The Four Principles Of The Toyota Production System

In this passage, we will discuss about how Toyota Production System reduce the cost and increase the efficiency through applying the Just-In-Time system. In fact, Toyota production System practices the Just-In-Time system based on four key principles that work together to support this unique concept at every level: which include Heijunka, Elimination of waste, Takt time and Kanban.

Firstly, the four principles of just in time which applied by Toyota Production System include Kanban System. It is a very unique production method and it plays an integral role in Toyota Production System. Kanban is a Japanese word which is composed of two words: “kan” – visual and “ban” – card. Originally, Toyota’s Kanbans were cards, but a Kanban can be a box

Other than that, the third principle shows that Toyota can optimize the Kanban system to improve the smooth flow of work and collect metrics to analyze flow as well as get leading indicators of future problem through analyzing the flow of work. The last principle is related with the continuous improvement of Kanban. The employees of Toyota can measuretheir effectiveness by tracking flow, quality, throughput, lead times and more. Experiments and analysis can change the system to improve the team’s effectiveness. On the other hand, Toyota has provided six rules for an effective Kanban system which include Kanban will specify the withdraw items which processed by customer (downstream) in precise amount. However, Kanban is also required to specify the items which produced by supplier (upstream) in the precise amount and sequences. The third rule which is no items are made or moved without a Kanban. Moving forward to the next rule, a Kanban should accompany each item, at every time. The last rule states that the number of Kanban should be deducted carefully to lower inventories and to

In the term of Mathematics, takt time equals available time divided by product demand. However, takt can be defined as the rate of customer demand. Takt time is the term given to a work-cycle that fulfills each customer's demand.The key is that the work-cycle must be synchronized with demand in order to avoid either underproduction or overproduction. Takt time determines the flow-rate and enables the calculation of how much work can be done. Optimization of Takt time allows Toyota to reduce waste and inefficiency by eliminating the risk of time delays or excess production. Toyota applies takt time to match the rate of production to the rate of sales or consumption. Hence, Toyota only produces exactly what their customer will consume; nothing more and nothing less. At Toyota, they attempt to keep takt time steady for a month at a time. However, volume changes in the market place over time (let's ignore mix for the moment). As inventory increases and sales fall, Toyota adjusts takt time from 57.6 seconds to a slower number to reflect the decline in demand. This will continue as needed each month. When inventory falls (sales pick up), they will increase takt time to a faster rate (such as 48 seconds) and, of course, potentially add more workers to the line. Month by month, Toyota does this type of adjustment and moves people to where they are