entry_details.cfm?entry_id=30456&element_id=41599
kikai (Japanese)
Romanization
kikai
Romaji transcription of きかい
This is the meaning of きかい:
きかい (Japanese)
Noun
きかい
機会: opportunity
機械, 器械: machine
奇怪: strange, mysterious
棋界: the shogi world
https://www.wordsense.eu/kikai/
自動化, 自働化, じどうか
jidōka
Definition: automation
Related Kanji
自
oneself
動
move, motion, change, confusion, shift, shake
化
change, take the form of, influence, enchant, delude, -ization
働
work, (kokuji)
https://nihongomaster.com/japanese/dictionary/word/30387/jidouka
自働化
Meaning of 自働化 in Japanese
It seems that your search contains the follows:
自 働化
Definition of 自働化
じどうかjidouka 【 自動化 ·自働化 】自動化働 Kanji Details
(n, vs) automation
http://www.romajidesu.com/dictionary/meaning-of-%E8%87%AA%E5%83%8D%E5%8C%96.html
Automation of Operations in Flow Process Chart
MACHINE EFFORT INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING - Neglected Component of Industrial Engineering of F.W. Taylor.
"Through this lowering of the selling price the whole public, the buyer and user, of the joint product of the labor and machinery have profited by getting what they buy cheaper." - Taylor in Testimony.
Note products of industrial establishments are the joint product of the labor and machinery.
Celebrate the birthday of F.W. Taylor in your Industrial Engineering Department and Company. Share what you are implementing in your company from Taylor's Ideas.
Birthday of F.W. Taylor 20th March. Modern Industrial Engineering March 2026 Issue - Taylor Month of IE - Contribution of F.W. Taylor to Industrial Engineering and Productivity Management - Implemented and Neglected
Access Essays on F.W. Taylor's Writing - Belt Drive Design, Productivity System and Section, Shop Management, Productivity Science of Machining, and Scientific Management
Updated on 14.1.2025, 10.8.2023, 7.10.2021, 20 May 2021, 3 May 2021
Published on 24 April 2021
Friday, January 16, 2026
Toyota's Approach to Industry 4.0 Technologies Adoption
https://toyotapartsandservicehub.com/toyota-news/page/2/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZazF4pskmRI
The cost reduction approach pioneered by Toyota today is described as relentless pursuit of continuous improvement and lean enterprise processes, It helped Toyota Motor Corp. become the largest automaker in the world. The company updates its technology continuously using the Jidoka pillar. It is currently retooling its production system using a combination of the current cutting-edge technology and it old-school Toyota Production System thinking.
Toyota plans to implement new techniques, such as giga-cast modules, self-propelled assembly lines and digital twin technology. Various monozukuri (production) technologies/processes using these techniqes are being developed at the Motomachi, Myochi and Teiho plants in Japan.
It recently held a workshop entitled “Changing the Future of Carmaking” that outlined how the company plans to implement more human-centered manufacturing along with more Industry 4.0 technology.
https://global.toyota/en/newsroom/corporate/39758118.html
https://ts2.space/en/toyota-monozukuri-workshop-changing-the-future-of-carmaking/#gsc.tab=0
“At Toyota, we develop and support ‘monozukuri and hitozukuri’ (making things and making people). The ingenuity of people creates advanced technologies and the development of human resources equipped with the qualities to use these new technologies is one of the company’s front line capabilities and the very foundation of monozukuri of Toyota.
The technology advances and robots are further integrated into production processes. But, it will be humans equipped with the knowledge of the Toyota Production System who will be able to think of further improvements in these new processes. “With an eye toward ever better manufacturing, [we believe] it is important to train people based on TPS, encouraging the associated skills of masters to be passed on to the next generation, all with an eye toward continuing to advance and evolve monozukuri.
“Through daily improvements, as we continue to work through the cycle of challenging ourselves to continue to reduce lead time, the ability of the front line to respond to evolving customer needs and changing times will support our competitiveness.
Toyota’s monozukuri will continue to evolve through the fusion of inherited skills and digital tools.
New Age Thinking
The new initiative represents a next-generation version of TPS designed for the era of digital manufacturing and electric vehicles.
