All around the world, people drive Toyota cars, they have built up a reputation as good cars to own. The architect of the Toyota Production System was Taiicho Ohno and a new book was recently published Taiicho Ohno’s Workplace Management, Special 100th Birthday Edition by McGraw Hill, 2013. The book gives insights into how Mr. Ohno approached his job and has lessons for everyone, whether you work in manufacturing or not.

1. Management by walking around – “When you enter the factory you should walk in a way that takes you hours to go 100 meters. If it takes no time at all to walk 100 meters that means no is rely on you.” Walking around means interacting with people. Asking, offering advice, teaching, etc. by walking around without asking has limited value. It involves the boss respecting the workers and the workers respecting the boss.

2. Discipline goes between youth and elders, but those giving the scolding and correction must practice what they preach or they will lose credibility.

3. People have to learn how to use the equipment properly. If an inexperienced person borrows a pair of sheet metal shears, they cannot cut sheet metal with them. A person who is skilled at using metal shears can also cut thin paper with them. Value talent and experience or you are wasting the resources.

4. Standards have to be set, but when someone says there might be a better way, it is an opportunity to try. That way the decisions are not made by some higher group but by the workers themselves. The process allows for trying, failing and trying again and again as improvements are to expected on an ongoing basis.

5. If you going to set times, do not do the average time, set the shortest time frame. The next stage is the more important one – find out why people can not do the work in this time frame and teach them. If you set an average time, you will receive average work, raise the bar.

6. The Toyota Production System came about by asking the question why 5 times. The first couple of answers are easy, the next ones will make you think.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, continuous improvement only works when people have a vested interest. It is hard to do but is necesarry, when it happens things change for the better. Asking questions gets the process started and most of the time you will find people in the company with solutions, if they are allowed to try and try again.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions