Objectives to reach the Toyota Production System

The Toyota Production System establishes several points to cause that the objectives of the four previous concepts are reached and that they are the base of the Toyota Production System.

1. KANBAN System is an information system that controls the production of necessary articles in the necessary amounts, the necessary time, each process of the company and also of the companies’ suppliers. It establishes a production system in which the products are hauled by the following station; the products cannot be pushed by the first station. The products are hauled to the rate those are needed (called PULL System). The last station is the one that marks the rate of production.
2. Constant production, that means that the line of production no longer this jeopardizes to manufacture a single type of product in great lots. However, the line produces a great variety of products every day in response to the variation of the demand of the client. The production is obtained adapting the changes of the demand daily and monthly.
3. Reduction of the Set-up time (S.M.E.D.). The Set-up time is the amount of necessary time in changing a device of an equipment and preparing that equipment to produce a different model, but to produce it with the quality required by the client and without incurring costs it company and to obtain with this, to reduce the time of production in all the process. The product that arrives first the market enjoys a high percentage of gains associated with the initial introduction of the product.
4. Standardization of operations: One is to diminish the number of workers, balancing the operations in the line. Assuring that each operation requires of the same time to produce a unit. The worker has a routine of standard operation and maintains an inventory in constant in process.
5. Multifunctional distribution of machines and workers, who allow to have a force of very flexible work, which must of or being trained and to have a great versatility that is obtained continuously through the rotation of the work and they evaluate and they review the standards and routines of operation, and the machines could be placed in distributions in the form of “or” where the responsibility of each worker will be increased or diminished following the work to realize in each product.
6. Improvement of activities, which are focused to reduce costs, to improve productivity, to reduce the work force, to improve the moral of the employees and this improvement carries out through work parties and system of suggestions.
7. Visual control systems that monitor the state of the line and the flow of the production, with very simple systems, for example, some lights of different colors that indicate some abnormalities in the line of production. Some other visual controls like leaves of operations, digital cards of KANBAN, displays, etc.
8. Quality control in all the company, that promotes improvements in all the departments, by means of the action of a department and reinforced by other departments of the same company. Having special attention in the meeting of directors to provide that the communications and cooperation in all the company.

14 Principles of Toyota Way

The 14 Principles of the Toyota Way is a management philosophy used by the Toyota corporation that includes the Toyota Production System. The main ideas are to base management decisions on a "philosophical sense of purpose", to think long term, to have a process for solving problems, to add value to the organization by developing its people, and to recognize that continuously solving root problems drives organizational learning.

14 Principles of Toyota Way.

• Principle 1: Base your management decisions on a long-term philosophy, even at the expense of short-term financial goals
• Principle 2: Create a continuous process flow to bring problems to the surface.
• Principle 3: Use "pull" systems to avoid overproduction.
• Principle 4: Level out the workload (heijunka). Work like the tortoise, not the hare.
• Principle 5: Build a culture of stopping to fix problems, to get quality right the first time
• Principle 6: Standardized tasks and processes 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 improve.
• Principle 12: Go and see for yourself to thoroughly understand the situation (Genchi Genbutsu).
• Principle 13: Make decisions slowly by consensus, thoroughly considering all options; implement decisions rapidly (nemawashi).
• Principle 14: Become a learning organization through relentless reflection (hansei) and continuous improvement (kaizen).