Toyota Production System Research Articles

Risk factors in the assessment of suppliers.

The need to evaluate suppliers from the perspective of risk analysis by purchasing companies is increasing. Such evaluation of suppliers is conducted primarily by production companies with implemented quality (QMS), environmental (EMS), health and safety management systems (H&SMS), as well as Toyota Production System (TPS). This article aims to examine latent factors for suppliers’ evaluation and to describe the intensity of these factors by the implemented management system. The article provides the results of empirical research conducted with the computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) technique in 151 medium and large manufacturing companies operating in Poland. The risk was classified into three main groups to deepen the research process: management system risks, environment risks, and process risks. This allowed for the formulation of some original conclusions. The results showed that companies implementing standardized management systems take the issue of risk analysis and management more seriously than organizations that do not implement such systems. The research also highlighted the differences in the perception of risk caused by implementing various management systems. The study also found that the industry and business profile specificity also affect the risk assessment in cooperation with suppliers.

Understanding Lean Six Sigma as a ‘Waste Square’

For decades, manufacturing has successfully applied Lean and Six Sigma methodologies to resolve process problems. Lean (Manufacturing) in the west derives from the Japanese Toyota Production System (TPS) (J. K. Liker, 2004; Womack &

Sustained Reduction in Intravenous Pump Turnaround Time Using Lean Methodology.

Introduction:Intravenous pumps provide essential, life-sustaining medications to patients. Pumps must be in working order and available on short notice to be effective. We identified inefficiencies in our pump management process that inflated the cost and time to complete repairs.Methods:Our multidisciplinary team completed a 60-day before-after trial that followed the Toyota Production System Lean methodology and evaluated the sustainability of our improvements for the following 48 months. We used value stream mapping and manual time studies to identify areas for improvement. Device turnaround time (TAT) was the number of days from receiving a device for repair to its return to service. Interventions included: establishing a reliable system to receive and track repair requests, creating a better organized, more efficient workroom, streamlining the inventory of repair parts, and tracking delivery systems reliably.Results:We reduced mean intravenous pump TAT by 89% and sustained TAT at 74%–97% below baseline for 4 years, including during the COVID pandemic.Conclusions:We used Lean methodology to create a system to receive, track, and provide safe, functional equipment to providers promptly. Both clinical and nonclinical healthcare professionals can use Lean to produce a sustainable improved system.

Evaluation of Lean Manufacturing Practices in an Automotive Component Manufacturer

Purpose: This study aims to evaluate lean manufacturing (LM) practices used in a company in the automotive component industry located in Polo Industrial de Manaus (PIM), a manufacturing hub in the city of Manaus. Theoretical framework: The AME Lean Assessment instrument was used as the research framework in this study. This instrument was developed by the Association for Manufacturing Excellence (AME) to benchmark where a company is on its lean journey.Design/methodology/approach: An exploratory case study was carried out, and since a more detailed study was needed, a research framework was used, composed of 14 attributes on lean manufacturing.Findings: The findings point to a high level of LM practices adopted by the company, in addition to allowing the practical application of the fundamental concepts to be observed for the Toyota Production System (TPS) at Polo Industrial de Manaus. The findings have increased the understanding in organizational behavior relating to LM.Research, Practical & Social implications: the study contributes to the body of knowledge on lean manufacturing considering its application in the Amazonian context. The study has made a substantial contribution to the understanding of lean manufacturing in the context of an important industrial park in Brazil. Originality/value: Originality is the adoption of a research framework for evaluating lean manufacturing practices in an Amazonia context, allowing the specific characteristics of lean manufacturing to be understood in Amazonia, from an in-depth case.Keywords: Lean manufacturing; Lean Assessment; Industry; Automotive components; Amazonas.

Improving the Quality of Emergency Intrahospital Transport for Critically Ill Patients by Using Toyota Production System Methods.

