Tag Archives: Toyota Production System (TPS)

Toyota Develops Thought-controlled Wheelchair

Posted on June 30, 2009 by John Hunter

Toyota has developed a thought-controlled wheelchair (along with Japanese government research institute, RIKEN, and Genesis Research Institute). Honda has also developed a system that allows a person to control a robot through thoughts. Both companies continue to invest in innovation and science and engineering. The story of a bad economy and bad sales for a year or two is what you read in most newspapers. In my opinion the more important story is why Toyota and Honda will be dominant … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Deming, Innovation, Lean thinking, Management, Science, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Toyota Posts Loss of $6.9 Billion in Last Quarter

Posted on May 8, 2009 by John Hunter

Toyota Posts Loss of $6.9 Billion in Last Quarter For January-March, Toyota booked a $6.9 billion loss, in line with consensus estimates, and cut its annual dividend nearly 30 percent — the first cut since at least 1994, when it changed its reporting period. … Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe was more downbeat, stopping short of predicting when sales would pick up in major markets, or when the company would return to profitability as it remains saddled with excess capacity. “Of … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Investing, Management, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

NUMMI, and GM’s Failure to Manage Effectively

Posted on February 25, 2009 by John Hunter

Gipsie Ranney recently sent me an article on her thoughts on NUMMI and the current problems with the Big Three car makers to post to the Curious Cat Management Improvement Library. NUMMI is the plant that Toyota and General Motors run together as a joint venture. The article is excellent. The answer to a question asked by someone else on the tour was stunning to me. The person asked what kind of computerized inventory system they had at NUMMI. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Lean thinking, Management, Management Articles, Manufacturing, quote, Respect, Systems thinking, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Invest in New Management Methods Not a Failing Company, 1986

Posted on November 22, 2008 by John Hunter

Invest in New Management Methods Not a Failing Company by William Hunter, 1986 I predict American Motors will stop making cars in Wisconsin in the near future, whether or not the state’s money is used for a temporary propping-up operation. These competitors are beginning to understand how essential it is to take a long-term view of their businesses. Toyota, for example, took its top 40 managers on a two-day retreat to ponder what their corporation will look like in the … Continue reading →

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Financial Market Meltdown

Posted on October 10, 2008 by John Hunter

The financial market meltdown has grown to the point where it has profound ramifications for everyone. The common wisdom for financial market variation, for most of us, is just to focus on the long term and don’t worry about short term fluctuations. That is good advice. This panic is threatening to override that wisdom however. There are at least 2 areas to consider: personal finance and business prospects (how managers need to take this crisis into account). On personal finance … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Management, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged , , , , | 9 Comments

Webcast on the Toyota Development Process

Posted on September 18, 2008 by John Hunter

Kenji Hiranabe talks about Toyota’s development process (webcast). Kenji shares a presentation he attended earlier this year by Nobuaki Katayama, a former Chief Engineer at Toyota, and the lessons he learned from him. Continue reading →

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

Gary Convis is the New CEO of Dana

Posted on April 17, 2008 by John Hunter

Another former Toyota USA leader is talking a leading role at another company. Gary Convis from Toyota retired last year. Related: articles by Gary Convis – Toyota Management Speech by Gary Convis – Toyota Management Develops the New Camry – Quality Conversation with Gary Convis – Jim Press, Toyota N. American President, Moves to Chrysler Dana Holding Corporation Names Gary L. Convis Chief Executive Officer Dana Holding Corporation (NYSE: DAN) emerged from bankruptcy recently and today announced that it has … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management, Manufacturing, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Toyota’s Commitment

Posted on March 8, 2008 by John Hunter

From Toyota’s blog, Living Up to Our Commitment We’ve received reports that on a small number of model-year 1995 to 2000 Tacomas, excessive corrosion of the frame has caused perforation of the metal. The reason for this, it appears, is that the frames of some of the 813,000 vehicles built during this time-frame may not have adequate corrosion protection. … Because of our oft-stated commitment to standing behind our products, we’re extending the rust-perforation warranty covering these trucks for a … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, Management, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Toyota Presses On

Posted on February 24, 2008 by John Hunter

At Toyota, a Global Giant Reaches for Agility With plants in 27 countries, more new factories under construction and workers speaking languages that include Russian and Turkish, Toyota’s top executives are trying a difficult balancing act – replicating the company’s success and operating principles in other countries while ceding more control to these new outposts at the same time. … Next year, it expects to sell more than 10.4 million cars worldwide, double what it sold in 2000. … At … Continue reading →

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

Workplace Management by Taiichi Ohno

Posted on August 8, 2007 by John Hunter

Workplace Management by Taiichi Ohno is an excellent management book. Taiichi Ohno is known as the father of the Toyota Production System (TPS), also called lean manufacturing. He dictated the text to the Japan Management Association (in a series of interviews in 1982), which gives the book a sense of listening to him talk about the ideas. I found the conversational tone made it very easy to read and reminiscent of Dr. Deming’s tone in many places. Ohno focused a … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Deming, Lean thinking, Management, Systems thinking, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Toyota’s Real Secret?

Posted on January 24, 2007 by John Hunter

Well actually it isn’t a secret – it is in fact the Toyota Production/Management System. Maybe, if people assume the TPS is about improvement in the factory alone, then they could miss the true importance as the management system that it is. So I quibble a little bit with the title but this is actually a good article by John Teresko, Toyota’s Real Secret: Hint, It’s Not TPS [the broken link was removed]: Toyota’s time-to-market metrics are one measure of … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Management Articles, Manufacturing, Systems thinking, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged ,

Workplace Management by Taiichi Ohno

Posted on December 14, 2006 by John Hunter

Workplace Management [the broken link was removed] by Taiichi Ohno, translated by Jon Miller. This classic work by the founding father of the Toyota Production System returns to print in a new translation. Ohno delivers timeless lessons on how to effectively manage the gemba – actual place or work. He relates stories from across his nearly 40 years of struggle to establish the Toyota Production System as both a mindset and supporting behaviors of constant improvement. In the book’s 37 … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Lean thinking, Management | Tagged , , , ,

Toyota Production System for Sales…

Posted on December 4, 2006 by John Hunter

Corporate profile: the Toyota Production System [the broken link was removed] by Sarah Perrin: Within Toyota itself, non-production personnel support the TPS approach. “We very much value the Toyota way,” says David Betteley, managing director of Toyota Financial Services (UK) and vice president operations for Europe and Africa. “The key values of the Toyota way are teamwork, respect, challenge, kaizen and genchi genbutsu. “You produce a new product and it can be replicated by a competitor almost immediately, so you … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management Articles, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Toyota Supplier Relations

Posted on August 9, 2006 by John Hunter

Toyota’s relationship with vendors is an important link in its success [link broken, so it was removed] by John Torinus, CEO of Serigraph: One of the big differentiators between how the Big Three operate and how the vaunted Toyota production system works is how they deal with suppliers. Toyota takes the stance that it competes supply chain against supply chain, so it works hand-in-hand with vendors. It’s not just what happens in its body and assembly plants. Taiichi Ohno, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Systems thinking, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged , , , ,

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 →

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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 →

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