The Difference Between Lean and The Toyota Production System

Phil Ledbetter 

Author of "The Toyota Template". True Lean Consultant at The Toyota Template

In a previous post I quoted Mr. Cho's statement that, “Many good companies have respect for individuals, and practice kaizen and other TPS tools…But what is important is having all the elements together as a system. It must be practiced every day in a very consistent manner, not in spurts.”

What system is Mr. Cho talking about? As Muramatsu Rintaro said in Ohno's Toyota Production System - Beyond Large-Scale Production, "The Toyota Production System is a pull method." Or a Just-in-Time system. The tool-oriented lean world does not lead to a Just-in-Time system.

While there are many elements that make up the Toyota Production System this "pull method" is the basis of what has led to the stunning success of Toyota. All these elements support the pull system.

The individual elements of the TPS can be implemented outside of a pull system. This happens in tool-oriented approaches. However, the benefit of kaizen events around these individual elements is limited. The real benefit, waste elimination resulting in drastically reduced costs, is only possible in a Just-in-Time production system.

Lean initiatives must result in a Just-in-Time system that is "practiced every day in a very consistent manner".

I address these topics in "The Toyota Template".