11 percent fewer forklifts, 20 percent less space and less walking in
the process, and a whopping 85 percent quality improvement
because of reduced damage to parts. This started in 2003, and
by July 2004 was about half complete.◆ On a smaller level, a team leader kaizen in stamping focused on
using a yamazumichart (operator work load balancing) to reduce
one process from an operation. This PKA (practical kaizen activity)
was designed to teach TPS by doing. The team leader used a
Standardized Work Combination Table to chart what the person
and machine do. He identified waste, largely from conveyance,
and combined what the conveyance driver was doing with the line
operator’s job. There had been 499 minutes of work over a cycle of
450 minutes per day. By reducing waste by 49 minutes and bring-
ing the workload down to 450 minutes, one operator position was
removed from the operation. Safety and quality were carefully tracked
and there were no problems. New standardized work was created
by the team leader, an hourly employee.
These aggressive kaizen projects are being done at all levels and for big,
medium, and small projects. They are being done cross-functionally and
from the manager to the team associate level. Why would hourly team
associates and team leaders participate in this when many of these
projects lead to process reductions, which imply labor reductions? The
reason is simple. Since the opening of the Georgetown plant, no full-
time team associates have involuntarily lost their jobs. Those “kaizened”
out are reassigned and eventually, through attrition and by reducing
the use of temporary workers, the employee levels are adjusted. More
recently Georgetown began to offer early retirement packages and
voluntary severance packages. The drivers for these aggressive process
improvements include pressure to compete in cost with China and
Korea, a target to become self-sufficient from Japan, and aggressive
quality improvement targets. This is constantly communicated. The goal
is to be competitive and healthy for the long term.
Chapter 13. Problem Solving the Toyota Way 321Reflect and Learn from the Process
The ability to identify and correct problems quickly and effectively
is at the heart of Toyota’s success. Many aspects of the Toyota
Production System are designed to surface problems quickly and
at times harshly. The ability to solve these problems must exist at
all levels of your organization so continuous improvement is pos-
sible. Reflect on the following questions to determine what steps