ObjectiveTo explore the effects of the Toyota Production System (TPS) for improving the quality of emergency intrahospital transport for critically ill patients in management.MethodsBetween April and June 2021, 68 critically ill patients were transported to corresponding wards, while 63 critically ill patients were transported to corresponding wards between July and September 2021. The pre-TPS and post-TPS management groups each included 30 cases based on their propensity score. The TPS management tool was combined with the PDCA method for analysing the current situation as well as determining the target for improvement, calculating the value and process efficiencies, and modifying and evaluating relevant processes. At last, the changes in transport time, receiving department, patient satisfaction, and adverse event rate of critically ill patients after TPS management were analysed.ResultsThe total intrahospital transport time of critically ill patients decreased from 39 minutes (median) before the implementation of TPS management to 27 minutes (median) after TPS management, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). Process efficiency and value efficiency both increased from 33.33% and 38.46% before TPS management to 42.86% and 40.74% after TPS management, respectively. Likewise, the satisfaction of receiving departments and patients increased from 73.33% and 76.67% before TPS management to 96.67% and 96.67% after TPS management (P<0.001). Finally, the adverse event rate decreased as a result of TPS management from 13.33% to 3.33% (P>0.05).ConclusionTPS management may significantly shorten the intrahospital transport time for critically ill patients, reduce the occurrence of adverse events in emergency care, advance patient satisfaction, and improve the overall quality and safety of emergency care.

Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control (DMAIC) Methodology as a Roadmap in Quality Improvement.

Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control (DMAIC) Methodology as a Roadmap in Quality Improvement.

STUDY AND IMPLEMENTAION OF JUST - IN - TIME PHILOSOPHY IN INDIAN CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

The Just-in-Time (JIT) philosophy originated from the Toyota Production System (TPS) and has been used in the manufacturing industry for many decades. It has helped to increase the productivity of the company and has also increased the quality of its products. In recent years, numerous studies in developed countries have endeavoured to introduce JIT in the construction industry to reap similar benefits. This study focused on applying JIT to the Indian construction industry with the goal of improving its performance and thus its competitiveness. This project works is to discuss the current state of the Indian construction industry; presents the potential impediments to implementing JIT; and proposes a framework for JIT implementation in the areas of design, procurement, construction and inspection. The results of this study suggest that government and educational institutions should play a key role in spearheading the application of JIT in the construction industry in India. Companies must strive to create high quality, and low-cost products that can get to the customers in the shortest time possible. Just-in-time philosophy system is one of these initiatives that focus on cost reduction by eliminating non-value-added activities for the construction industries. This works also Deals with Implementing Just in Time Inventory Control Approach on commercial Construction. JIT has Tremendous Effect on material delivery operation. During Implementation of JIT Organization is required, to put desired efforts on all levels of the construction work.

Towards Lean Automation: Fine-Grained sentiment analysis for customer value identification

That customer value should drive product development and production is a basic tenet of the Toyota Production System and Lean. Traditional means to extract what the customer wants often focus on customer surveys. But surveys are time consuming and costly. At the same time, there exists a large amount of customer comments in online reviews that is easily accessible, whilst the advances of data science, for example as part of Lean Automation, provide new means to extract information from this data. In this context, a new approach to fine-grained sentiment analysis of Chinese consumer data is developed. The new approach integrates pre-training language model, conditional random field model and linguistic knowledge model. The new approach is shown to outperform traditional approaches in a comparison experiment, while an ablation experiment shows that our new approach is parsimonious, i.e., all three constituting components are needed. Finally, a use case is presented that exemplifies how our new approach can support managers in identifying customer value (through positive evaluations), and most importantly guide Lean improvement, through detailed information on characteristics that are evaluated negatively, ranked according to customer importance. Findings have important implications for research and practice.

Employee Satisfaction Towards Integration of Quality Management System: A Case Study of Malaysian Automotive Manufacturer

This paper presents a case study to analyse the workers’ satisfaction level on the implementation of an integrated quality system between the IATF 16949 and Toyota Production System focusing on internal audit activity in one automotive company in Malaysia. The main goal was to validate and investigate the issues and challenges those employees in the organisation faced before and after the systems were integrated. Rasch Measurement Model was used to analyse the data collected. Initially, pilot data were conducted, and the data were used to construct the survey questionnaire with 3 constructs and 47 items. A total of 30 respondents from various departments were assessed with the demographic traits of position in the organization and years of service. From the pre-implementation survey, most of the respondents agreed that too many documents were involved throughout both audits and lack of training for auditee on both systems was the main cause to the ineffective implementation of both systems, particularly at mass production process. Both items were measured below the person mean value in variable map (pre-implementation). After the integrated system, the post-survey analysis proved that too many documents and lack of training were above person mean value in variable map (post-implementation). The results revealed that most of the respondents agreed the integration of both systems has given an effective result and good impact to the organization’s performance.