“For instance, in Toyota’s factories, operators are not just overseeing robots; they are actively involved in training them. Toyota rapidly develops its front line employees to become proficient with new technologies. This emphasizes Toyota’s commitment to achieving the highest standards of quality, and it’s also a testament to the engagement of the entire team in new technologies.
“Compared to other companies, Toyota sets itself apart by effectively harmonizing human skills with cutting-edge technology. This approach results in not only high-quality products, but also the flexibility needed to swiftly adapt to changes in the market. It’s a model of production that combines the best of both worlds, where human experience and technological advancement go hand in hand to create products that truly stand out.
Obara, a Toyota verteran says.“this time, I saw much more use of flat screens replacing the old manually updated management boards, and drones being used in maintenance functions and several meetings taking place via video, even between people in the same building." The famous genchi genbutsu (real place, real facts) now being done via video. Toyota engineers designed a vest to hold a camera, so remote people would not need to be on site to see it all.
New Tools and Technology
Toyota’s next-generation EVs will be built upon a new modular structure in which car bodies are divided into three sections: front, center and rear (earlier this year, Tesla outlined a similar assembly concept). The center section will house solid-state batteries, which offer faster charging and longer range than conventional batteries.
The new modular structure entails dividing the underbody, including the front frame and the cabin floor, into three sections, each fitted with its own parts.
According to Shingo, this approach will improve production efficiency, since operators will no longer need to climb inside a vehicle during assembly. “With this new vehicle structure, seats and other components can be mounted before the roof and side panels are attached, simplifying the designs and operations of robots and other equipment. .
Giga-casting is one of the new production technologies that will make these modular structures possible. Currently, the rear section of the Toyota bZ4X EV is made with 86 sheet metal parts and 33 press processes. Using integrated molding with aluminum die-casting can reduce this to a single part made by a single process. This approach seeks to reduce both cost and weight below conventional models, as well as boost productivity. The process starts with injecting molten aluminum alloy into a mold at high speed and pressure. In a matter of seconds, the material is cooled from 700 C to 250 C and solidified, then the mold is opened to remove the integrated cast part.
To explore uses for giga casting in mass production, Toyota engineers focused on improving productivity by reducing two types of waste: downtime during mold replacement and defects or reworking. “Whereas a typical changeover might take 24 hours and require a large crane, giga-casting molds, which weigh more than 100 tons, leads to even greater time loss. The approach to giga casting divides molds into two types: general-purpose molds that remain mounted on the machinery and specialized molds whose shape differs by car model. During a replacement, only the compact specialized molds detach themselves automatically from the general-purpose molds.With these just-in-time mold changes—replacing only what is needed, when it is needed, in the quantity needed—Toyota is aiming to bring lead times down to 20 minutes or less.
“This division of molds and automated mounting-detaching is the culmination of improvements made over many years of handling every aspect of mold design, fabrication and maintenance in-house. When molds expand or contract under the heat of casting, the general-purpose and specialized parts may become misaligned, with the latter unable to release. The necessary clearance is maintained by the skills of mold craftsmen.
The second type of waste stems from defects and reworking. In their giga-casting analysis, Toyota engineers used proprietary simulation software that draws on expertise accumulated in the mass production of engine blocks and other components. Takumi (artisan) skills have also been digitized and incorporated into parameters and computation methods to create high-quality parts.
“Amid a general trend toward using commercially available equipment, in-house development allows [us] to add parameters or change computation methods. Building high quality into the machinery reduces the number of defects. “Driven by the skills of experts with intimate knowledge of casting, as well as the waste and lead time reductions made possible by the TPS, [our] monozukuri continues to improve and evolve,” says Shingo.
Toyota engineers have also developed a “self-driving assembly line” that enables vehicles to move between workstations on their own.
“At a minimum, a vehicle needs only the three modular components and a battery, motor, tires and wireless terminal to drive independently. “Such a setup eliminates conveyors from the assembly line, allowing for more flexible factory layouts. This will help shorten the years-long lead times needed to prepare for mass production and reduce the required plant investment.
“This self-propelled assembly line utilizes the vehicle control and sensor technologies that [we have] cultivated through the development of autonomous driving,” notes Shingo. “Cameras [and lidar sensors installed] throughout the plant track the cars, keeping them moving along the set route at 0.22 mile per hour.”
