These 14 principles are the actual foundation of the Toyota Production System (TPS) practiced by Toyota plants around the world and copied as best they can by their suppliers and ‘wanna be competitors’. The 14 Principles are divided into four categories – each beginning with “P” – hence many have referred to this as the “4 – P” approach which consist of “P1: Philosophy” ~ “P2: Process” ~ “P3: People/Partners” ~ “P4: Problem Solving”.
Principle 1: Base your management decisions on a long-term philosophy – even at the expense of short-term goals.
Principle 2: Create continuous process flow to bring problems to the surface
Principle 3: Use “Pull” systems to avoid over production
Principle 4: Level out the workload (Heijunka)
Principle 5: Build a culture of stopping to fix problems, to get quality right the first time
Principle 6: Standardized tasks are the foundation for continuous improvement and employee empowerment
Principle 7: Use visual control so no problems are hidden
Principle 8: Use only reliable, thoroughly tested technology that serves your people and processes
Principle 9:Grow leaders who thoroughly understand the work, live the philosophy, and teach it to others
Principle 10: Develop exceptional people and teams who follow your company’s philosophy
Principle 11: Respect your extended network of partners and suppliers by challenging them and helping them to improve
Principle 12: Go and see for yourself to thoroughly understand the situation (Genchi Genbutsu)
Principle 13: Make decisions slowly by consensus: Implement decisions rapidly (Nemasashi)
Principle 14: Become a learning organization through relentless reflection (Hansei) and continuous improvement (Kaizen)
No methods or formulas can be devised to substitute for human judgment and leadership.”
Henry Ford, Moving Forward, 1930, p. 146
THOUGHT STARTERS FOR CHANGE
Top 10 Reasons for Disappointing Results
•Don’t have top managements full and visible support & commitment
•Don’t have a plan – no leadership
•Lack goals and a clear focus – no end in view
•Don’t involve people meaningfully in decisions – no ownership possible without involvement
•Lack a “No Blame” environment – no honesty
•Don’t solve problems systematically – no process
•Don’t “Walk their talk” – reward wrong behaviors
•Impatient to get results – lasting change takes time
•hold unrealistic expectations – no achievement & therefore no motivation
•Don’t understand the effort required – no empathy
Top 10 Reasons for Successful Initiatives
•Have a vision & a plan – and then act
•Management committed to customer success as they make the transition from task master to coach
•Treat each other as customers – jointly set standards
•Build a “No-Blame” environment of trust & respect
•Use common problem-solving process – everyone!
•Match Reward Systems to goals & objectives
•Focus on processes not people – measure, measure
•Practice open, full communication - straight talk & generous listening
•Grow & empower folks every day – mgmt challenge
•Treat training as a means to an end… then train, train, and train again when the ‘end’ is clear