Definitely Not the Pull System: Anderson Cooper 360

Not exactly breaking news, but highly amusing: video link
How many wastes can you spot in this video?
What are the causes of these wastes?
How would you redesign this system?
Despite the “push”, is this system better or worse than rush hour in your country?
Thanks to Chris S for spotting and sharing this.

Dan Lafever
May 27, 2008 - 12:09 pm
Reply

Funny that this comes from the country that the TPS orginated in. Maybe this was Ohno’s inspiration for the seven wastes.
Matt
May 27, 2008 - 7:32 pm
Reply

the cause? perhaps death by overwork.
Sam O'Rye
May 28, 2008 - 4:20 am
Reply

Strange. I wonder what the true date of this video is. While this was a common sight in Tokyo in the 1970s, not so much now. I have experienced Tokyo subway rush hours a number of times and never seen this. This story has almost become a stereotype of Japan. Japanese social scientists are actually worried about the declining population of the country.
Andrew Scotchmer
May 31, 2008 - 3:31 am
Reply

I travel to Japan every year and this is a rarity now, even in the huge sprawling Tokyo metropolis. It did however use to be the norm.
It’s still common in China I believe. John Chow only last week put a podcast on his blog showing the Shanghai metro. Over there they still employ the “professional people pushers.” Boy do those trains get full – and it wasn’t even rush hour.
Erik
June 4, 2008 - 11:53 am
Reply

I saw a commercial for AC 360 and he said, “You can’t sit behind a desk and think you know what’s happening out there. You have to get out and see it.”
Amen.
Jon Miller
June 8, 2008 - 11:47 pm
Reply

The rush hour trains in Japan are still this crowded. The overall population of Japan may be declining, but people are moving from rural areas to the cities, including Tokyo.
The trains are quite a pleasant ride during most of the day, just not during morning rush hour.
Vic Srambikal
July 10, 2008 - 6:09 pm
Reply

Jon:
In the case above: What is value perceived by the end user ? Is it a cheap, uncomfortable ride to the destination ? Maybe so!
If not, then the capacity will be required to increase (more cars per train ?). This will increase the price of the ticket.
We make similar adjustments in everyday at all levels; recently I have started car pooling (big adjustment, no more satellite radio :).
Great video.
Regards,
Venkatesh “Vic” Srambikal
Jon Miller
July 10, 2008 - 10:01 pm
Reply

Most of the time the trains in Japan are fast, spacious and comfortable, more than value for the money. However during rush times they are a different story. This is more an issue of being unable to flex (muri) capacity to variable demand (mura) due to a concentration of jobs in the center and homes in the outskirts.