TPS Book Review the Work,

TPS Book Review

The work, the Toyota Production System is a multi-leveled endeavor. In one sense it is a description of how a single company, Toyota took what it had learned about industrialization and tweaked it to build an empire of growth that endured even in slow economic times. On the other hand it is a description of the way in which Toyota and other Japanese companies stepped away from mass production systems to a system that created quality rather than quantity by cutting waste and calling for the production of small numbers of many models of car. This is entirely unlike the American model in that the American model attempted to mass produce only a small number of models to keep costs down. It is the story of how Toyota endured difficult economic times and excelled during good economics by creating a new system of manufacture that is now copied worldwide. Additionally, it is an autobiography of the mind of the man who created this system and applied its principles for success, Taiichi Ohno. Each chapter of the work describes in detail the actions and applications of the model through time, as it evolved into the modern representation of growth.

The first chapter describes how the oil crisis in the early 1970s dominated the auto industry and created slower growth patterns, and how the application of Ohno's model made it possible for Toyota to continue in positive growth, recovering from the oil crisis much faster than most other industry leaders, by implementing change. Ohno's life of work is intertwined with the story to give it a sense of place and person. He contends that Japan had an idea about how to catch up with American production and then shifted focus to surpass them. The first chapter in short describes the reasons for the revolution in manufacturing and the seeded ideas of each change, as it was made.

In the second chapter describes the evolving TPS through its struggles with the establishment of teamwork, which Ohno describes as learning how to pass the baton by making sure that when there are delays or a weak player is in the midst others will come to help him or her restructure his station to met the current need, so he can pass the baton to the next work area more fluidly. (1988, p. 25) the chapter also discusses the plant-based focus as well as the development of revolutionary worksheets that held together the production process to a set of predetermined steps. The chapter also discusses the idea of kanban, which became an enduring model of the company production. The just-in-time model stresses that production should be like an American style supermarket where products for manufacturing are available at all times in the quantities needed and then replaced in the same quantities to be used the next time they are needed. This according to Ohno created a system that strove to reduce waste, by making sure that product was no over or under produced, not wasting resources to store something that would not be used in the short run, and not wasting time waiting for an integral part to be manufactured, sowing or stopping work while waiting. The system evolved into a labeling system that applied number codes, easily recognized by all to materials and products so everyone could easily see what was available at any given time and not order or use to much or to little of any given item or material.

Chapter three describes how the system was fine tuned, reevaluating waste, improving communications, seeking a nerve center for production and thinking of production as an art form, which Toyota called Nijitsu, or the art of invisibility. The system works in that the management of the system seems to the single worker to come about by magic, when all the systems and communications are working in their proper place. Management according to the Toyota tradition should be a thing that is thought of as art and done without notice, rather than with showy power struggles. According to the Nitjitsu model the training of management is essential and enduring, skills must be learned, and are not innate, even for the smallest task and among the brightest people. The chapter also focuses on the need to maintain equipment, even the oldest equipment, to new standards so that the system does not breakdown, at any given point, and this includes people and machinery.

Chapter four discusses the enduring genealogy of the TPS by discussing once again its history and the principles behind the movement, autonomation (an emphasis on the people of the organization and how they interact with the machines they use and "just-in-time" the practice of productivity through the kanban system as well as by explaining the internal and external factors that surrounded the model. The chapter places Toyota in the global context analyzing how its own practices were regarded and spread through the industry and how Toyota responded to this with strength and character. The emphasis on quality is also stresses as a lead in to the next chapter.

Chapter five is a comparison of the TPS to the mass production (Ford) model of production. The chapter discusses the fact that quantity should not be the goal of production, but quality and this should be the focus at every stage of production and development. The Ford model gave the idea that problems could be repaired later, while TPS stresses that prevention of problems is much less costly than repairing them later. The chapter then briefly discusses the restructuring of Ford to this changing model of production. The final chapter closes with a lengthy discussion of the ability of TPS and the company to endure and continue to grow even in slow growth periods. The chapter closes with the idea of flexibility as the greatest strength of an individual and an organization.

The quality of the book is testified to by its endurance as a text of reference for company transitions on many levels. It is also very approachable, as it uses concepts that even a layman can relate to and analogies that are specific not just to manufacturing but to life in general and any business one might be interested in building or rebuilding. The mass production model may have been revolutionary, but where Toyota took it is significant and worth discovering through the eyes of the man who was at its center. The work offers insight about a shift in business consciousness, that clearly outlines one of the first attempts at corporate social responsibility, a novel idea in the world of business during Ohno's time.