In the article Decoding the DNA of the Toyota Production System (Spear, Bowen, 1999) the authors provide a thorough analysis of what differentiates Toyota from other auto manufacturers specifically, and all manufacturers in general terms. The analysis includes key findings with regard to the Toyota Production System (TPS) lean manufacturing best practices (Hampson, 1999), reliance the scientific method of learning and instruction as part of the leadership process (Jayaram, Das, Nicolae, 2010), and innate ability of this production system to support the foundational elements of mass customization (Pegels, 1984). In analyzing this article, its research, and the surrounding research of the TPS and its effectiveness from a manufacturing standpoint, the following two questions are answered. First, the unspoken rules that give Toyota its competitive advantage are analyzed. Second, how do these unspoken rules make it possible for the company to continually change and improve performance without major disruption.
Decoding DNA Toyota Production System
Decoding the DNA of the Toyota Production System
In the article Decoding the DNA of the Toyota Production System (Spear, Bowen, 1999) (NOTE: this is OK per Harvard citing conventions to put this citation here, after the article) the authors provide a thorough analysis of what differentiates Toyota from other auto manufacturers specifically, and all manufacturers in general terms. The analysis includes key findings with regard to the Toyota Production System (TPS) lean manufacturing best practices including the findings from Black (2007, p. 3663 which states "lean manufacturing calls for redesigning the mass production system" which is exactly what Toyota did in the development of their TPS. Toyota was also able to instill a very strong reliance on the scientific method of learning and instruction as part of the leadership process while also defining an innate ability of this production system to support the foundational elements of mass customization. In analyzing this article, its research, and the surrounding research of the TPS and its effectiveness from a manufacturing standpoint, the following two questions are answered. First, the unspoken rules that give Toyota its competitive advantage are analyzed. Second, how do these unspoken rules make it possible for the company to continually change and improve performance without major disruption.
Analysis of the Unspoken Rules That Give Toyota Its Competitive Edge
The article Decoding the DNA of the Toyota Production System (Spear, Bowen, 1999) illustrates how Toyota has successfully created and continues to improve a global learning and knowledge sharing network predicated on the translation of explicit and tacit knowledge into taxonomies that are used for improving and fine-tuning production processes, procedures and strategies. This is evident on how much reliance is placed on the scientific method of analysis as it relates to the development of process, procedure and entire production frameworks for better ensuring consistency and reducing variability of production. This is one of the most critically important unspoken rules of the Toyota Production System, which is the rigorous use of experimentation as a means to gain greater insights into how production processes can improve over time. Both managers and subordinates share in the learning experience. According to Spear & Bowen (1999, p. 9) "By inculcating the scientific method at all levels of the workforce, Toyota ensures that people will clearly state the expectations they will be testing when they implement the changes they have planned." With the scientific method being used for tacit and explicit knowedlge capture, the second significant unspoken rule of the TPS is defined. It is the assiduous creation and continual improvement of taxonomies of product, process and people knowledge to each phase of production. This is seen in how the company continually uses design rules not as constraints but as a means to further scientific examination and explanation of why variations happen in specific processes.
The third unspoken rule of the TPS is that every tacit, explicit, experiential and derived element of information will be used to create a knowledge-sharing network that will span outside Toyota throughout the entire value chain, encompassing suppliers, partners and key stakeholders. As Dyer and Nobeoka explain (2000, p. 364) "Toyota's ability to effectively create and manage network-level knowledge-sharing processes at least partially explains the relative productivity advantages enjoyed by Toyota and its suppliers." Further, Wilhelm & Kohlbacher (2011, p. 69) state "Toyota has succeeded in creating a dense network with a strong identity and co-operative 'knowledge-sharing' routines."
This is the unspoken rule most visible to the outside world, and the most imitated or emulated one often with mixed results because companies don't see the other two in great detail. As Towill states (2007, p. 3619) "Apparently well documented in both Japanese and American literature, TPS is much emulated throughout Western and Eastern hemispheres. Despite this frenzy of activity, the overall success rate is relatively low." This is also the one unspoken rule that many manufacturing experts attribute to the Toyota culture, yet fail to see just how intricate and complex these interrelationships are that enable the results the TPS delivers daily in terms of improvement. Taken together these factors have over time formed the underlying assumptions, processes, procedures and frameworks that serve as the foundation for the TPS.
How Toyota Changes & Improves Its Performance without Major Disruption
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