The Toyota Way - You have a new assignment

The year is 1950. You are an up and coming manager at a young automotive company in Japan. Your county has just lost a world war. You’ve had two atom bombs dropped on you. Your industrial capability has been decimated. Your supply base is wiped out. And your consumers have little money.

Your boss comes back from the Ford River Rouge plant in the U.S., calls you into his office, and calmly hands you a new assignment. He wants you to improve your manufacturing process so that it rivals Ford’s.

Sound like something from mission impossible?

This is precisely the circumstances that Taiichi Ohno faced when he was tasked with this very challenge over 50 years ago. From which emerged the Toyota Production System (TPS).

Would you be up to the challenge?

Tags: agile, Taiichi Ohno, The Toyota Way, Toyota