Tag Archives: management history

Toyota Production System History

Posted on August 7, 2006 by John Hunter

Norman Bodek on TPS history: Who Can Shout Louder? [the broken link was removed] TPS focuses on improving the overall process from the customer’s demands to the delivery of the product. Prior to TPS, manufacturing companies were filled with smoke stakes, operational centers separated by machine types: the stamping machines, lathes, drilling, milling etc. each producing mountains of inventory taking weeks even months to produce an automobile. TPS focused on eliminating the wastes created by these separate machine centers. TPS … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management, Management Articles, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged management history, Toyota Production System (TPS)

Origins of the Toyota Production System

Posted on July 10, 2006 by John Hunter

Brief Investigation into the Origins of the Toyota Production System [the broken link was removed] by Art Smalley. Another excellent article by Art Smalley. Loaded with great historical information. I find these articles interesting on at least two levels. First there is great management information. Learning more about how the ideas we use now developed adds to my understanding. Second it is interesting historical information – I am not sure if it actually makes any difference in how I would … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Management Articles, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged lean manufacturing, management history, Toyota, Toyota Production System (TPS)

Management Advice Failures

Posted on June 10, 2006 by John Hunter

…when we fail to value the best ideas, instead valuing the new ideas, we are not as effective as we could be. We often accept pale copies of good old ideas instead of going to the good old ideas – which will often lead to a much richer source of knowledge. Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Management Articles, Popular, quote | Tagged curiouscat, management, management experts, management history, Popular, research | 17 Comments

Shigeo Shingo’s Influence on TPS

Posted on May 12, 2006 by John Hunter

A very interesting article by Art Smalley based on an interview with Mr. Isao Kato: Shigeo Shingo’s Influence on TPS [the broken link was removed]. For those interested in the history of the Toyota Production System this article provides some excellent information. Some background on Isao Kato: As much as anyone alive Mr. Kato knows the history of TPS development from an insider’s point of view from the 1950’s forward. He also had working relationships with Mr. Ohno even more … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management, Management Articles, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged management history, Toyota, Toyota Production System (TPS) | 4 Comments

Organization, Systems and Culture

Posted on February 13, 2006 by John Hunter

Organization, Systems and Culture [the broken link was removed] by S. M. Lane, G. J. Garrett, with contributions from R A. Long: Traditional methods of how companies are organized, staffed and managed have become obsolete. The purpose of this paper revolves around those things most companies can do to remain successful, in spite of changing times, changing economies, global competition and customer needs. The information contained within is not new and is not radical, but it is a different way … Continue reading →

Posted in Management Articles | Tagged culture, management history, management system

Toyota’s Early History

Posted on January 22, 2006 by John Hunter

via Got Boondogle: A book that I recently finished is “Quest for the Dawn” by Shoji Kimoto. “Quest for the Dawn” is a fascinating true story set from about 1930 to the mid 1950s of a bold business quest to build an automobile from the ground up. The relentless inventors were Sakichi and Kiichiro Toyoda and, of course, the car manufacturer was the Toyota Motor Company. Look interesting, so I went on amazon.com and Quest for the Dawn by Shoji … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Management, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged Books, management history, Toyota | 4 Comments

The Public Sector and Deming

Posted on January 7, 2006 by John Hunter

In, Public Management-The Bush Administration, Paul Soglin, former Mayor of Madison Wisconsin, quotes one of Deming’s 14 obligations of management: W. Edwards Deming’s point number ten is, “Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets for the workplace.” In looking for online background on Deming thinking in Madison I came across this explanation of Madison’s start [the broken link was removed], on the US Department of Labor site: Madison’s quality improvement efforts began after then-Mayor James F. Sensenbrenner and his staff were exposed … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Public Sector, quote | Tagged Deming, Madison, management, management history, Public Sector, Wisconsin | 4 Comments

