The Toyota Way Fieldbook

Companion to the international bestseller The Toyota Way

Jeffrey Liker first revealed the management principles Toyota's worldwide reputation for quality and reliability in the international bestseller The Toyota Way. Now, he and Toyota veteran David Meier take those lessons a step further with The Toyota Way Fieldbook.

Learn how to develop a long-term philosophy of cost reduction, build a culture that stops to fix problems quickly, develop leaders that live your system; and transform your company into a true lean learning organization that continuously improves, meets the needs of its customers, and positions itself for long-term success.

You'll receive the diagnostic tools, worksheets, and exercises — many adapted from Toyota original — so you can craft the most effective approach for your company. Most importantly, you'll understand the thinking behind lean tools and approaches so you can make a comprehensive and lasting integration of Toyota's 4P Model in your organization:

• Philosophy — The company is a vehicle for adding value to customers, society, the community, and its associates
• Process — When leaders follow the right process they get the right results, including long-term cost-reduction and quality improvement
• People and Partners — Add value to an organization by challenging its people and partners to grow and become more skilled and confident
• Problem Solving — Continuously solve root problems to drive organizational learning.

• Part I: Learning from Toyota
  1. Background to the Fieldbook
     • Why The Toyota Way Fieldbook?
     • How the Book Is Organized
     • Overview of the Toyota Way Principles
     • How to Use This Book
• Part II: Why Does Your Company Exist?
  2. Define Your Corporate Philosophy and Begin to Live It
     • What Is Your Company's Philosophy?
     • A Sense of Purpose Inside and Out
     • Creating Your Philosophy
     • Living Your Philosophy
     • Making a Social Pact with Employees and Partners
     • Maintaining Continuity of Purpose
• Part III: Creating Lean Processes Throughout Your Enterprise
  3. Starting the Journey of Waste Reduction
     • Lean Means Eliminating Waste
     • Developing a Long-Term Philosophy of Waste Reduction
     • Value Stream Mapping Approach
     • Benefits of the Value Stream Mapping Approach
     • Developing a Current State Map
     • Understand Your Objectives When Mapping the Current State
     • Limitations of the Value Stream Mapping Approach
     • Creating Flow Step by Step
     • Sequential and Concurrent Continuous Improvement
  4. Create Initial Process Stability
     • First Get to Basic Stability
     • Indicators of Instability
     • Clearing the Clouds
     • Objectives of Stability
     • Strategies to Create Stability
     • Identify and Eliminate Large Waste
     • Standing in the Circle Exercise
     • Standardized Work as a Tool to Identify and Eliminate Waste
     • 5S and Workplace Organization
     • Consolidate Waste Activities to Capture Benefits
     • Improve Operational Availability
     • Reduce Variability by Isolating It
     • Level the Workload to Create a Foundation for Flow and Standardization
  5. Create Connected Process Flow
     • One-Piece Flow Is the Ideal
     • Why Flow?
     • Less Is More: Reduce Waste by Controlling Overproduction
     • Strategies to Create Connected Process Flow
     • Single-Piece Flow
     • Key Criteria for Achieving Flow
     • Pull
     • Complex Flow Situations
     • Pull in a Custom Manufacturing Environment
     • Creating Pull Between Separate Operations
     • Flow, Pull, and Eliminate Waste
  6. Establish Standardized Processes and Procedures
     • Is Standardization Coercive?
     • Standardized Work or Work Standards?
     • Objective of Standardization
     • Strategies to Establish Standardized Processes and Procedures
     • Types of Standardization
     • Quality, Safety, and Environmental Standards
     • Standard Specifications
     • Standard Procedures
     • Myths of Standardized Work
     • Standardized Work
     • Standardized Work Documents
     • Some Challenges of Developing Standardized Work
     • Auditing the Standardized Work
     • Standardized Work as a Baseline for Continuous Improvement
     • Takt Time as a Design Parameter
     • Importance of Visual Controls
     • Standardization Is a Waste Elimination Tool
  7. Leveling: Be More Like the Tortoise Than the Hare
     • The Leveling Paradox
     • Heijunka Provides a Standardized Core for Resource Planning
     • Why Do This to Yourself?
     • Smoothing Demand for Upstream Processes
     • How to Establish a Basic Leveled Schedule
     • Incremental Leveling and Advanced Heijunka
     • Incremental Leveling
     • Points of Control
     • Point of Control for Managing Inventory
     • A Leveled Schedule Dictates Replenishment
