LEAN THINKING Lean Thinking



Lean Thinking

Introduction

As a manufacturer one of the most important factors behind the outstanding performance of Toyota is Toyota Production System. In order to get proper awareness about Toyota's success it is necessary that the paradox should be unravelled. The author Bowen and Spear have presented the four unspoken rules which help Toyota in gaining the competitive edge. In order to assess these rules, 40 plants have been examined in different nations including Japan, United States and Europe. Out of these 40 plants, some plants are operating and some are not operating. The main purpose of this paper is to analyze the unspoken rules that give Toyota its competitive edge. The paper also discusses the ways through which these rules help the company to change and improve performance without major disruption.

Discussion

There are four different rules which can be helpful in capturing the tactic knowledge of Toyota Production System. These rules are basically developed for providing guidance in the field of design, operation, connection, activities improvement and development and developing a pathway for each and every product and service (Spear, 1999, p.96). It is the requirement of all rules that the flow paths, connections and activities should be accessed with built-in tests so that the problems can be signaled automatically. These rules are supportive in order to solve the continuous problems which were becoming a hazard in making the system a flexible one in order to adopt changes. At Toyota, all the operators are required to follow a developed process of performing their jobs; therefore, it becomes very prominent when any of them deviate from defined specifications. The tactic knowledge of Toyota production System can be better captured in four main rules. The main purpose of these rules is to provide guidance on different operations of every product ...