As a plant manager, Ohno Taiichi, the architect of the Toyota Production System, was known for always carrying chalk in his pocket. When a machine did not perform as expected, he drew a circle on the floor and gave one order: Soko ni tatte mite ore. Stand there and watch.
manufacturing
Bad News Fast
In December 2023, Toyota chairman Toyoda Akio spoke about the certification scandal at Daihatsu. He said it came down to how employees are treated every day, and used an English phrase: “There is the phrase Bad News Fast.”
He then described what often happens to it in practice: “People are told, bring me the bad news. I was told that too, long ago. When I actually brought it, I was scolded.”
Long-Term, Stable Procurement
In 2024, Toyota presented its purchasing policy at an event of the Japan Auto Parts Industries Association. The aim is to buy the best goods in the world, at the lowest cost, at the right time, and chōki anteiteki ni, in a long-term and stable way. One section is titled “Mutual prosperity based on mutual trust.”
The Aisin Fire
On February 1, 1997, fire broke out at Aisin Seiki’s Kariya No. 1 plant. Aisin made 80 to 90 percent of Toyota’s proportioning valves, a brake part. Toyota’s plants stopped from February 3 to 6 and returned to normal from February 7. About 70,000 vehicles were lost.
Other companies took over making the valves. According to a Ritsumeikan University paper, more than 200 suppliers are said to have taken part. Toyota sent a total of 1,200 people.
Restoring Renesas
The earthquake of March 11, 2011 damaged the Naka plant of Renesas Electronics, a maker of semiconductors. Up to 2,500 people a day, including staff from automakers and other business partners, came to help restore it. In all, about 80,000 person-days were mobilized.
Partial production restarted on June 1, two weeks earlier than planned.
Sharing the Supply Chain
After the 2011 earthquake, Toyota built a database of its supply chain with Fujitsu. It shares the information in real time with its first-tier suppliers and uses it only for disaster response and prevention.
A case study published by the Cabinet Secretariat says that Toyota can obtain this information because of mutual trust built up over many years.
Jishuken
Jishuken, the voluntary study group on the Toyota Production System, began inside Toyota. Managers from manufacturing, production control and production engineering found problems on the shop floor in a single day, pointed them out to the supervisors, and then worked with the floor every week on improvements.
Because the results were large, the activity spread to suppliers. Today it is mainly joint study among suppliers.
Go and See
Genchi genbutsu means the actual place and the actual thing. A Japanese university bulletin says that a deep understanding of a situation requires looking directly at the facts on the front line, in the spirit of genchi genbutsu.
The same bulletin tells a story about Ohno Taiichi of Toyota from his years as a plant manager. He was famous for carrying chalk in his pocket. When a machine did not perform as expected, he drew a circle on the floor with it and gave an order: Soko ni tatte mite ore. “Stand there and watch.”
Basic Act on Manufacturing
In 1999, Japan passed the Basic Act on the Promotion of Core Manufacturing Technology. The law speaks of jukuren monozukuri rōdōsha, skilled manufacturing workers who have mastered the necessary skills and the knowledge that goes with them. It notes that such workers are in short supply.
Article 13 calls for making effective use of the skills and knowledge of these workers, including former skilled workers.
Six Months on the Floor
According to the business magazine President, new employees at Toyota, in both administrative and engineering positions, spend about six months in factory and sales training. Only then are they assigned to their departments.