TLS - TOC, Lean & Six Sigma

Philip Marris, a leading authority in the fields of Lean / Toyota Way and the Theory of Constraints (TOC) describes how and why he combines these 2 approaches. With decades of experience and a track record of success, Philip shares invaluable insights into the powerful synergy between the Toyota Way and TOC methodologies. He talks not only about production, but also [...] Critical Chain Project Management and the Logical Thinking Process or Toyota's long term development of partnerships with suppliers. [...] He illustrates how TOC's laser focus on identifying and eliminating constraints complements Lean's waste reduction efforts, resulting in accelerated performance improvements and sustainable growth.

In this post I will look at how the tractor maker Fendt handles variability in its plant in Marktoberdorf, Germany. In my view, Fendt is one of the benchmark plants in the world in handling variability. In my previous post I looked at reasons why you may (or may not) leave one part empty on an assembly line with a part normally at every fixed interval. In this post I would like to expand on the idea of playing with the distance between parts to handle such variations in the cycle time, but with a focus on assembly lines where the interval between products can vary. We will look at how Fendt uses this to wrangle its variability.

TLS = Open TOC + Good Lean + Good Six Sigma. Presentation by Philip Marris at the TOCICO annual congress in Frankfurt in June 2013. It is argued that TLS ...

The statistical quality profession has a love/hate relationship with the Gaussian distribution. In SPC, it treats it like an embarrassing spouse. It uses the Gaussian distribution as the basis for all its control limits while claiming it doesn’t matter. In 2024, what role, if any, should this distribution play in the setting of action limits for quality characteristics?

An assembly line is a manufacturing process in which a product is built in a step-by-step sequence. One of many decisions when installing an assembly line has to do with its pacing. When should you use a pulsed line? When a continuously moving line? And when is an unstructured timing best? This post will look at the pros and cons of these options.

In the United States, most top business leaders became aware of Toyota’s Production System starting in the late 1970s and Lean management in the late 1980s. During that time, federal rules for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) were loosened such that it was far more attractive, from profit, market share […] After 40 years, the results of the experiment are in: consolidation in almost all industries reduced competition, reduced innovation, increased prices for consumers, and reduced customer service. It was also bad for employees (mass layoffs) and communities (plant closings), and these outcomes directly contributed to family strife, social unrest, “income inequality,” political instability, etc. […] Lean’s timing could not have been worse because it came into existence during the neoliberal, “maximize shareholder value,” free market era of capitalism that was also popular in the last half of the 19th century. The 1996 book Lean Thinking fed right into the financial, anticompetitive and antisocial mechanistic view of business with the subtitle […] Lean management may have a second chance to replace classical management. […] It is now time for “change for the better.” Return to the roots: industrial engineering-based kaizen and “Respect for People.”

Toyota Times offers a unique, unprecedented inside view of Toyota not seen before. Through this site, Toyota shows how it is transforming into a mobility company and shares the thoughts of its top leadership, including Akio Toyoda. Join us for this behind-the-scenes view of Toyota.

Ever since I read “Toyota Way” by Jeffry Liker almost ten years ago, I was hoping to see Toyota Production System (TPS) live. Finally, my wish come true today during our trip to Japan we’ve visited Toyota city and joined the Takaoka Plant tour.

["Impressed how much you got out of the visit." Jeffrey Liker]

In this webinar, [...] Thorsteinn Siglaugsson and Bill Dettmer,  explained how the Logical Thinking Process can be applied in real-life situations. They presented examples to illustrate how this approach aids in defining goals, identifying root causes of complex problems, and resolving persistent conflicts. Some cases they discussed:
- A service department losing market share
- Getting back on track with a project management career
- Saving a stalled DDMRP implementation
- Building a world-class IT business in 10 years
During the second 30-minute segment of the video Bill and Thorsteinn responded to questions from the attendees.

Reynald Debaut-Henocque, former Vice-President Manufacturing at Toyota Motor Manufacturing France in Onnaing, briefly describes what "good" Lean is.

Bringing Scientific Thinking to Life: An Introduction to Toyota Kata for next-generation Business Leaders (and those who would like to be) By Sylvain Landry

Alan Weir is the Director of Production Operations at Toyota Motor Manufacturing UK. In this episode, Ryan Tierney and Matthew Thompson from Lean Made Simple ask him about: Working his way up from the shop floor to the level of leadership he’s in today What “Genchi Genbutsu” is and why it mat