Notice how Toyota is training their new Group Leaders (2nd level manufacturing managers). They are going to the Indiana plant and learning the process. I've never seen a factory where the mangers (yet alone the first level supervisors) really know the jobs of their employees, but that is the lean/Toyota model, not being “above” knowing the real work content.
“I'm learning the process flow of my shop,” said Lomas, who will work in the stamping department. “I'm learning each of my group member's jobs in the process.”
It is also taking Toyota a while to sort through the selection process for new employees:
Toyota officials won't say how many applications have come in, but when it opened the job lines Feb. 27 for two weeks, the company expected as many as 100,000 applications.
That's the demand for roughly 2,000 jobs. The article has some details about the screening and selection process.
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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.