the scrapped parts each day. Actual cost due to scrap is charted
and a deep Five-Why analysis done. A daily board shows what the
problem is, the root cause, short- and long-term countermeasures,
who is responsible, and the status of the project every day.◆ Make the line more compact through line compression. Moving
operations closer together reduces waste and allows operators to
add tasks in their work cycle, without adding overburden, as well
as reducing travel distance to respond to andon calls.
◆ Bring subassembly operations in line with the main assembly to
compress lines.
◆ Bring in a new engine on new breakthrough machining technology
(Global Engine Line) that is far more flexible and at the same time
simpler and easier to maintain.
◆ More local sourcing of materials and tooling to reduce shipping
costs and take advantage of lower costs in America than Japan
(tooling locally cut costs 30 percent).
◆ Long –term, the objective was to merge the six- and four-cylinder
lines into one flexible line that would greatly reduce capital costs
and provide flexibility to level the schedule as demand patterns
change for one versus the other engine.
There were many small kaizen activities in the engine plant. Here are
a few examples:
◆ Comparison to Kamigo showed that Georgetown was using signifi-
cantly more labor. So many small projects were done using yamazumi
(balance) charts and analysis using the Standard Work Combination
Table discussed in Chapter 6. In one project a team under the group
leader was able to reduce one process out of three in this way. Spread
across all of the teams in the plant, this begins to add up. (Note:
eliminating a “process” in many companies equates to eliminating
a person’s job but at Toyota the person is not let go but moved
to another position. Through attrition, early retirement, and reducing
temporary employees this will ultimately lead to higher labor
productivity).
◆ A Quality Circle activity on tooling wear done by a team that saved
16 cents per unit.
◆ One machine was hidden from view by curtains, and uncovering it
to see what was going on revealed problems of how metal chips
were building up and coolant was overflowing. A better preventive
maintenance system was put in place, and scrap and operational
availability were charted and improved.
Chapter 13. Problem Solving the Toyota Way 317