Adapting the Toyota Production System in Plastic Surgery Practices to Improve Practice Management and the User Experience

Adapting the Toyota Production System in Plastic Surgery Practices to Improve Practice Management and the User Experience

Developing Taiichi Ohno’s Mental Model for Waste Identification in Nontraditional Applications

AbstractThe growth of technology in the manufacturing domain is compelling industry to digitally transform with little to no guidance on what constitutes value-added and nonvalue-added data and information. However, the Toyota production system (TPS) approach, which has proven successful for decades in identifying wastes in physical manufacturing processes, can provide some insights. Extensive research has been conducted on the history of Toyota and the concepts and tools of the TPS, but there is no documentation of how Taiichi Ohno approached problems and developed the classification of wastes (the 7 Wastes) which led to the concepts and tools for continuous improvement that are collectively called the TPS. This article deconstructs literature on Ohno and the Toyota story to reconstruct the mental model that Ohno used to identify and categorize physical production waste in Toyota’s manufacturing operations. The mental model attributed to Ohno proposed in this work is then generalized into a framework for identifying and eliminating both physical and nonphysical wastes in systems. Manufacturing companies and researchers can utilize the framework to foster the same thinking that Ohno used to identify nonvalue-added activities in production processes. Applying the described framework to data and information flows will allow for the discovery of wastes that were once hidden and will lead to the development of tools for improving the data and information needed to support manufacturing in a Smart Manufacturing environment.

Applying the fundamentals of TPS to realize a resilient and responsive manufacturing system

Concepts like the Toyota Production System (TPS) and Quick Response Manufacturing (QRM) are often presented as alternative manufacturing methods or strategies suited for different manufacturing conditions. QRM is depicted as a Job-shop alternative (low volume-high mix) to TPS, and TPS is viewed as a method best suited for high volume-low mix environments. However, the realities of manufacturing organizations today are that they operate in a mass-customization environment with high total volumes to achieve economies of scale, and high variability due to the widening of choices available to customers. Which means that manufacturers must produce an infinite number of variants to serve individual customer needs, on a limited number of production lines, emphasising the need for both efficiency and responsiveness. In this paper we present preliminary findings from two Norwegian manufacturing companies who are applying the concepts of TPS to realize a resilient and responsive manufacturing system through a process of action learning. Instead of rigidly adopting the best practices developed by others, the companies are building flexible manufacturing systems through discovering their own paths towards improved quality, greater flexibility, and shorter lead-times - by finding and facing their challenges and engaging everyone in forming solutions, together.

Multidisciplinary and synergetic research in apparel sector can increase the scope of integrating sustainability

This paper discusses how Multidisciplinary and Synergetic Research in Apparel sector can increase the scope of Integrating Sustainability. It is a Conceptual Research paper discussing with relevant examples how research inspired by other industry and learning from other sectors has worked to advantage of Apparel Sector specially with reference to integrating sustainability. We learnt the ways of mass production from Toyota- Toyota Production System which completely revolutionized the way garments were bulk manufactured. Sweat shops of the 1960s were converted to today’s automated manufacturing system. Automated manufacturing is after all one of the facets of Sustainability as it means “minimize resources”- one of the key focus areas of Sustainability. This research paper shall discuss many other relevant examples as to how broad based research in the industry has shaped it for betterment. Methodology: This Conceptual Research paper discusses multidisciplinary learning of Apparel sector from other industries which has led to swift evolution of the Apparel. In addition this research paper also discusses how sustainability can be better integrated through synergetic research. The multidisciplinary learning and research has led to implementation of innovative ideas inspired from various fields.

