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. We then confidently apply the five whys method to delve into the root cause of the problem, and KPIs are checked on the production analysis board.
Although such approaches to problems are critically important, stating that such a reaction is the essence of TPS will be misleading.
In Toyota Production System (1978), Taiichi Ohno wrote a chapter called “Prevention Is Better than Healing,” which underscores the core principle of TPS. The Japanese word used was 【治療】 which is better translated as “treatment.” This concept isn’t Ohno’s original idea but Henry Ford’s. Both Ford and Ohno thought it was better to prevent than treat.
The word “prevent” has an exciting development in Japan.
The word Ohno used in the book was Yobou 【予防】, which means to prevent. But the second symbol, Bou 【防】, already means to prevent or protect. Therefore, the first symbol provides additional nuances, making us more knowledgeable about the subtle differences in these terms.
The first symbol, Yo 【予】, means in advance, before, and also to provide. Therefore, the meaning of Yobou 【予防】 is very close to “prevent.” Some kinds of actions are provided in advance to prevent problems. An example is Yobou-sesshu 【予防接種】which is vaccination.
But the Japanese use another word, which can be translated as “Prevent.” That word is Boushi 【防止】. In this idiom, the second symbol provides the nuance. The symbol Shi 【止】 means to stop. This is the symbol used as a stop sign in Japan. Stop doesn’t mean to reduce the speed. The speed must reach zero; otherwise, the police can issue the driver a ticket (as we have experienced universally.). Therefore, the meaning of Boushi 【防止】 is to conduct preventive actions to stop problems and reach zero issues.
These slight differences between Yobou 【予防】 and Boushi 【防止】creates an exciting discussion. When someone says they have done “preventive” actions, what does that mean? Does that mean I did the advanced planned activities but do not guarantee that the problem will not happen again? Or have they done preventive measures, which means problem-free? We must be careful that the nuances include advance actions and stop the problem. For example, talk to the maintenance or quality and understand the differences in their “preventive” actions. Which nuance is strong?
This Boushi 【防止】has additional development. A typical way of using Boushi 【防止】 is Saihatsu-Boushi 【再発防止】. Saihatsu 【再発】 means “recurrence.” Therefore, Saihatsu-Boushi 【再発防止】means to prevent and stop problems from recurring. This word is typically used in problem-solving and translated as “countermeasure.” But again, countermeasures don’t mean something that reduces the problems. Here, it must completely stop and be prevented from recurring.
Another concept uses Boushi 【防止】. I ran into that concept about fifteen years ago. I was on a plant tour, and I translated the above three words, Yobou 【予防】, Boushi 【防止】and Saihatsu-Boushi 【再発防止】as “prevent” or “preventive measures.” I knew something was wrong when this different concept appeared, and the electronic dictionary told me to translate it as “prevent” again.
The concept was called Mizen-Boushi 【未然防止】, and I translated it as “Prevention before occurring.” Some preventive action is taken before a problem happens. An example of such an activity is the “Hatto, Hiyari” in safety improvement. “Hatto” is a Japanese word used when we are surprised. “Hiyari” means chill, which is used when something scary happens. This activity aims to take action when a near miss happens, not after an accident; when someone feels that something happened that could impact safety, we take action instead of waiting for an actual accident to happen. [I understand that we can argue that this is not Mizen-Boushi 【未然防止】since an incident happened. The idea of Mizen-Boushi is to take action even before the incident. But since it is not an accident, I categorized as Mizen-Boushi 【未然防止】.]
One crucial point that I learned about Mizen-Boushi 【未然防止】 is that this is not brainstorming in a meeting room. It is an activity on Genba. At Genba, we need to follow the standards to prevent problems from happening. We need to conduct problem-solving to devise preventive measures to stop recurring problems. As we conduct such cycles, we start to notice additional risks that we should take action before something happens. Therefore, my coach always said go to Genba, standardize, and problem-solve. From the experiences of standardizations and problem-solving, what lessons can we apply to different issues?
This Mizen-Boushi 【未然防止】 might be too far from the majority. We still see a bunch who only react to “old” KPIs. However, when problems impact the KPIs, it is already too late. The only thing we can do is report accurately. Japanese call such a situation “after the festival.” Some say that after the festival means boring. Some say all the stuff for the festival becomes waste. Some say that this festival means funnel. No matter how great the funnel is, the person won’t return. And before we regret it, do something good.
Please don’t think that I am saying highlighting problems is wrong, problem-solving is waste, or looking at KPIs is bad. All these things are necessary, and managers' preventative actions are equally necessary. Too often, managers appear for KPI reviews without any checks at Genba. We focus on past problems without reasonable expectations of now and the near future. It’s like in sport. Many analysts are on the TV, but that doesn’t mean they will become great coaches. Great coaches prepare the team for the next game. Analysis is essential but not sufficient. Too often, organizations praise the analysis and the firefighters, not those who prevented it. Maintenance who frequently fix broken machines are the heroes, not the ones who did the preventative maintenance and kept the machines running. Planners who change the plan every hour are the king, while those who coordinate all departments for the future are ignored. Getting temporary workers today is more important than training the labor force for the future. Bad KPIs come from insufficient prevention. How much of a manager’s time or effort is spent on analysis, firefighting, and prevention?
There have been many developments in prevention since Henry Ford highlighted the importance for business. We should pay more attention to it.
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