Toyota Way Fieldbook : A Practical Guide for Implementing Toyota's 4Ps

and only one item (part) because the material is delivered in large

heavy containers requiring a forklift. There is substantial waste in the

material handler’s job going back and forth throughout the day.

Also, the work method in this situation is impossible to standardize.

Since the line will only hold one box of each type of part, the timing

of the exchange is driven by the consumption of each part (which is

driven by the model mix), and that timing will therefore never be

consistent. It is impossible to dictate a specific time to deliver a certain

part to the line.

Anytime it’s not possible to standardize a job task, the result will be a

less efficient operation. It is impossible to define cyclical work and to

ensure that the methods are refined. Consolidating this waste allows

the creation of a standardized process for material handling that also

allows the delivery of a large variety of parts to many operators.

The Toyota Way is to begin with a focus on the value-adding operation.

This view would conclude that for the operator to be most effective,

there would have to be a minimum of walking and the operator should

be able to install a greater variety of parts. This leads to the understand-

ing that a greater variety of parts need to be delivered to the work area,

in a smaller space, and that the replenishment of parts should not require

the operator to remove parts from containers before they are needed

on the vehicle.

A lightweight “flow rack” can be constructed that will accommodate

a large variety of parts in a much smaller space. Since the containers

are smaller in height, the rack is designed to handle multiple levels, as

shown in a front view in Figure 4-6, and provides for the return of

70 THETOYOTAWAYFIELDBOOK

Figure 4-6. Front view of flow rack

Headlight

Style A

Headlight

Style B

Headlight

Style C

Headlight

Style D

Seatbelt Access.

Washer

Bottle

Rad.

Overflow

Empty

Return

Empty

Return

Empty

Return

Empty

Return

10 Feet