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DecodingtheDNAoftheToyotaProductionSystemHBSWorkingKnowledge

DecodingtheDNAoftheToyotaProductionSystem
10/12/1999
Howcanoneproductionoperationbebothrigidlyscriptedandenormouslyflexible?Inthissummaryofanarticle
fromtheHarvardBusinessReview,HBSProfessorsH.KentBowenandStevenSpeardisclosethesecretto
Toyota'sproductionsuccess.Thecompany'soperationscanbeseenasacontinuousseriesofcontrolledexperiments:
wheneverToyotadefinesaspecification,itisestablishingahypothesisthatisthentestedthroughaction.The
workers,whohaveinternalizedthisscientificmethodapproach,arestimulatedtorespondtoproblemsasthey
appearusingdatafromthestrictlydefinedexperiment,theyareabletoadaptfluidlytochangingcircumstances.
byStevenSpearandH.KentBowen
BasedonanarticleintheHarvardBusinessReview,September/October1999.
TheToyotaProductionSystemisaparadox.Ontheonehand,everyactivity,connection,andproductionflowina
Toyotafactoryisrigidlyscripted.Yetatthesametime,Toyota'soperationsareenormouslyflexibleandresponsive
tocustomerdemand.Howcanthatbe?
Afteranextensivefouryearstudyofthesysteminmorethan40plants,theauthorscametounderstandthatat
Toyotait'stheveryrigidityoftheoperationsthatmakestheflexibilitypossible.That'sbecausethecompany's
operationscanbeseenasacontinuousseriesofcontrolledexperiments.WheneverToyotadefinesaspecification,it
isestablishingahypothesisthatisthentestedthroughaction.Thisapproachthescientificmethodisnot
imposedonworkers,it'singrainedinthem.Anditstimulatesthemtoengageinthekindofexperimentationthatis
widelyrecognizedasthecornerstoneofalearningorganization.
TheToyotaProductionSystemgrewoutoftheworkingsofthecompanyover50years,andithasneveractually
beenwrittendown.Makingtheimplicitexplicit,theauthorslayoutfourprinciplesthatshowhowToyotasetsupall
itsoperationsasexperimentsandteachesthescientificmethodtoitsworkers.Thefirstrulegovernsthewayworkers
dotheirwork.Thesecond,thewaytheyinteractwithoneanother.Thethirdgovernshowproductionlinesare
constructed.Andthelast,howpeoplelearntoimprove.Everyactivity,connection,andproductionpathdesigned
accordingtotheserulesmusthavebuiltinteststhatsignalproblemsimmediately.Anditisthecontinualresponseto
thoseproblemsthatmakesthisseeminglyrigidsystemsoflexibleandadaptivetochangingcircumstances.
TheExperimentsoftheToyotaProductionSystem
Whenorganizationsaremanagedaccordingtothefourrules,individualsarerepeatedlyconductingexperiments,
testinginoperationthehypothesesbuiltintothedesignsofindividualworkactivities,customersupplier
connections,pathways,andimprovementefforts.Clickheretoseeasummaryofthehypotheses,thewaytheyare
tested,andtheresponseiftheyarerefuted.

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HowToyota'sWorkersLearntheRules
IftherulesoftheToyotaProductionSystemaren'texplicit,howaretheytransmitted?Toyota'smanagersdon'ttell
workersandsupervisorsspecificallyhowtodotheirwork.Rather,theyuseateachingandlearningapproachthat
allowstheirworkerstodiscovertherulesasaconsequenceofsolvingproblems.Forexample,thesupervisor
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DecodingtheDNAoftheToyotaProductionSystemHBSWorkingKnowledge

teachingapersontheprinciplesofthefirstrulewillcometotheworksiteand,whilethepersonisdoinghisorher
job,askaseriesofquestions:
Howdoyoudothiswork?
Howdoyouknowyouaredoingthisworkcorrectly?
Howdoyouknowthattheoutcomeisfreeofdefects?
Whatdoyoudoifyouhaveaproblem?
Thiscontinuingprocessgivesthepersonincreasinglydeeperinsightsintohisorherownspecificwork.Frommany
experiencesofthissort,thepersongraduallylearnstogeneralizehowtodesignallactivitiesaccordingtothe
principlesembodiedinrule1.
AlltherulesaretaughtinasimilarSocraticfashionofiterativequestioningandproblemsolving.Althoughthis
methodisparticularlyeffectiveforteaching,itleadstoknowledgethatisimplicit.Consequently,theToyota
ProductionSystemhadsofarbeentransferredsuccessfullyonlywhenmanagershavebeenableandwillingto
engageinasimilarprocessofquestioningtofacilitatelearningbydoing.
StevenSpearandH.KentBowen

TheExperimentsoftheToyotaProductionSystem
Rule Hypotheses
Thepersonormachinecandotheactivity
asspecified.

Thesuppliercanrespondtocustomers'
requests.

Everysupplierthatisconnectedtotheflow
pathisrequired.

Theactivityisnot
doneasspecified.

Iftheactivityisdoneasspecified,thegood Theoutcomeis
orservicewillbedefectfree.
defective.
Customers'requestswillbeforgoodsand
servicesinaspecificmixandvolume.

Signsofa
problem

Anysuppliernotconnectedtotheflowpath
isnotneeded.

Responsesdon't
keeppacewith
requests.
Thesupplierisidle,
waitingforrequests.

Determinethetrueskilllevelofthepersonorthetrue
capabilityofthemachineandtrainormodifyas
appropriate.
Modifythedesignactivity.

Determinethetruemixandvolumeofdemandand
thetruecapabilityofthesupplierretrain,modify
activities,orreassigncustomersupplierpairsas
appropriate.

Apersonormachine
isnotactually
Determinewhythesupplierwasunnecessary,and
needed.
redesigntheflowpath.
Anonspecified
Learnwhythenonspecifiedsupplierwasactually
supplierprovidesan
required,andredesigntheflowpath.
intermediategoodor
service.

Aspecificchangeinanactivity,connection,
Theactualresultis
orflowpathwillimprovecost,quality,lead
differentfromthe
time,batchsize,orsafetybyaspecific
expectedresult.
amount.

http://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/869.html#top

Responses

Learnhowtheactivitywasactuallyperformedorthe
connectionorflowpathwasactuallyoperated.
Determinethetrueeffectsofthechange.Redesign
thechange.

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