Decoding the DNA of the Toyota Production System

The Toyota Production System is a paradox. On the one hand, every activity, connection, and production flow in a Toyota factory is rigidly scripted. Yet at the same time, Toyota's operations are enormously flexible and responsive to customer demand. How can that be? After an extensive four-year study of the system in more than 40 plants, the authors came to understand that at Toyota it's the very rigidity of the operations that makes the flexibility possible.

The Problem with Creative Work and Creative Management

Years ago I heard a presentation from someone at Toyota explaining where to begin in implementing the Toyota Production System. “Start by analyzing the work to be done.”

This meant listing all the actions required to create the value in a given product and then dividing these actions into three categories:

Value-creating work. Activities adding directly to the value of the product as determined by the customer. (Manufacturing examples are painting the product or adding parts during assembly.) A simple test is to ask whether customers would mind if this work was not done but their product still performed properly. If they would mind, it is value creating. For example, almost all customers expect their products to be painted with all the parts assembled, so these steps are value creating.