Toyota Looking Far Into the Future

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Mouna Mawloud BU 201 G 10/28/13 Toyota: Looking far into the future 1. How might a cell phone manufacturer, an elementary school, and the local post office each benefit from using Toyota's concept of Kaizen? Kaizen, which ultimately means continuous improvement, is one of the core principles of The Toyota Production System. A philosophy that helps to ensure maximum quality, the elimination of waste, and improvements in efficiency, both in terms of equipment and work procedures. Kaizen improvements in standardized work help maximize productivity at every worksite. Standardized work involves following procedures consistently and therefore employees can identify the problems promptly. Within the Toyota Production System, Kaizen humanizes the workplace, empowering individual members to identify areas for improvement and suggest practical solutions. A cell phone manufacturer, an Elementary school and a post office could all benefit greatly from using Toyota’s Kaizen system. The benefits of standardized work include documentation of the current process for all shifts, reductions in variability, easier training of new operators, reductions in injuries and strain and a baseline for improvement activities. Standardizing the work adds discipline to the culture, an element that is frequently neglected but essential for lean to take root. Standardized work is also a learning tool that supports audits, promotes problem solving, and involves team members in developing poka-yokes (mistake proofing). When a cell phone manufacturer uses Kaizen, all their workers should be exceptionally knowledgeable. So the workers can find new ways to improve the production lines and to be more productive. Moreover, if they find something wrong in the line, they can stop it, which can decrease the rates of low quality products. It would also teach manufacturing plants’ line supervisors
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