The Toyota Way to Continuous Improvement: Linking Strategy and Operational Excellence to Achieve Superior Performance

Description

Building upon the international bestselling Toyota Way series of books by Jeffrey Liker, The Toyota Way to Continuous Improvement looks critically at lean deployments and identifies the root causes of why most of them fail. The book is organized into three major sections outlining: Why it is critical to go beyond implementing lean tools and, instead, build a culture of continuous improvement that connects operational excellence to business strategy Case studies from seven unique industries written from the perspective of the sensei (teacher) who led the lean transformation Lessons about transforming your own vision of an ideal organization into reality Section One: Using the Plan-Do-Check-Adjust (PDCA) methodology, Liker and Franz contrast true PDCA thinking to that of the popular, superficial approach of copying lean solutions. They describe the importance of developing people and show how the Toyota Way principles support and drive continuous improvement. Explaining how lean systems and processes start with a purpose that provides a true north direction for all activities, they wrap up this section by examining the glaring differences between building a system of people, processes, and problem- solving that is truly lean versus that of simply trying to lean out a process. Section Two: This section brings together seven case studies as told by the sensei who led the transformation efforts. The companies range from traditional manufacturers, overhaul and maintenance of submarines, nuclear fuel rod production, health care providers, pathology labs, and product development. Each of these industries is different but the approaches used were remarkably similar. Section Three: Beginning with a composite story describing a company in its early days of lean implementation, this section describes what went right and wrong during the initial implementation efforts. The authors bring to light some of the difficulties the sensei faces, such as bureaucracies, closed-minded mechanical thinking, and the challenges of developing lean coaches who can facilitate real change. They address the question: Which is better, slow and deep organic deployment or fast and broad mechanistic deployment? The answer may surprise you. The book ends with a discussion on how to make continuous improvement a way of life at your company and the role of leadership in any lean transformation. The Toyota Way to Continuous Improvement is required reading for anyone seeking to transcend his or her tools-based approach and truly embrace a culture of continuous improvement. Contents Acknowledgments and Guest Author Biographies Prologue: Is Toyota Still a Great Company Others Can Learn From? Section One: The Journey to Continuous Improvement Chapter 1 Continuous Improvement toward Excellence Continuous Improvement as the Pursuit of Excellence The Toyota Way as the Path to Excellence Lean and Why Companies Fail at It Is Lean More than Mediocrity at a Cheaper Price? The Real Journey to Excellence Follows PDCA Learning Organizations Need Managers Who Are Teachers The Sensei Perspective of This Book Chapter 2 PDCA and Striving for Excellence PDCA as a Way of Thinking and Learning The Folly of “Lean Solutions” Toyota Business Practices to Grow People and Processes through PDCA PDCA Is a Way of Life; Copying Shouldn’t Be Chapter 3 How Process Improvement Can Develop Excellent People Not Excellent: A Tale of Refrigerator Baskets The Torque Wrench Problem: Developing a Manager to Find the Real Root Cause The Business Purpose and the People Purpose Innovation Comes from Working toward the Targets and Purpose Chapter 4 Lean Processes Start with a Purpose A Tale of Two Lean Transformations (Composite Cases) Inspiring People through a Sense of Purpose From Vision to Plans A Target Is a Concrete Guidepost to Compare Against Combining Short-Term and Long-Term Thinking in a Crisis What You Work on Now Depends on Your Situation Lean as a Culture of Continuous Improvement Chapter 5 Lean Out Processes or Build Lean Systems? “Leaning Out” Processes Are Organizations Like Machines or Organic Systems? Entropy: The Antagonist to Mechanistic Lean Deployment An Effective Work Group Can Overcome Entropy The Real Purpose of Lean Systems Is to Bring Problems to the Surface Mechanistic versus Organic? Not So