Re: Beyond Lean manufacturing
Still Toyota is just doing Lean or working on something else? It would be interesting to know what is in the nest?
Toyota doesn't "do" Lean. Toyota "lives" the Toyota Production System (TPS). The terms Lean and TPS are not synonymous although a lot of consultants would like you to think that. Toyota also takes their methodologies to down a different path. They don’t look at things like kanban, one-piece flow, total productive maintenance, 5S, etc; as items in a toolbox. These are integral components in TPS with a synergistic relationship amongst them. It these methods that allow them to manage their business on a daily basis.
Toyota also utilizes a 3P process (Product Preparation Process or Pre-Production Planning) that attacks various forms of waste during the concept/prototype stages so that it never makes it into the production process. Google the term/s and you won’t find much as it requires a radically different mindset than doing kaizen. Comparing kaizen to 3P is like comparing Jack Daniels to a 20 year old Scotch.
The other issue is that there are still plenty of companies (in manufacturing and service) that haven’t changed from how they were doing business 10-20 years ago. There is plenty of opportunity there, the challenge is convincing them of the need if they have been profitable over the years.
Wayne