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and succinct: everything relating to the problem and the solution
should be able to be described on one A3 size of paper!
Respect and egalitarianism is just another example of how Toyota
works. There are no ‘corner’ offices for managers, and everybody
is invited to have their say. Each and every opinion is valued, and
appreciated. Listening – a trait that anybody who has worked with
Japanese will know well – is encouraged and rewarded.
“Toyota is a way of life, and not a 9-to-5 type of company”, Colin
Hensley explains. “The people who work here love their jobs. It is not
unusual to find the engineers working on cars and engines during
the weekend: it is their passion, and their hobby. And Toyota respects
this. ‘Genchi genbutsu’ means ‘go and see for yourself to thoroughly
understand the situation’ – it is clear we trust and respect the talents
of our people to deliver better solutions when confronted with
the reality on the ground.”
Working with suppliers
Toyota believes in success. And they know that they can help
their supplier be successful by working with them, rather than
against them. Again, honest principles apply to the way they
work with their suppliers: trust, understanding and respect.
Absolutely, cost is an issue, but together with the supplier’s
team, all efforts are made to work towards a common goal,
rather than working at cross purposes. Toyota knows that
if a supplier does well, they’ll both do well. And that goes
for customers too – as Toyota constantly leads the reliability
and longevity charts in Europe. No mean feat. No mean
company. •
Performance improvement
The Toyota Principles (*)
14 key points are grouped
under four main principles:
Long term philosophy
1. Base your management decisions on a long-term
philosophy, even at the expense of short-term goals.
The right process will produce the right results
2. Create a continuous process flow
to bring problems to the surface.
3. Use “pull” systems to avoid overproduction.
4. Level out the workload (heijunka). (Work like
the tortoise, not the hare)
5. Build a culture of stopping to fix problems,
to get quality right the first time.
6. Standardised tasks are the foundation for continuous
improvement and employee empowerment.
7. Use visual control so that no problems
are hidden.
8. Use only reliable, thoroughly tested technology that
serves your people and processes. .
Add value to the Organisation
by developing your people
9. Grow leaders who thoroughly understand the work,
live the philosophy and teach it to others.
10. Develop exceptional people and teams who follow
your company’s philosophies.
11. Respect your extended network of partners
and suppliers by challenging them and helping
them to improve.
Continuously solving root problems drives
organizational learning
12. Go and see for yourself to thoroughly understand
the situation (genchi genbutsu).
13. Make decisions slowly by consensus, thoroughly
considering all options; implement decisions
rapidly (nemawashi).
14. Become a learning organization through
relentless reflection (hansei) and continuous
improvement (kaizen).
(*) Source: “The Toyota way - 14 Management Principles
from the world's greatest manufacturer” - Jeffrey K. Liker
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