     • Slice and Dice When Product Variety Is High
     • Leveling Is an Enterprisewide Process
  8. Build a Culture That Stops to Fix Problems
     • Developing the Culture
     • The Role of Jidoka: Self-Monitoring Machines
     • The Problem-Resolution Cycle
     • Minimizing Line Stop Time
     • Build Quality Inspections into Every Job
     • Poka Yoke
     • Creating a Support Structure
  9. Make Technology Fit with People and Lean Processes
     • Back to the Abacus?
     • What Do You Believe About Technology, People, and Processes?
     • Tailor Technology to Fit Your People and Operating Philosophy
     • Contrasting Models of Technology Adoption
     • Keep Technology in Perspective
• Part IV: Develop Exceptional People and Partners
  10. Develop Leaders Who Live Your System and Culture from Top to Bottom
      • Success Starts with Leadership
      • Importance of Leadership Within Toyota
      • Toyota Georgetown Production Leadership Structure
      • Toyota Georgetown Staff Leadership Structure
      • Requirements for Leaders
      • Group Leader Responsibilities on a Typical Workday
      • Creating a Production Leadership Structure
      • Selecting Leaders
      • Developing Leaders
      • Succession Plan for Leaders
  11. Develop Exceptional Team Associates
      • "We Don't Just Build Cars, We Build People"
      • Start by Selecting the Right People
      • Assimilating Team Associates into Your Culture
      • Job Instruction Training: The Key to Developing Exceptional Skill Levels
      • Making a Training Plan and Tracking Performance
      • Building Team Associates for the Long Term
      • Quality Circles
      • Toyota Suggestion Program
      • Developing Team Associates for Leadership Roles
      • Personal Touch Creates Stronger Bonds
      • Invest in Skill in All Areas of the Company
  12. Develop Suppliers and Partners as Extensions of the Enterprise
      • Supplier Partners in a Globally Competitive World
      • Short-Term Cost Savings vs. Long-Term Partnerships
      • Supplier Partnering the Toyota Way
      • Seven Characteristics of Supplier Partnering
      • Building a Lean Extended Enterprise
      • Traditional vs. Lean Models of Supplier Management
• Part V: Root Cause Problem Solving for Continuous Learning
  13. Problem Solving the Toyota Way
      • More Than Solving Problems
      • Every Problem Is an Improvement Opportunity
      • Telling the Problem-Solving Story
  14. Develop a Thorough Understanding of the Situation and Define the Problem
      • Carefully Aim Before Firing
      • Find the True Problem to Get the Most Significant Results
      • Examining a Problem in Reverse
      • Defining the Problem
      • Building a Strong Supporting Argument
  15. Complete a Thorough Root Cause Analysis
      • Principles of Effective Analysis
      • Seeking Problem Causes That Are Solvable
      • Distill Root Cause Analysis to Simplest Terms
      • A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words
      • Putting It All Together: The A3 One-Page Report
      • Dig Deeply into Possible Causes
  16. Consider Alternative Solutions While Building Consensus
      • Broadly Consider All Possibilities
      • Simplicity, Cost, Area of Control, and the Ability to Implement Quickly
      • Develop Consensus
      • Test Ideas for Effectiveness
      • Select the Best Solution
      • Define the Right Problem and the Solution Will Follow
  17. Plan-Do-Check-Act
      • Plan: Develop an Action Plan
      • Do: Implement Solutions
      • Check: Verify Results
      • Act: Make Necessary Adjustments to Solutions and to the Action Plans
      • Act: Identify Future Steps
      • Finally Some Action
  18. Telling the Story Using an A3 Report
      • Less Can Be More in Report Writing
      • Determining How to Use an A3
      • The A3 Problem-Solving Report Process
      • Outline for an A3
      • Formatting Tips
      • Final A3 Version of Problem-Solving Story
      • Final Comments on A3s
• Part VI: Managing the Change
  19. Lean Implementation Strategies and Tactics
      • Where Should You Start?
      • Lean Implementation Levels, Strategies, and Tools
      • Having the Patience to Do It Right
  20. Leading the Change
      • Can We Avoid Politics in Lean Transformation?
      • Leadership from the Top, Middle, and Bottom
      • Can You Metric Your Way to Lean?
      • Changing Behavior to Change Culture
      • Spreading Your Learning to Partners
      • Now Please Try … and Do Your Best

This is a very good book on the practical aspects of Lean, from a management perspective. Of course, it is still preaching Lean/TPS as the solution to everything, and still stipulating that Toyota can do nothing wrong, but if you manage to se all that, it is a very good book on how to organize and lead a manufacturing organization.

Well worth the money.