A. TPS – Toyota Production system is the processing unit i.e. brain of the Toyota. Many companies have learned and tried to mimic the system of Toyota. The rules and methods or tools used in the system have specific terminology. The TPS terminology in the house of Toyota Production System (HTPS) are:
i. Just in Time ii. Jidoka iii. Heijunka iv. Kaizen.
i. Just in Time:
JIT – Just in Time’s objective is to reduce the in-process inventory by manufacturing or producing the production only when it is needed i.e. the activity of production occurs only when the order comes from the customer. The JIT works on the basis of …show more content…
JIT and Kaizen are the pillars of the Toyota Production System to achieve their goals, highest quality at lowest cost in shortest time. Toyota is trying to improve the process every day by applying the standard procedures, rules and techniques like JIT, Kaizen, Jidoka and Heijunka with via simple tools like Kanban and Andon cord.
2. Explain how the principles identified in the “Decoding the DNA of the Toyota Production System” are related and used in HTPS.
The authors has identified the four principles, categorized them into three rules of design and one rule of improvement. They say these rules are the DNA of the Toyota Production System. The four rules are:
• Rule 1: All work shall be highly specified as to content, sequence, timing, and outcome.
Authors define this rule as how people work i.e. “The person or a machine can do the specified work” [2]. When the activity is performed according to the rule, the process will be defect free. Toyota follows a standard sequence of operations, when the operations are performed in the specified standard, there will no scope for defects as the process is experimented and tested to be defect free. This is related to Kaizen as it deals with elimination of wastage i.e. time, defects and …show more content…
This rule describes the need of good communication. When a request comes from the customer for a part or product or service, there will be direct communication between the customer and every stakeholder involved in the process. The communication is done through the Kanban. The Kanban is a card with the requirements or request which is passed through every stakeholder to avoid the confusion. From this rule we can interpret that the Heijunka and Just in Time strategies are used to smooth the production and start when there is demand. When there is some problem in performing a process in a time limit, help comes from the designated person to solve and finish the work in the time limit, here comes the concept of