The Toyota Way

The bestselling guide to Toyota's legendary philosophy and production system-updated with important new frameworks for driving innovation and quality in your business

Foreword (to the First Edition) by Gary ConvisAcknowledgmentsPreface: The Wonderful Wacky World of LeanINTRODUCTION The Toyota Way: Using Operational Excellenceas a Strategic WeaponA Storied History: How Toyota Becamethe World's Best ManufacturerPART ONEPHILOSOPHY: LONG-TERM SYSTEMS THINKINGPRINCIPLE 1 Base Your Management Decisions on Long-TermSystems Thinking, Even at the Expense of Short-TermFinancial GoalsPART TWOPROCESS: STRUGGLE TO FLOW VALUETO EACH CUSTOMERPRINCIPLE 2 Connect People and Processes Through ContinuousProcess Flow to Bring Problems to the SurfacePRINCIPLE 3 Use "Pull" Systems to Avoid OverproductionPRINCIPLE 4 Level Out the Workload, Like the Tortoise,Not the Hare (Heijunka)PRINCIPLE 5 Work to Establish Standardized Processes asthe Foundation for Continuous ImprovementPRINCIPLE 6 Build a Culture of Stopping to IdentifyOut-of-Standard Conditions and Build in QualityPRINCIPLE 7 Use Visual Control to Support People inDecision-Making and Problem SolvingPRINCIPLE 8 Adopt and Adapt Technology That SupportsYour People and ProcessesPART THREEPEOPLE: RESPECT, CHALLENGE, AND GROWYOUR PEOPLE AND PARTNERS TOWARDA VISION OF EXCELLENCEPRINCIPLE 9 Grow Leaders Who Thoroughly Understand the Work,Live the Philosophy, and Teach It to OthersPRINCIPLE 10 Develop Exceptional People and Teams WhoFollow Your Company's PhilosophyPRINCIPLE 11 Respect Your Value Chain Partners by ChallengingThem and Helping Them ImprovePART FOURPROBLEM SOLVING: THINK AND ACT SCIENTIFICALLYTO IMPROVE TOWARD A DESIRED FUTUREPRINCIPLE 12 Observe Deeply and Learn Iteratively (PDCA)to Meet Each ChallengePRINCIPLE 13 Focus the Improvement Energy of Your PeopleThrough Aligned Goals at All LevelsPRINCIPLE 14 Learn Your Way to the Future Through Bold Strategy,Some Large Leaps, and Many Small StepsPART FIVECONCLUSION: BE THOUGHTFULAND EVOLVE YOUR ENTERPRISEGrow Your Own Lean Learning Enterprise-GettingIdeas and Inspiration from the Toyota WayAPPENDIX An Executive Summary and Assessmentof the 14 PrinciplesGlossaryFor Further ReadingIndex