Fast Section Two: Case Studies of Lean Transformation through PDCA Chapter 6 When Organic Meets Mechanistic: Lean Overhaul and Repair of Ships (with Robert Kucner) How We Got Started on Lean at Reman Overhaul and Repair Compared to Volume Manufacturing Phases of Deployment Phase 1: Early Awareness Phase 2: Grassroots Deployment Phase 3: Spreading Lean Broadly Phase 4: Corporate Engagement and the Next Level of Deployment Phase 5: Crisis in Lean Manufacturing Deployment Phase 6: Regrouping and Redefinition Evaluating the Success of Small Ship and Big Ship Chapter 7 An Australian Sensei Teaches a Proud Japanese Company New Tricks: Bringing TPS to a Complex Equipment Manufacturer (with Tony McNaughton) Background of the Japanese Company and the First Visit The Power of Public Humiliation The Starting Point: “Component A” TPS Pilot Building a Lean System—Summary of Pilot Results and Learning Postscript on the Pilot Further Expansion Navigating the Global Financial Crisis Reflection on Building Lean Systems Organically Chapter 8 Lean Iron-Ore Mining in the Pilbara Region of Western Australia How We Got Here Welcome to the Bush Getting the Big Picture Starting by Understanding the Current State The Final Recap of the Gemba Visit On to a Future State Vision and an Action Plan Communicating across the Site Planning for the Morning Meeting The First Morning Meeting Daily Production Boards 5S at the Western Ranges Crusher Coaching Problem Solving Process Confirmation Early Deployment Challenges Lessons Learned at Start-Up Expanding the Efforts PDCA as a Key Driver The End for Us Chapter 9 Bringing Ford’s Ideas Alive at Henry Ford Health System Labs through PDCA Leadership (with Dr. Richard Zarbo) The Motivation for Change Started with Quality We Wanted It, but We Did Not Understand It Beginning the Lean Journey: Every Breakthrough Starts with a Failed Experiment A Little Help from a Friend Surgical Pathology as Our Learning Laboratory Our Henry Ford Production System Deepening Ownership by Work Groups Lessons Learned Chapter 10 Teaching Individuals to Fly by the Numbers: Transforming Health-Care Processes (with Steve Hoeft) The Problem Background Case 1: Insurem (Insurance Company) Case 2: T-City Care Homes A Final Reflection Chapter 11 Transforming How Products Are Engineered at North American Automotive Supplier (with Charlie Baker) Who Am I? Case Background The Problem Grasping the Situation at the Gemba An Overall Vision for Transformation Getting Started on People Engagement and Stability Metrics the Lean Way—Making Flow, Waste, and Value Visible Teaching Problem Solving: A Case Example The Need for Emotional as Well as Intellectual Engagement Another Win as a Result of Lean The Importance of Tactical Planning by Whiteboard Definition of Lean Management Philosophy: ORPMAR The Second Stage: Sustaining and Expanding Lean Identification of Subject Matter Technical Experts Implementing Design for Cost Reverse Engineering to Gain Overwhelming Competitive Advantage The Change Process—the Underestimated Critical Variable Chapter 12 Going Nuclear with Lean (with John Drogosz) Background on Lean at Nuclear Phases of Deployment Phase 0: Structural Changes in Preparation for Lean Deployment Phase 1: Lean Awareness and Value Stream Vision Phase 2: Implementation of Lean Pilots Phase 3: Spreading the Implementation across the Other Value Streams Shortage of Internal Lean Leaders to Support and Coach the Expanding Number of Teams Phase 4: Management Learning and the Start of Continuous Improvement Final Reflection Section Three: Making Your Vision a Reality Chapter 13 One Time around the Plan–Do–Check–Adjust (PDCA) Loop: A Lean Short Story at Alte Schule The First Pilot Team Meeting Getting Started on the Deep-Dive Pilot One Last Hansei before the Executive Presentation The Executive Report Kate’s Reflections on What She Learned Chapter 14 Sustaining, Spreading, Deepening: Continuing Turns of the PDCA Wheel The Role of the Lean Sensei Developing Internal Coaches as Lean Evangelists How Do We Learn Complex Skills Like Lean Coaching? The Dangers of Creating a Mechanistic Lean Bureaucracy Sustaining the Gains Spreading While Deepening Managing Change Is Political Chapter 15 Continuous Improvement as a Way of Life Does Lean Ever Become Self-Perpetuating? The Journey Needs Leadership Is Continuous Improvement a Realistic Vision? Notes Index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z