#quickreadMonday: How is Toyota Production System different from others?

The TPS system is worldwide known and studied everywhere as a successful and efficient way of manufacturing products. Why? Let’s see.

Toyota places a great emphasis on the “elimination of all waste”, hence the production itself becomes a lot more efficient and timely. This well-establish technique is based on just two concepts: “jidoka”, which stands for ‘automation’ and basically means that in case there is a technical problem all equipment stops automatically to avoid defective products and preventing extra money and time to be spent, and “Just-in-time”, the concept meaning that the exact amount of a product is produced, no more no less.

These two concepts complement each other quite well, as in order for ‘Just-in-Time’ principle to work all produce has to be manufactured to the best standards from the first time. Each vehicle is built once an order from a customer has been received and is done so in the shortest time period — the assembly line has only the needed number of parts to use. And then only those parts that have been retrieved are reproduced for the next production to work in a timely manner. This concept allows to build just what is required, when and how much.

‘Jidoka’ on the other side makes machines and humans work simultaneously together: if there is a fault the machine stops and the workers will step in to fix the issue.

Toyota aims to produce vehicles of the highest quality, in the shortest production time and at the lowest cost possible. And we must say that these two concepts they are using do provide the desired outcomes. The TPS also offers a lot of flexibility when responding to any market changes and thus, achieves higher profits. Toyota’s suppliers have also been benefitting from the TPS profits in both the manufacturing process and intercompany relations.

The results of TPS are: time is minimised, waste is eliminated, profits are maximised, customers are satisfied and employees are continuously developing. Win-win (and many other wins) for Toyota!

SEE ALSO: A way to success — Henry Ford