The Toyota Way to Continuous Improvement - Linking Strategy and Operational Excellence to Achieve Superior Performance

The Toyota Way to Continuous Improvement, Linking Strategy and OperationalExcellence to Achieve Superior Performance--------------------------------------------------Building upon the international bestselling Toyota Way series ofbooks by Jeffrey Liker, The Toyota Way to Continuous Improvementlooks critically at lean deployments and identifies the root causesof why most of them fail. The book is organized into three major sectionsoutlining: why it is critical to go beyond implementing lean toolsand, instead, build a culture of continuous improvement that connectsoperational excellence to business strategy. Case studies from sevenunique industries written from the perspective of the sensei (teacher)who led the lean transformation Lessons about transforming your ownvision of an ideal organization into reality Section One: Using thePlan-Do-Check-Adjust (PDCA) methodology, Liker and Franz contrast truePDCA thinking to that of the popular, superficial approach of copyinglean solutions. They describe the importance of developing peopleand show how the Toyota Way principles support and drive continuousimprovement. Explaining how lean systems and processes start witha purpose that provides a true north direction for all activities,they wrap up this section by examining the glaring differences betweenbuilding a system of people, processes, and problem- solving that istruly lean versus that of simply trying to lean out a process. SectionTwo: This section brings together seven case studies as told by thesensei who led the transformation efforts. The companies range fromtraditional manufacturers, overhaul and maintenance of submarines,nuclear fuel rod production, health care providers, pathology labs,and product development. Each of these industries is different butthe approaches used were remarkably similar. Section Three: Beginningwith a composite story describing a company in its early days of leanimplementation, this section describes what went right and wrong duringthe initial implementation efforts. The authors bring to light someof the difficulties the sensei faces, such as bureaucracies, closed-mindedmechanical thinking, and the challenges of developing lean coacheswho can facilitate real change. They address the question: Which isbetter, slow and deep organic deployment or fast and broad mechanisticdeployment? The answer may surprise you. The book ends with a discussionon how to make continuous improvement a way of life at your companyand the role of leadership in any lean transformation. The ToyotaWay to Continuous Improvement is required reading for anyone seekingto transcend his or her tools-based approach and truly embrace a cultureof continuous improvement.--------------------------------------------------Author Biography: Jeffrey K. Liker, author of the bestselling The ToyotaWay, is professor of industrial and operations engineering at the Universityof Michigan. His most recent book, Toyota Under Fire, chronicles Toyota'sresponse to the recession and recall crisis. James K. Franz has morethan 24 years of manufacturing experience and learned lean as a Toyotaproduction engineer in the United States and Japan. He has worked forand consulted with various organizations, including Ford, Bosch, theU.S. Air Force, Exxon Mobil, AMCOR, Hertz, and Applied Materials. Healso teaches for the University of Michigan's Center for ProfessionalDevelopment's Lean Certification course.