Systematic Analysis of Industrie 4.0 Design Principles

Lean Production Systems (LPS) are established in industrial production and are typically based on the Toyota Production System in terms of their structure and elements. The Digital Transformation is influencing LPS, leading to emerging Lean Production Systems 4.0 (LPS 4.0). A central element of LPS are their design principles, which act as a link between the strategic level (corporate objectives) and operationally implementable level (methods and tools) in LPS. Part of the influence of Digital Transformation on LPS is adding new Industrie 4.0 design principles. While various scientific publications deal with the derivation and categorization of Industrie 4.0 design principles, there is no consensus on which design principles should be included in contemporary LPS 4.0. This paper describes the first step in addressing this overarching issue by systematically analyzing widely cited categorizations of Industrie 4.0 design principles. The approach of this paper is based on relating the Industrie 4.0 design principles to use cases that reflect the operative implementation of Industrie 4.0. This leads to transparency displaying which Industrie 4.0 design principles represent best the current Industrie 4.0 implementation activities.

An Exploratory Study of Supply Chain Management Practices’ Content Analysis and Future Perspectives: A Case Study

The research interest in some products is developing in lockstep with the global market need for electronics. However, research on electronic strategies or operational analysis is limited. LG has established an effective supply chain operations management system in this case study. Based on the Toyota Production System, LGE has developed proprietary operational management methods (LG Production System). This confluence of product architecture and operational processes are responsible for the company's globally competitive market position. This case study highlights the need of integrating both the business model and operational procedures for long-term competitive benefits.

Lean and industry 4.0: A leading harmony

Avoid waste, get rid of non-value-added operations, keep processes and equipment simple and easy to maintain, these are the major assets of the Lean Manufacturing philosophy of the Toyota Production System (TPS). If Industry 4.0 offers a whole new way of considering decision-making in terms of problem solving, Lean Manufacturing multiplies the opportunities to integrate into continuous improvement. Digitalization being the trend of this new era where everything is connected, a new version of Lean has emerged: Lean 4.0. It is a combination of Industry 4.0 technologies and Lean Manufacturing principles that allows the benefits of these two paradigms to be fully exploited. The objective of this article is therefore to present what Lean Manufacturing is and how it has adapted to new technologies to make way for Lean 4.0. It constitutes a literature review based on some authors statements regarding this new concept, and a reflection paper proposing some practical cases of Lean 4.0 concretized by a simulation based on the case study that shows time and productivity gains within a Moroccan company, serving as an example to demonstrate the power of Lean 4.0.

Application of Lean Methodology in Radiology Department of a Multispecialty Hospital.

Hospital Administrators are continually looking for ways to reduce the cost and expenditure related to healthcare services.The radiology department is one of the key areas for reducing the expenditures of the hospital. The radiology departmentis an important revenue-generating department, but it also houses one of the costliest technologies to maintain and repair.The study was carried out in a Multispecialty Hospital in India. The objective of the study was to reduce identify wastesor “muda” as in lean methodology of Toyota Production System and to study the cost of materials consumed in theradiology department without compromising the quality of services. The study design was descriptive &amp; cross-sectional,and data of cost analysis was obtained from the Hospital Information System. The period of the study was over a threemonthperiod between March - June 2021. Data of Radiology Information System (R.I.S) (medical imaging software) wasalso used. The cost related to radiology was determined for the consumables. The sampling technique was purposive.Data was analysed using Minitab and MS Excel. Value Stream Map was created, and 8 types of wastes (lean tool) wereidentified in the study. The wastes or “muda” occurred during transportation which occurred during shifting of patientsand material transportation, inventory, motion, too many clicks for uploading images, waiting for procedures, waitingfor reports, re-do and unnecessary tests, excess radiation doses, reporting errors, and insufficient training to staff. In theMRI procedure, Value Stream Map was made, the takt time of 24 min, but the cycle time was 100 min and waiting of 120minutes, which resulted in the lead time of 220 minutes. Pareto analysis of the consumables was done for 28 products,the products were classified under ABC categories. Radiographic Film-14 x 17 inch &amp; Contrast Omnipaque consumed73.3 % of the consumption value, they were classified under A category products, 3 products viz Contrast Omniscan,Radiographic Film-11x14inch, Radiographic Film-8 X10inch were categorized under B category which consumedadditional 21.05 % of the expenditure, the remaining 20 products were classified under C category, which consumed only5.68 % of the monetary consumption value.Category A materials are the most expensive and hence require strict control. From the data analysis, it was observed thatstringent control on consumption, monthly consumption analysis, and commitment of the staff members could be thecontributory factors for the reduction in expenditure. The maximum scope for cost reduction in the radiology departmentwas in the MRI Studies.Some of the strategies for cost reduction could be digitalization of services, use of IT in MRI studies CDs could be provided,linking the RIS with mobile application. The reports could be made assessable online which would reduce paper records.is another money-saving tactic. The purchase department must be informed of the consumption pattern on a weekly ormonthly basis, particularly for costly products like contrast (Omnipaque and Omniscan).

