The following articles are summaries of our #AskSensei webinar events held with former Toyota Factory Manager and lean sensei Akinori Hyodo and other senior personnel from Japanese industry, on topics related to lean manufacturing, Toyota Production System and Kaizen.
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Many companies include quality inspection as part of their quality control process. However, from a lean perspective, inspections add no value to the products being produced. Akinori Hyodo discusses the importance of quality assurance and delves deeper into the role of inspection within quality. He also explains why introducing inspection in your process should not be regarded as a countermeasure to your quality issues.
DetailsAssuring quality is essential in keeping customers satisfied and is an important component of business success. Yet, many companies struggle to control the quality of their products. Hyodo Sensei discusses how Toyota approaches quality and explains the importance of guaranteeing quality within each process.
DetailsWhen you find a problem, getting down to its true cause and addressing it at the root level are crucial to prevent the same issue from happening again. Akinori Hyodo explains how you can get down to the core of the issue and stresses the importance of taking this approach over and over when faced with a problem in order to increase the level of precision of your problem solving.
DetailsFollowing on from the previous #AskSensei webinar on the topic of visual management boards, we continue to discuss the importance of visualization and visualizing problems in your work place. Akinori Hyodo explains why this is important and draws some simple but effective examples from Japanese factory shop floors.
DetailsVisual management boards are a useful tool to have in your workplace. The tool allows you to grasp the necessary information at a glance and helps you to keep track of your operations against your set goals. However, if you have visual management boards in your workplace, are you using the tool correctly as it is truly intended? Akinori Hyodo discusses the idea of visual management boards and explains how you can best utilize this lean management tool.
DetailsHaving the ability to read and look at a factory or workplace properly is one of the important skills for those in a management position. How should you go about observing your site and what are the important points for you to pay attention to? Akinori Hyodo shares his thoughts on the thinking and approach on this important topic.
DetailsDuring the final session of the five-part series on 5S, Akinori Hyodo discusses the importance of standardization and training that form the basis of the fifth S stage of shitsuke or sustain. Hyodo Sensei also reiterates the crucial role top management plays in driving good practices and creating a positive culture around 5S within an organization.
DetailsThe word seiso which is often referred to as shine in 5S literally means “cleaning” in Japanese. As the word suggests, one goes through the process of cleaning in the shine or seiso stage of 5S. But, Akinori Hyodo emphasizes the importance of establishing a standard around the level of shine that you are going to achieve and visualizing the information amongst your organization. Hyodo Sensei explains the reasons as he discusses the fourth S process of shine.
DetailsFollowing the first two steps of seiri (sort) and seiton (set in order), Akinori Hyodo puts seiketsu (sparkle) as the third S despite the fact that many literature on the topic around 5S usually list seiso (shine) as the third step in the 5S process. Hyodo Sensei explains the reason why and discusses the importance of safety element in the third S process.
DetailsAfter one goes through the first step of seiri (sort) in 5S, next comes the second step of seiton (set in order). In general, the second S is known as the process of organizing and arranging in order the necessary items kept from the first S process. Akinori Hyodo delves deeper into this concept of seiton and discusses that it is all about creating a visual workplace.
DetailsIn the world of lean, 5S is often considered as the basis for all improvement. When 5S is implemented thoroughly and continuously, it contributes to the elimination of waste and improvement of workplace efficiency as problems and issues are exposed and visualized much more easily. In this #AskSensei event we discuss the first S – seiri (sort).
DetailsPoka-yoke is a well-known Japanese term in the world of lean. It means “error-prevention” or “mistake-proofing” and the implementation of poka-yoke on the shop floor is regarded positively and encouraged in general. But, should this really be the case? Akinori Hyodo discusses the idea of poka-yoke and explains a potential pitfall around its implementation.
DetailsStandard work is regarded as a key foundation of the Toyota Production System. Operations where a high level of standard work is performed and maintained typically have strong results around efficiency, quality, cost and safety. Lean manufacturing sensei Akinori Hyodo explains the importance of the role of standard work within Toyota and discusses how the level of precision of standard work can be improved.
DetailsAkinori Hyodo joined the Toyota group at the age of 19 and through his Toyota career he worked his way up to become factory manager and director at the Toyota factory in Japan responsible for manufacturing the HiAce vehicle. His path on a lean journey wasn’t always smooth but his unswerving attitude to rise to challenges made him the lean leader he became. Hyodo Sensei shares experience from his Toyota career and gives us advice based on his personal journey.
DetailsThe term Jishuken came out of Toyota and has become a well-known word in lean manufacturing. It is often referred to as a “management-driven group kaizen activity”. But, the details of what is really involved in Jishuken are not widely known. Akinori Hyodo explains Toyota’s approach to Jishuken and shares his experience of being an active part of it for more than a decade.
DetailsGood supplier relationship management is crucial for the success of a business and Akinori Hyodo argues that Toyota’s corporate strength is built upon the strong capabilities of its suppliers. We discuss the importance of supplier development and how to establish and maintain a strong relationship with suppliers.
DetailsKaizen plays an important part in helping an organization mature into a lean enterprise. However, getting everybody on board with continuous improvement initiatives can be a challenging task. We discuss the benefits of Kaizen Suggestion Schemes with Lean Sensei Akinori Hyodo sharing examples from Toyota.
DetailsLeadership from top management is the key in determining the success of an organization’s lean transformation. But, how should they approach this vital task? We explore the role of top management and delve into the question of how they should take the lead in their lean journey.
DetailsWhen embarking on a lean journey, a strong approach is crucial to move forward in the right direction. We discuss how best to structure a lean transformation, with Akinori Hyodo sharing his advice on this important topic.
DetailsWe all understand the importance of personnel development within an organization. What is Toyota’s approach to personnel development and training? Hyodo Sensei discusses Toyota’s method and shares his thoughts on this important topic by drawing examples from daily life.
DetailsWhat is the role of a team leader? We discuss the importance of the role of a team leader and explore how a shop floor team can be structured and managed by looking at some of the great examples from Toyota in Japan.
DetailsHow should you go about your lean journey? What are the key ingredients for a successful lean implementation? Our lean guru Hyodo Sensei shares his views on the topic of Leading a Lean Journey and addresses a number of commonly asked questions on the topic.
DetailsWhy do some companies succeed with lean? Why do others fail? We explore these questions whilst considering the role that the lean consultant has in guiding companies on their lean journey.
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