Toyota Production System

This book gives some real insight into the how the "Toyota Production System" actually gets results -- not the mess you hear consultants preaching about on every street corner. I think that to understand the "Toyota Production System," you need to understand that these guys were only trying to eliminate waste. 5-S, Kanban, Kaizen, Lean, Poka-yoke, SMED, and 1-piece flow were solutions to problems that they encountered when trying to get rid of the waste. This is why the Consultant's shiny new silver bullet doesn't work for many companies -- they just don't get it. The solutions listed above are ways to solve specific problems such as inventory losses, bad quality, long wait times, production bottle necks, etc.... They aren't really "Methods" in themselves to analyze a problem.... just the solutions they found effective.

After 30 years of manufacturing experience and thinking that I was very knowledgeable of Lean Manufacturing systems, it came to my surprise that one book written almost 30 years ago would teach me all the things I take now for granted without knowing that all this knowledge came from the mind of one man and his fellows at Toyota. My hat is down for Mr. Taiichi Onno. I now have a better understanding of his teachings and I believe that the Toyota Production System will be the do facto standard for manufacturing in the years to follow. I wonder if it is ready for and ISO standard...

I am a former Toyota Engineer and recommend that anyone interested in learning about the Toyota Production System a.k.a. lean manufacturing this is the place to start. Mr. Ohno is the creator of TPS and he gives a very good overview of how the system works. The book is very easy to read and easy to understand. This book should be read by all upper management employees looking to create a lean environment in their plants. The book will give you a good foundation to start implementing the techniques. It is the best book to read considering it comes from the inventor himself. It is the best you are going to find shy of being actually trained within Toyota's walls.

This is a short book and as such gets to the point. Explains difficult concepts in a simple way. This book explains how JIT, Kanban, Zero Defects came about. Also shows what is missing from American JIT and that is production leveling.

Mr. Ohno is the father of Toyota's just in time production system, also called lean manufacturing, though it is more than just that. The book gives an excellent primer on the basic principles of JIT, work-flow, leveling, waste minimization, etc. He also covers the history and application of these philosophies at Toyota. The book is a surprisingly good read, and Mr. Ohno's dynamic and engaging personality shows through. A must read for MBA students, persons in manufacturing or occupations where time is money.