Taiichi Ohno Archives | Page 4 of 4

Gemba Keiei Chapter 10: The Misconception that Mass Production is Cheaper

By Jon Miller - October 28th, 2005

“Another example of a misconception that becomes common sense,” Taiichi Ohno begins “is the idea that mass production is cheaper so that by the same logic low volume production must cost more. I have seen many factori

Gemba Keiei Chapter 9: Reduced Inventory, Increased WIP

By Jon Miller - October 12th, 2005

“We reduced inventory” the manager of one company told Ohno, hoping for praise. This was raw material inventory so Ohno asked “Won’t the lack of raw materials cause problems for production?” “Not at

Gemba Keiei, Chapter 8: Limited Volume Production is to Produce at Low Cost

By Jon Miller - September 30th, 2005

The title for this chapter is awkward in English. It comes from the problem of trying to translate the nuances of Japanese words that have the same sounds but different meaning due to an intentional replacement of one of the kanji (Chi

Gemba Keiei, Chapter 7: Don’t Fear Opportunity Losses

By Jon Miller - September 4th, 2005

While the point of this chapter is clear (see the title) it is not as well illustrated by examples as some of the previous chapters. The message here supports the message of the following chapter on limited volume production. Taiichi O

Gemba Keiei, Chapter 6: The Blind Spot in Cost Calculation

By Jon Miller - August 25th, 2005

Let’s start off with a bit of background on the Toyota Production System (TPS) and what has come to be called Lean manufacturing in the West. One of the pillars of TPS as envisioned and developed by Kiichiro Toyoda, Taiichi Ohno,

Gemba Keiei, Chapter 5: Misconceptions Hidden within Common Sense

By Jon Miller - August 20th, 2005

This is a short chapter. The chapter seems to act as a thematic bridge. Taiichi Ohno begins by talking about the importance of making a mindset shift in order to achieve breakthrough kaizen results, and ends the chapter by talking abou

Gemba Keiei, Chapter 4: Go See What Didn’t Work with Your Own Eyes

By Jon Miller - August 15th, 2005

Taiichi Ohno starts this chapter by pointing out that it’s relatively easy to convince the people on the Gemba (factory floor) by having them try the new way and see that is better than another way, but that this is harder to con

Gemba Keiei, Chapter 3: Misconceptions Reduce Productivity

By Jon Miller - August 5th, 2005

In this chapter Taiichi Ohno illustrates the idea that “misconceptions reduce productivity” by telling several stories from the Gemba at Toyota. The point Ohno makes in this chapter is that demonstrating the superiority of

Gemba Keiei, Chapter 2: If You Are Wrong, Admit It

By Jon Miller - November 29th, 2004

In the second chapter Taiichi Ohno continues to gently lecture senior managers. He begins by answering the question of based on his earlier assumption “Why are we wrong half of the time?” by saying that our thinking is wron

Gemba Keiei, Chapter 1: The Wise Mend their Ways

By Jon Miller - November 22nd, 2004

Taiichi Ohno begins the chapter by saying that he doesn’t believe it’s easy to influence people on the Gemba to change. In order to get people to do kaizen, you need to convince them and help them understand. How are people

Introducing Gemba Keiei by Taiichi Ohno

By Jon Miller - November 13th, 2004

Taiichi Ohno is one of the founders of TPS along with Shigeo Shingo and members of the Toyoda family. Three of Mr. Ohno’s major works on the Toyota Production System and kaizen have been translated into English. They are ‘T

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