A simplified line concept using unmanned transport has already been trialed in part of the welding process for NOAH and Voxy models at the Motomachi assembly plant, which is Toyota’s most flexible factory.
Toyota engineers are also using digital twin technology to design two-way production processes that boost productivity and efficiency. The goal is to improve plants and equipment through interactive frontline improvements that are enhanced digitally before being fed back to the plant floor.
“Before coming into the hands of [operators], new production equipment usually undergoes a process of design, parts machining and assembly. However, the drawings prepared in the design stage may include parts whose shape proves impossible to machine. The equipment may not run properly after being adjusted or the people on the production floor may find it hard to use, “Much of the manufacturing lead time is taken up dealing with such issues, causing waste through defects and reworking.
“To tackle this, [our new] current process uses 3D drawings and involves workers from later stages of production, who view the drawings as they are being prepared and share expertise that is incorporated into the designs,”
“[We are] transforming the way employees work through a holistic approach that encompasses the entire equipment manufacturing process,” says Shingo. “As part of efforts to shorten lead times, [we are] aiming to eliminate reworking by bringing forward and synchronizing jobs.”
https://www.assemblymag.com/articles/98199-toyota-outlines-future-production-processes
16,1,2026
10 ways Toyota is using AI
1. Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) Powered by AI at Toyota
2. Predictive Maintenance Using AI at Toyota
3. AI-Enhanced Supply Chain Management at Toyota
4. AI-Driven Customer Service and Support at Toyota
5. AI-Driven Smart Factories at Toyota
6: Human Behavior Prediction AI at Toyota (Toyota Research Institute)
7: AI-Driven Vehicle Software Development & Code Validation at Toyota
8: AI for Battery Chemistry Discovery & EV Material Optimization at Toyota
9: AI-Powered Smart City & Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) at Toyota (Woven City)
10: AI-Driven In-Cabin Driver Health & Cognitive State Monitoring at Toyota
Nov. 06, 1989
TOYOTA RECEIVES HONORS FOR REVOLUTIONARY STAMPING DIE MANUFACTURING SYSTEM
Toyota City―TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION today was awarded the fiscal 1989 Technical Award from the Japan Society of Precision Engineering (JSPE) for the development and practical application of an automated system for high-speed, high-precision manufacturing of stamping dies.
The system's foremost features, which make it one of the world's most advanced, are as follows
It allows for high-speed precision machining of all types of dies, including those for inner panels, which tend to have extremely complex shapes. This was made possible by a Toyota-developed system that automatically creates reliable data at high speeds for numerically controlled machining, and through Toyota's detailed machine-tool control technology.
It also allows for long-term, continuous, and unmanned operation of the stamping die manufacturing system. This was made possible through the creation of a compact and highly efficient system for the entire production process, including an automated rack-type warehouse and unmanned transport vehicles, and an independently developed operation control system with the flexibility to adapt to various abnormalities.
The system is an extension of Toyota's state-of-the-art CAD/CAM, machining, and automation technologies that have been developed over the years, as well as an "integration" of dozens of new technologies. Test operation began in September 1987 and full-scale operation in March 1988.
https://global.toyota/en/detail/7843400
Ud. 16.1.2026, 24.11.2025
Pub. 15.12.2023
Tuesday, November 25, 2025
Friday, October 10, 2025
Research and Development Papers on Toyota Production System - Bibliography
2022
Toyota Way - As Described by Toyota Officially
2020
Toyota Way 2020 / Toyota Code of Conduct
Company Information - Vision & Philosophy
https://global.toyota/en/company/vision-and-philosophy/toyotaway_code-of-conduct/
2012
The Birth of Lean: Conversations with Taiichi Ohno, Eiji Toyoda, and Other Figures who Shaped Toyota Management
Koichi Shimokawa (Editor), Takahiro Fujimoto (Editor)
Lean Enterprise Institute, 04-Mar-2012 - Business & Economics - 300 pages
This is an honest look at the origins of lean, written in the words of the people who created the system. Through interviews and annotated talks, you will hear first-person accounts of what these innovators and problem-solvers did and why they did it. You'll read rare, personal commentaries that explain the interplay of (sometimes opposing) ideas that created a revolution in thinking.
