Toyota’s Fujio Cho: Act. Improve. Repeat.

0
0

Business 2.0 – Magazine Article

An article from January worth repeating… an interview with Toyota's CEO. The company was named “Smartest Company of 2004” by the magazine. If you click on the link, there are some related articles about Toyota functions — marketing, a new Lexus factory in Canada, etc.

I think it's interesting that he doesn't think they're so much “smart” as much as they “get their hands dirty” and keep trying solutions (kaizen). He also reiterates the point that companies don't success by copying Toyota tools — it's all about encouraging people to think and eliminate waste.



He says:


Some people think that if they just implement our techniques, they can be as successful as we are. But those that try often fail. That's because no mere process can turn a poor performer into a star. Rather, you have to address employees' fundamental way of thinking. At Toyota we start with two questions: “Where are we wasting resources like time, people, or material?” and “How can we be less wasteful?” Take conveyor belts. Some manufacturers use them to move a product from worker to worker on an assembly line. But belts can actually waste time because workers have to take the product off the belt at each manufacturing step. It's faster to keep the component stationary and have workers approach it as necessary. The Toyota we know today is the result of challenging ourselves to get rid of waste for more than 40 years.

Please check out my main blog page at www.leanblog.org

The RSS feed content you are reading is copyrighted by the author, Mark Graban.

, , , on the author's copyright.


What do you think? Please scroll down (or click) to post a comment. Or please share the post with your thoughts on LinkedIn – and follow me or connect with me there.

Did you like this post? Make sure you don't miss a post or podcast — Subscribe to get notified about posts via email daily or weekly.


Check out my latest book, The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation:

Get New Posts Sent To You

Select list(s):
Previous articleHelp Wanted: China Finds Itself With a Labor Shortage
Next articleKaizen Your Life?
Mark Graban
Mark Graban is an internationally-recognized consultant, author, and professional speaker, and podcaster with experience in healthcare, manufacturing, and startups. Mark's new book is The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation. He is also the author of Measures of Success: React Less, Lead Better, Improve More, the Shingo Award-winning books Lean Hospitals and Healthcare Kaizen, and the anthology Practicing Lean. Mark is also a Senior Advisor to the technology company KaiNexus.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.