Back to the Toyota Way

As the media continues to bombard the public with reports of Toyota vehicle problems, companies actively implementing lean manufacturing (a.k.a Toyota Production System or TPS) are trying to understand if there are limitations built into TPS.  In a recent Forbes article, Yuri Kageyama examines why the accelerator and brake problems are out-of-character for a company with a long track record (since the 1950’s) of quality and efficiency.

In short, communication failures across the manufacturing network caused these problems.

In his op-ed piece, Akio Toyoda – president of Toyota – specifically states:

We also are putting in place steps to do a better job within Toyota of sharing important quality and safety information across our global operations. This shortcoming contributed to the current situation. With respect to sticking accelerator pedals, we failed to connect the dots…

At Zymergi, we could not agree more.  The sharing of important information across the global operations is a limitation greatly diminished by software.   Diminishing the training and access limitation (with searchable, web-based trends), empowers workers to seek out inefficiency and points of failure… core principles of lean manufacturing.

Companies are wise to continue their pursuit of lean; as Jeff Liker points out: the failure to practice lean principles spawned this crisis, and the path to redemption is called, “The Toyota Way.”