Google Book Link with Preview Facility
http://books.google.co.in/books?id=SDYLbXoW_EcC
Koichi Shimokawa (Editor), Takahiro Fujimoto (Editor)
Lean Enterprise Institute, 04-Mar-2012 - Business & Economics - 300 pages
This is an honest look at the origins of lean, written in the words of the people who created the system. Through interviews and annotated talks, you will hear first-person accounts of what these innovators and problem-solvers did and why they did it. You'll read rare, personal commentaries that explain the interplay of (sometimes opposing) ideas that created a revolution in thinking.
Google Book Link with Preview Facility
http://books.google.co.in/books?id=SDYLbXoW_EcC
2012
Toyota Motors - History of Productivity
Lessons from Toyota’s Long Drive
by Thomas A. Stewart and Anand P. Raman.
Two HBR editors interviewed Toyota’s president, Katsuaki Watanabe, and several top executives.
From the HBR Magazine (July–August 2007)
https://hbr.org/2007/07/lessons-from-toyotas-long-drive
2001
Rationalizing the Design of the Toyota Production System:
A Comparison of Two Approaches
J. Won, , D. Cochran, , H. T. Johnson, , S. Bouzekouk, B. Masha
Production System Design Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, and
School of Business Administration, Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, USA
Abstract
This paper examines two recent attempts to develop frameworks to explain the Toyota Production System (TPS).
In Decoding the DNA of the Toyota Production System, Spear and Bowen assert that the design, operation and improvement of manufacturing systems can be captured in four basic rules.
In A Decomposition Approach for Manufacturing System Design, Cochran et. al. show how a Manufacturing System Design Decomposition (MSDD) can express the relationships between the design requirements and corresponding solutions within a manufacturing system.
This paper compares and contrasts how each of these approaches incorporates the requirements of successful manufacturing system design.
http://www.sysdesign.org/pdf/paper15.pdf
1999
Decoding the DNA of the Toyota Production System
Steven Spear and H. Kent Bowen
Harvard Business Review, THE SEPTEMBER 1999
https://hbr.org/1999/09/decoding-the-dna-of-the-toyota-production-system
The Evolution of a Manufacturing System at Toyota
Takahiro Fujimoto
Oxford University Press, 12-Aug-1999 - Business & Economics - 400 pages
What is the true source of a firm's long-term competitive advantage in manufacturing?
Through original field studies, historical research, and statistical analyses, this book shows how Toyota Motor Corporation, one of the world's largest automobile companies, built distinctive capabilities in production, product development, and supplier management. Fujimoto asserts that it is Toyota's evolutionary learning capability that gives the company its advantage and demonstrates how this learning is put to use in daily work.
https://books.google.co.in/books?id=KBm8F9cI8OYC
https://nraoiekc.blogspot.com/2021/07/the-evolution-of-manufacturing-system.html
Relations Between Safety and Productivity
Kazuaki Goto & Shingo Kato
*Assembly Dept., Tsutsumi Factory of Toyota Motor Co.*
1999
1. Outline of Tsutusmi Works
Established: 1970 (28-year operation as a passenger car factory) Capacity: 400,000 - 500,000 cars per year The Number of Employees: 5,600 employees in the factory, including 1,500 employees working for the assembly department. The factory has been functioning as a mother plant of Toyota Kentucky factory in the USA and Derby factory in England
http://www.jniosh.go.jp/icpro/jicosh-old/english/osh/jisha-nsc/toyota.html
Kazuaki Goto & Shingo Kato
*Assembly Dept., Tsutsumi Factory of Toyota Motor Co.*
1999
1. Outline of Tsutusmi Works
Established: 1970 (28-year operation as a passenger car factory) Capacity: 400,000 - 500,000 cars per year The Number of Employees: 5,600 employees in the factory, including 1,500 employees working for the assembly department. The factory has been functioning as a mother plant of Toyota Kentucky factory in the USA and Derby factory in England
http://www.jniosh.go.jp/icpro/jicosh-old/english/osh/jisha-nsc/toyota.html
1997
1997
Guiding Principles at Toyota
Company Information Vision & Philosophy
ud. 10.10.2025
Pub. 27.2.2015
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