Management Lessons from Terry Ryan

Posted on January 4, 2006 by John Hunter

Management Lessons from Terry Ryan: Humility, Stability & Personality from Management by Baseball: competitors in any endeavor figure anything easy must not be a very important differentiator (bass-ackwards of course, but the erroneous mental algebra is that if it was important and easy both, everyone could/would do it and since they’re not doing it and it’s easy it, therefore, must not be important. Goofy but widespread thinking. As long as Ryan and his team make this seem like luck or … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Innovation, Management, Psychology | Tagged change, Creativity, Innovation, leadership, management, management history, Psychology, workplace improvement | 1 Comment

Management Improvement Flavors

Posted on November 27, 2005 by John Hunter

Lean Manufacturing Visionary Jim Womack On Frontiers Of Lean Thinking [broken link has been removed], webcast and additional questions and answers: Question: For a firm seeking to improve — what comes first? Six Sigma quality or lean implementation? James Womack: Agh! These are all the same thing. You need to start with the value stream for every product, draw a map of its current state, and ask about each step: Is it valuable? Is it capable? Is it available? Is … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Lean thinking, Management, Popular, quote, Six sigma, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged curiouscat, Deming, John Hunter, Lean thinking, management, management history, Six sigma, TQM | 6 Comments

Life Beyond the Short Term

Posted on September 4, 2005 by John Hunter

Life Beyond the Short Term by Simon Caulkin, The Observer. Last week’s column – ‘Adrift in a parallel universe‘ – about the perversion of management provoked an eloquent, sometimes passionate, response. … In the spirit of a positive alternative, a prime text is W Edwards Deming’s 14-point programme for transforming management, drawn up in the 1980s. Once again Simon Caulkin has penned an excellent article. In this article he gives an overview of Deming’s 14 points. I am glad to … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management | Tagged Deming, long term thinking, management history, short term thinking | 1 Comment

A Lean Walk Through History

Posted on May 27, 2005 by John Hunter

A Lean Walk Through History [link broken, so it was removed] by Jim Womack author of Lean Thinking Banish Waste and Create Wealth in Your Corporation by James P. Womack and Daniel T. Jones, 2003 and The Machine That Changed the World The Story of Lean Production by James P. Womack, Daniel T. Jones and Daniel Roos, 1991. Once you are sensitized to the depth of lean history, along with its many advances and setbacks, it’s easy to begin filling … Continue reading →

Posted in Management Articles | Tagged Lean thinking, management history

Who Influences Your Thinking?

Posted on March 10, 2005 by John Hunter

Comments on Who Influences Your Thinking? [broken link removed] – Survey results [broken link removed] > 1. Are people getting most of their information > from other sources? That would be my guess. Similar to the phenomenon of “the long tail” which is an interesting topic in its own right. We tend to focus on the popular few (books, musicians, movies, authors, computer programs…) but often the sum of the less popular many is more significant. See: The Long Tail … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, quote | Tagged Ackoff, Bill Hunter, Brian Joiner, curiouscat, Deming, Douglas McGregor, George Box, management, management history, Peter Scholtes, quality management experts, Six sigma, TQM, Womack | 4 Comments

Management Improvement History

Posted on September 23, 2004 by John Hunter

I do believe we need to improve our practice of Quality (and to do that we need to understand what happened in the past and why it was not more successful). The idea that Design of Experiments (DoE) was at the core of some Quality Movement to me is not at all accurate. In my experience only a few Quality professionals today understand what it means and how it should be applied. The idea that it was common place in the 40’s I seriously doubt (though I don’t have first hand knowledge of this). I find it difficult to believe we would have decided to stop using DoE if it was commonly done previously. The understanding I have from those that should know (like George Box and previously my father – Bill Hunter) is that it was not at all common practice and still is not outside of a few industries and even there it is isolated in the domain of a few experts. Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Design of Experiments, Lean thinking, Management, Popular, Process improvement, Quality tools, Six sigma, Statistics | Tagged Bill Hunter, curiouscat, Deming, Design of Experiments, George Box, management, management experts, management history, quality, Six sigma, SPC, Statistics, TQM | 4 Comments