Standardized Work. The most crucial foundation of the Toyota Production System. The Japanese for this word is Hyoujyun Sagyou 【標準作業】....

A simple motion inside manufacturing. We need to pick up some material from a box to assemble. How do we describe such motion in...

When a problem arises, it's the worker's responsibility to pull the Andon. The team leader, a crucial part of our team, provides support....

When we implemented the standardized work, we were told, "The movement forms the circle.” This 'circle' or En (Yen) is not just a...

Understanding the three stages of the 'Previous Process,' the 'Own Process,' and the 'Following Process ’- is not just a matter of...

When it comes to addressing Kaizen struggles, the practical wisdom of Zen offers invaluable insights. This rich philosophy provides a...

“Heijyunn-ka.” Heijyunn-ka, a cornerstone of the Toyota Production System, is fascinating. Its translation, “(Production) Levelization,”...

A method called Five Why is popular among Lean. Many focus on formats, and some focus on the quantity of whys. Taiichi Ohno’s “Toyota...

Japanese is a complicated language. Japanese, a language with a rich history, incorporates Chinese symbols. Each symbol carries a...

One critical aspect of the development of the Toyota Production System was that Sales and Manufacturing were two separate business...

“Build-In Quality at Production Process.” When delving into this crucial topic, we often encounter the notion that “Inspection is the...

Since I posted about the “Net Work,” one more story on the same pie chart. Japanese is a complicated language for many reasons. One...

“Net work” Not a popular word. It appears in Taiichi Ohno’s book “Toyota Production System.” This word appears in the figure in the...

One commonly misunderstood phrase in TPS is the “Multi-skill worker.” Some understand that as “almighty.” “Almighty” and “Multi-skilled”...

When we look at the flow, where do you see? One of the most essential places to see is the flow's division and confluence points. Water...

Three days. 72 hours. 4320 minutes. 259,200 seconds. This time in East Asia (or mainly in Japan) has some special meaning. Here are some...

Activity to see has caught our attention in many ways. This is why many languages have many words to describe “see.” See, look, watch,...

Zen 【禅】 and Kaizen 【改善】. English alphabets are similar but two different topics. Yet, there is a concept that connects the two. The...

Once in a while, I ran into people who quote Taiichi Ohno saying the following: “In a production plant operation, data are highly...

Many elementary schools in Japan have a statue of Sontoku Ninomiya. Many, such as Sakichi Toyoda, believed in Ninomiya’s philosophy,...