The Big Idea

The Big Idea
Toyota first caught the world´s attention in the 1980s when consumers started noticing that Toyota cars lasted longer and required fewer repairs than American cars. Today, the companyis the world´s most profitable car manufacturer, consistently producing high-quality cars using fewer man hours and less on-hand inventories. To this day, Toyota continues to raise the bar formanufacturing, production development and process excellence.
explains the management principle and business philosophy behind Toyotas success. It narrates Toyotas approach to Lean Production (known as theToyota Production System) and the 14 principles that drive Toyota towards quality and excellence.
The book also explains how you can adopt the same principles to improve your business processes,while cutting down on operations and production costs.
The World Class Power of the Toyota Way
The Toyota Way: Using Operational Excellence as a Strategic Weapon
The Toyota Production System (TPS) andLean Production Toyota invented Lean Production in the 1940s and 50s. The company focused on eliminating wasted time and material from every step of the production process (from raw materials tofinished goods).
The result was a fast and flexible process that gives the customers what they want, when they want it, at the highest quality and most affordable cost. Toyota improved production by:* Eliminating wasted time and resources.
* Building quality in to work place systems.
* Finding low-cost and yet reliable alternatives to expensive new technology.
* Perfecting businessprocesses.
* Building a learning culture for continuous improvement.

The “4P” Model of the Toyota Way

How Toyota Became the World´s Best Manufacturer
Toyota developed the Toyota ProductionSystem (TPS) after World War II. While Ford and GM used mass production and economies of scale, Toyota faced very different business conditions. Toyota's market was very small but it had to produce a...