initiation of any junior production engineer, and equipment is designed and
selected to support TPS. For example, all equipment is extensively mistake-
proofed (poka yoke) with sensors designed in to trigger an andon call when there
is any abnormality in the process. The level of automation is often designed to sup-
port the worker. Chaku chakurefers to equipment that automatically ejects the com-
pleted part for the operator so the operator can just go from machine to machine
in a cell, loading and picking up the kicked-out part. Equipment is right-sized to
fit into a one-piece flow process. Equipment is also designed to support quick
changeover. This all leads to the need for highly customized equipment that gen-
erally cannot be purchased on the open market. In fact, production engineering
develops a good deal of the new technology used in Toyota’s factory. They work
hand in hand with a select group of outside vendors who are closely affiliated with
Toyota and understand the Toyota Way.
Case Study: Use Right-Sized Not Super-Sized Technology
Economies of scale would lead us to believe that one huge high-tech
machine would be more efficient than several smaller and simpler
machines. One company that makes nuclear fuel rod assemblies
manufactured metal grids to hold the fuel rods in place. After each
stage of processing the grids had to be cleaned. A huge washer had
pressure and heat gauges and became a bottleneck as metal parts
from different processes competed to get washed.
As part of a lean transformation, the grid operation was set up as a
cell and the washer was the main impediment to flow, requiring large
batches. Process engineering was asked whether it was possible to
use smaller and simpler washers. At first they said, “Absolutely not!”
But the lean team persisted in challenging them. Ultimately they
concluded that an industrial strength dishwasher would work just
fine. Several dishwashers could be put in the flow, greatly reducing
batch sizes and eliminating the bottleneck.A similar story can be told when looking at other types of IT systems.
Traditional IT design as depicted in Figure 9-3 is a push system. The philo-
sophical assumption is that more information and sophisticated analysis is
always better than simple human judgment. IT systems are often based on a
management philosophy of top-down control of the process. With the right
information and the right analysis method, the system can rationally plan and
control the process.
Generic information technology is developed with some abstract purpose in
mind and then pushed onto “users” who are expected to make their processes