What is the “Toyota Production System” or “TPS”?
The Toyota Production System is a management system of Philosophies, Guiding Principles, Behaviors and methods created by Toyota. The TPS is part of a larger business management system. It is a precursor to mainstream “lean manufacturing”. The Toyota Production System was pioneered between 1948 and 1975 by Taiichi Ohno and Eiji Toyoda, but has continued to improve and evolve. The main goal of the system achieve the highest quality, at the lowest cost in the shortest lead time. This is achieved by the reduction of mura (unevenness), muri (excessive burden), and muda (Waste) to enable improved flow. The most commonly described muda, or “seven deadly wastes” are:
Overproduction
Overprocessing
Inventory
Defects
Waiting
Motion
Transportation
The Pillars of the TPS are Just-in-Time and Jidoka. At the heart of the system is Respect for People, Continuous Improvement and focus on the Customer. To learn more about the TPS, enroll in our free Lean Foundations Mini Course on TPS. To understand how the Toyota Production System fits into Toyota’s overall management system, read this blog post.
Some useful links from the Toyota Official Global Website: