Developing the Culture
The demand for better quality has been on the increase for the past two decades
or more. Everyone understands that survival in the marketplace depends on the
ability to deliver consistently high quality. The interest in Six Sigma—and the
allure of a quality level of only three defects per million products—has at least
helped to create the awareness that delivering a quality product is a must in
today’s world. The question now is not whether the ability to deliver exceptional
quality is necessary, it’s: “What do we need to do to get there?” The best place
to start is with yourself. If you want to learn a few lessons from Toyota, first you
must develop a clear understanding of how and why Toyota accomplishes what
they do.
The diagram in Figure 8-1 is similar to the models we have used in previous
chapters, but it’s applied to stopping the line. The traditional method of reducing
per unit cost creates a mind-set of never stopping the line because higher produc-
tion numbers theoretically equal lower cost per unit. Any problems that arise can
be corrected later, according to this approach, and quality is controlled by addi-
tional inspection and containment. This erroneous thinking creates an attitude
among the workforce that identifying problems and possible solutions is not
important. People may have good ideas to solve the problems, but they “won’t
bother” because they’ve been told: “Don’t worry, someone down the line will take
care of that. You just worry about your job.” In this environment, quality control
must accept responsibility for catching problems (and for catching the offending
person), and resentment often develops since the inspectors are seen as “police” or
“narcs” if they report a problem. In the long run this system does not invite coop-
eration and mutual respect—two important ingredients of the Toyota Way.
Figure 8-2 depicts the Toyota core philosophy of eliminating waste. Notice
that all the examples begin with the same core philosophy. If the thinking begins
with a focus on waste elimination (in this case waste of correction), the natural
extension of that philosophy is to develop a system that emphasizes getting
quality right the first time. Toyota has developed an extensive support system
to provide people the tools and resources to identify problems and solve them.
Of course, the pressure of stopping an entire line creates a sense of urgency, and
everyone must make a concerted effort to resolve problems permanently, or else
the line stoppage would be excessive. People know they will be supported
when a problem occurs, and with the fear of retribution eliminated, they can
develop a cooperative attitude toward improving performance.
Based on the phenomenal financial performance of Toyota and the leg-
endary quality levels they have achieved, there is no question that the “stop and
fix” process works. For some reason the idea that it is better to keep the line
going at all costs still pervades many organizations today. Often the “culture”