Toyota Production System
by Taiichi Ohno · first published 1988
50% recommend50% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Short, accessible primary source from the Toyota engineer who developed the system; covers root-cause thinking such as asking why five times. Recommended for engineers and managers wanting the origins of lean practice.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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…manufacturing principles to software construction techniques, everything will start to make sense. The Machine that Changed the World https://www.amazon.com/Machine-That-Changed-World-Revolution... Toyota Production System Beyond Large Scale https://www.amazon.com/Toyota-Production-System-Beyond-Large... The Toyota Way https://www.amazon.com/Toyota-Way-Management-Principles-Manu... Out of the Crisis https://www.amazon.com/Out-Crisis-W-Edwards-Deming/dp/091137...
on “Applying Lean Startup Principles in Organizations of All Sizes” ↗As is stated above, they harmonize their supply chain so that no part of it needs much inventory. For good discussions of this technique, read "Chasing the Rabbit" by Steven Spear and "Toyota Production System: Beyond Large-Scale Production" by Taiichi Ohno
on “Apple's Supply Chain Secret” ↗If you are interested in the root of this methodology, consider reading Toyota Production System by Taiichi Ohno. Page 17 starts the discussion on how asking Why Five times is a method of determining root cause. This book isn't popular, but is worth your time. http://www.amazon.com/Toyota-Production-System-Beyond-Large-...
on “How to Run a 5 Whys (with Humans, not Robots)” ↗…varying size between F500 and Series A. I do agree The Manager's Path is a good one though. Some other favorites are High Output Management by Andy Grove, Managing Transitions by William Bridges, The Toyota Production System by Taiichi Ohno, Measure What Matters by John Doerr, Peopleware by Tom DeMarco, The Innovator's Dilemma, etc.
on “Engineering Management” ↗Why don't you read some books? - Out of the crisis and The new economics, Deming - Workplace Management and Toyota Production System, Ohno - Peopleware, DeMarco & Lister - Managing the professional service firm, Meister (delegation) - Leadership Handbook, US Army
on “Ask HN: How to be a manager? Any good sources for learning how to delegate?” ↗…be a simple set of concepts, but you're missing on an opportunity to learn a very cool set of skills here. I recommend that anyone who wants to live a better life and do better work read books on the Toyota Production System and Taiichi Ohno. As for Poka-Yoke, It's a word that seems simple but when used in industry contexts communicates a deeper set of requirements than just "make it foolproof". Also, don't undersell how…
on “Poka-yoke” ↗…Around! - David Marquet * Never Split the Difference - Chris Voss http://dhemery.com/articles/resistance_as_a_resource/ http://dhemery.com/articles/managing_yourself_through_change... Macro Skills: * Toyota Production System - Taiichii Ohno * Workplace Management - Taiichii Ohno * Thinking in Systems - Donella Meadows * Fifth Discipline - Peter Senge Agile: * Extreme Programming, Explained (2nd ed.) - Kent Beck (the…
on “Theory-building and why employee churn is lethal to software companies” ↗…Thinking: A Critical Component of Toyota's PDCA Management System", by Sobek II and Smalley, "Root Cause Analysis: Simplified Tools and Techniques, Second Edition" by Fagerhaug and Anderson, and the classic, "Toyota Production System: Beyond Large-Scale Production" by Ohno and Bodek, which goes into the particular systems Toyota uses. Many people simply apply Toyota's car-factory-specific tools from Ohno's book in all sorts of situations,…
on “The Most and Least Expensive Cars to Maintain” ↗For anybody that cares, much of this process has its origins in Taiichi Ohno's work in the '70s. His original "Toyota Production System" book of 1978, which is still in print, is short, accessible, and enormously enlightening. Likewise, a comparative study of why the Toyota system works in comparison with other manufacturing approaches…
on “Toyota's Takaoka #2 Line: The Most Flexible Line in the World” ↗…Competition: Second Edition" by Steven J. Spear (Formerly "Chasing The Rabbit") Also really good: Deming wrote his perspective in "Out of Crisis" and Toyota's Taiichi Ohno wrote about his experience in "Toyota Production System: Beyond Large-Scale Production". As others have mentioned, Deming laid the ground work for this type of thinking in post-war Japan. Taiichi Ohno led the initial development of the Toyota Production System.
on “The Toyota Way” ↗Any specific books you would recommend? Doing a quick search on Amazon I found: Toyota Production System: An Integrated Approach to Just-In-Time https://www.amazon.com/dp/143982097X/ref=sr_ob_1?ie=UTF8&qid... Taiichi Ohnos Workplace Management: Special 100th Birthday Edition https://www.amazon.com/Taiichi-Ohnos-Workplace-Management-Bi...…
on “Poka-yoke” ↗I have read Ohno's book. http://www.amazon.com/Toyota-Production-System-Beyond-Large-... One thing that stuck out to me was how long everything took to figure out on the Toyota Production System. Ohno spent decades streamlining processes. The timeline is in the inside cover…
on ““Ask 'why' five times about every matter”” ↗…Deck - Ogilvy’s tips on writing (it’s what you don’t send that counts folks) - Barbarians at the Gate - Pearl Harbor Warning and Decision - On Bullshit - This is Water - Invisible Asymptotes - Toyota Production System - The meeting scene in Margin Call remains the most accurate portrayal of a high-stakes meeting as a junior staffer - Deploy a simple marketing and e-commerce stack and make some profit - Use slides…
on “DIY MBA: My Reading List (2019)” ↗…Toyota does. VW does this[1]. Tesla does this[2]. But not Toyota [3]. Watch those videos. Which ones are full of robots and computers? Which ones are all manual labor? My tone should give it away. The Toyota Production System link you cite was heavily developed by Taiichi Ohno. You can learn more in his 1978 book: "Toyota Production System". There's a whole chapter on procurement. Taiichi san's very, very strong belief is:…
on “The Most and Least Expensive Cars to Maintain” ↗Taiichi Ohno published the original "Toyota Production System: Beyond Large-Scale Manufacturing" in 1978 (the English translation was published in 1988), while Goldratt's "The Goal" was published in 1984.
on “How Japan Copied American Culture and Made it Better” ↗