Establishment of Body Auto Fitting Model “BAFM” Using “NJ-GPM” At Toyota

Abstract: The Toyota Production System (TPS) exemplifies Japanese manufacturing. It has been further developed and spread in the form of internationally shared global production systems. The author has proposed the New Japan Global Production Model “NJ-GPM”, a system designed to achieve worldwide uniform quality and production at optimal locations – the keys to successful global production at Toyota. Based on NJ-GPM, the author has further established the Body Auto Fitting Model “BAFM”. The author has realized innovative unmanning of a fitting line by integrating the technologies utilizing BAFM. The ability to automatically fit and tighten door, hood and luggage compartment panels to the car body was achieved, utilizing robotics, vision systems, bolt tightening and product quality management. This paper shows the development of the highly reliable production system combining the following three items: (1) panel fitting accuracy, (2) automatic bolt tightening, and (3) integration into flexible assembly line at Toyota.

Underutilization of workers: an analysis according to the lean management philosophy in basic education

One of the eight wastes that Lean production, inspired by the Toyota Production System, proposes to study is the underutilization of workers, that is, the inadequate use of their intelligence. The sense is to provide listening and participation in improvement projects, of professionals who have experience in daily life and, in many cases, consistent academic qualifications. The objective of this work is to study the importance of the participation of teachers and employees of a basic education school in the construction of new routines and work methods, in the context of the Lean management philosophy, justified by the scarcity of scientific literature on the subject. Brazil has about 184,000 basic education schools with one million four hundred thousand teachers working from kindergarten to the ninth grade of elementary school, and of these, 83.2% have a college degree, a percentage that grows every year. About the schools, 21.7% are private, 61.3% municipal, 16.6% state, and 0.4% are federal schools. As a research methodology, a systematic review of the literature was adopted, based on the PRISMA protocol, allowing the identification of 53 records, 14 of which were included in the literature review, due to their adherence to the researched subject. The main contribution of this paper is the identification of a research gap involving the underutilization of workers and adoption of the Lean management philosophy in the education sector, as well as a conceptual proposal of the positive impact on the educational organization results by not underutilizing workers, without wasting their intelligence.

Evaluation of Pull Production Control Mechanisms by Simulation

Today, companies need to continuously improve their production processes, which is a complex task. Lean manufacturing is one of the methodologies for production improvement, and one of the basic goals of any lean implementation is to reduce work-in-process (WIP) and shorten the production lead time. One of the basic lean principles for achieving these goals is pull principle. The adoption of this principle is quite challenging, as it requires a long-term commitment in the application and adoption of various lean techniques and tools that are prerequisites for the successful introduction of the pull principle. Kanban is the most well-known pull production control mechanism, and the first one developed within Toyota production system, but later, other pull control mechanisms were developed. Some of them include Conwip, Hybrid Kanban/Conwip, and Drum Buffer Rope (DBR), and those three, together with Kanban, were the research topic of this study. These four mechanisms were not explored and compared all together not for these specific production configurations considered in this research but also with regard to optimal parameters of control mechanisms. The goal was to analyze and compare how these pull control mechanisms affect lead time in different production conditions. For this purpose, simulation experiments were performed. The results showed that for different production conditions, different pull control mechanisms are optimal in terms of shortening lead time. This finding could help companies as a guideline for making a decision in terms of which pull control mechanism to choose.