Following in Toyota's tire tracks

In his book, The Machine That Changed the World, James Womack writes about Toyota's manufacturing prowess. E m p l o y i n g 36,000 workers nationwide — 7,773 a few miles down Interstate 75 from Dayton — Toyota is revolutionary in its speed to market, product quality and ability to make profits. Its capitalization is equal to the sum of GM's, Daimler-Chrysler's and Ford's combined. Local companies such as Crown Equipment and Antioch Publishing grow by emulating Toyota's methods.
What is the secret behind Toyota's success?
Lightning struck when Atsushi Niimi, president of Toyota North America, revealed the essence of the Toyota production system to 1,000 manufacturers on Oct. 20. But U.S. manufacturers have copied the "what" of the system — i.e. its manufacturing methodology — without understanding the "why" that makes the system — i.e. the way to manage the company.
The "why" of Toyota's business model is so simple that it astounds. Toyota managers believe that respect for human dignity is what managers should focus on. Nothing is more important to value than the time of a human being.
Niimi says, "We can only spend it once!" Toyota has developed an entire management methodology, called lean, based on not wasting the time of their work force. Toyota eliminates what it calls the seven deadly time-wasters with a vengeance: waiting, making too much, storing inventory, unnecessary motion of the worker, rework (quality), and processing or moving parts when you don't need to.
Toyota's secret competitive weapon, however, is avoiding an eighth waste: emotional conflict between management and the work force.
Toyota's "we are all in the same boat" mentality is based on cooperation. All of the time spent on grievances is turned into making better products. That translates into profits. Those profits are then shared with the work force and invested in research and development to launch new products.
In a legendary demonstration of how this works, Toyota formed a joint venture with GM. They turned a UAW plant in Fremont, Calif., which had thousands of grievances annually, into a unique corporate culture.
The company is called NUMMI, and its core values have five cornerstones: teamwork, equity, involvement, mutual trust and respect, and safety.
How has it worked out? It has grown to become a company of 5,500 team members who produce three award-winning vehicles — the Toyota Corolla, Toyota Tacoma and Pontiac Vibe — at the brisk pace of 360,000 vehicles per year. In 2002, it began producing a right-hand drive Toyota Voltz, which is exported to Japan.
Is the essence of competitiveness and creating jobs in the United States as simple as valuing human dignity?
Crown Equipment and Antioch Publishing think so, and they are taking the lessons of teamwork one step further. They ask their teams not only to improve the current state, but to create a future desired outcome that their customers are willing to pay for.
With management and work force teams working together creatively toward a positive future, conversations about moving to China become mute.