Category: Toyota Production System

Want to see lean where it got its start? The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business’ Master of Business Operational Excellence program is sponsoring a one-week “Genba in Japan” from May 12-19. The trip will offer an up-close look at how Japanese companies have succeeded in delivering superb quality at the right price, with short lead times, while ensuring high levels of employee and customer satisfaction. Sites include key suppliers of automaker Toyota – a lean manufacturing forerunner – and a range of other industries applying these principles.

Electrified. That’s the best way to describe how our Center for Operational Excellence members and guests left our seminar this past Friday following a rousing, inspiring presentation from Jamie Bonini, general manager of the Toyota Production System Support Center.

There’s a recent story in the New York Times that’s about as inspiring as it gets in the world of continuous improvement.

Last week, we hosted our industry and health-care MBOE cohorts on campus, bringing together dozens of professionals in a range of different fields. The principles and leadership skills we teach in each program carry many similarities, but there remain some key differences between health care and the rest of the pack. Shingo prize-winning author Jean Cunningham highlighted one of those when she visited our health-care cohort last week.

With the theory of value stream mapping internalized, our MBOE program’s health-care cohort traveled to Ohio State’s Wexner Medical Center while the industry cohort headed to Center for Operational Excellence member Tosoh USA Inc.  A key step before launching a value stream mapping exercise is to go to the gemba.