are built entirely around these conventional processes. Whole departments, performance reviews, management strategy, etc. We are all familiar with processes that work reasonably well. Inverse thinking can help solve day-to-day problems at work. They challenged the status quo and mustered the courage to re-shape an entire line of thinking. Ohno studied Henry Ford’s production techniques at great length. For every problem Toyota faced, there was already a mass production method to handle it. Ohno instructs us to use inverse, flexible thinking to guide our way to better problem solving.
Out of desperation, manufacturers squeezed everything they could out of their assets and manpower. The market needed automobiles and trucks, but mostly of different shapes, sizes, and purposes in order to meet the diverse demand to rebuild the Japanese economy. From the ashes, demand was low and anyone who wanted to manufacture had to build infrastructure from scratch. In contrast, Japan started out smaller, less stable, less wealthy… and was completely destroyed in World War II. Room for error and waste was possible in this model. As a result, a tight discipline on quality, inventory control, and labor efficiency were not required. The mass production process was the only way to meet the demand. People didn’t require unique makes and models yet. It was acceptable to make a large number of Model T’s. A combination of growing incomes, revolutionary automobile technology, a large population, and a huge land mass allowed factories to open the floodgates in a rush to meet the demand. enjoyed a long and stable age of prosperity that enabled manufacturers to build products in large quantities… and sell everything they could possibly make. However, history, culture, and political realities explain the reasons much better. manufacturers made a long-term mistake and that the Japanese were uniquely prescient. One may look at the negatives of mass production and decry how U.S. It is very interesting to understand how Toyota developed the Lean Manufacturing process compared to the Mass Production system developed in the U.S. As these concepts are mostly common parlance, I will focus my review primarily on points made that I found unique or personally relevant. The Toyota Production System, by Taiichi Ohno, describes the background and evolution of the development of the fundamental building blocks that make up Lean Manufacturing that we know of today. On a more practical level, it continues to provide inspiration and instruction for those seeking to improve efficiency through the elimination of waste. A historical and philosophical description of just-in-time and Lean manufacturing, this work is a must read for all students of human progress. Combining his candid insights with a rigorous analysis of Toyota’s attempts at Lean production, Ohno’s book explains how Lean principles can improve any production endeavor. In this classic text, Taiichi Ohno–inventor of the Toyota Production System and Lean manufacturing–shares the genius that sets him apart as one of the most disciplined and creative thinkers of our time. The Toyota Production System: Beyond Large-Scale Production