216 THETOYOTAWAYFIELDBOOK
Reflect and Learn from the Process- Is your company caught up in the technology race?
- Do you believe that having the latest, fastest, most sophis-
ticated technology is necessary to maintain a competitive
advantage? - Have you lost sight of the fact that the purpose of technology
is to serve the people and the processes? - Do you look to technology to solve problems, or do you iden-
tify effective solutions and then apply technology to support
people (reduce the burden)? - Have you invested heavily in technology, only to find that the
overall performance has not improved and now it is difficult
to abandon the system because of the expense (or admitting
failure)? - If you have any technology proposals on the table right now,
reevaluate the situation and request the proposer to verify how
the system will support the people:
a. How have they involved the users of the technology in
the design of the technology?
b. Have the proposers practiced “genchi genbutsu” (go and
see the actual process) and studied the way the current
process is being conducted today?
c. Have all attempts been made to take waste out of the cur-
rent process before proposing new technology?
d. Has a close relationship been developed with the IT
provider so they will work to customize the technology
to the people and process?
e. Has a pilot been planned to prove the technology prior to
full-scale implementation?