Toyota

Production
system

Production Line Management

Nirmeet Kacheria
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Nirma Institute of Technology
 Abstract

Terms like “Stockless Production” or “Zero Inventory System” are used to describe TPS but I
view this philosophy as much more. It is not only an inventory control tool, but also a quality and
scrap control tool, as a streamlined plant configuration that raises process yield, a production line
balancing approach and as an employee involvement and motivational mechanism. It aims to
remove the huge amounts of wastes that occur in an organization and shows that a systematic
attack on waste, both within the companies and along the supplier chains can have tremendous
impact on the short term profitability and long term prospects of companies and organizations.
The systematic assault on waste is also the systematic assault on the factors underlying poor
quality and fundamental management problems. It’s goal is to incorporate less human effort, less
inventory, less time to develop new products and less space to become highly responsive to
consumer demand while producing top quality products in the most efficient and economical
manner possible.

In Production Line Management, I have concentrated on key shop-floor practices that have been
successfully implemented at Toyota. Starting with the comparison of western and Japanese
production lines, the impact of plant configurations on Inventory, Shop floor paper, WIP and
lead times has been discussed. Toyota manufactures a variety of automobiles with many different
specifications with varying market demands and hence its system is built around the concept of
“Flexibility” and “Shojinka”- increasing productivity by adjustment and rescheduling of human
resources. The concepts for reducing setup times have been explained with corresponding
techniques.

One of the major features of TPS, is the manner in which they have linked the suppliers and
customers. Both internal and external. They have managed to virtually link physically distinct
processes through the use of “Kanban”- A Signal Card for production and procurement of raw
materials. It has eliminated use of costly Production control software, paper work, scheduling
and Material Requirements Planning, and has enabled excellent synchronization. We examine
how Toyota has achieved high quality control through employing “Jidoka”-A Autonomation tool
which supplements human judgment and prevents defective parts to pass unnoticed through the
line. When a defect occurs, the line stops, forcing immediate attention to the problem, and
investigation into the causes, and initiation of corrective action to prevent similar defects from
occurring again.

In “Decoding TPS”, Harvard Business Review has intensively and painstakingly researched and
documented what really happens inside the company and provided a new insight into the
unspoken rules that give Toyota its competitive edge. It is to resolve that apparent paradox of the
system-namely, that activities, connections, and production flows in Toyota factory are rigidly
scripted, yet at the same time Toyota’s operations are enormously flexible and adaptable.
Activities and processes are constantly being challenged and pushed to a higher level of
performance, enabling the company to continually innovate and improve. TPS, as a management
philosophy, fits admirably to the challenges of the dynamic environment.
 Production Lines: Western vs. Japanese
Western
Top priority: Line Balance
Strategy: Stability-Long production runs
so that the need to rebalance seldom
occurs
Assume fixed labor assignments
Use inventory buffers to cushion effects of
equipment failure
Need sophisticated analysis to evaluate
and cull the many options
Planned by Staff
Plan to run at fixed rate; send quality
problems off line
Linear or L shaped lines
Conveyorized material movement
Buy Super machines and keep them busy
Applied in labor intensive final assembly
Run mixed models where labor content is
similar from model to model
Japanese
Top Priority: Flexibility
Strategy: Flexibility-expect to rebalance
often to match output to changing demand
Flexible labor; move to the problem where
the current workload is
Employ maximal preventive maintenance
to keep equipment from breaking down
Need human ingenuity to provide
flexibility and ways around bottlenecks
Foreman may lead design effort and will
adjust plan as needed
Slow for quality problems; speed up when
quality is right
U shaped pr parallel lines
Put stations close together and avoid
conveyors
Make or buy small machines; add more
copies as needed
Applied even to capital intensive
subassembly and fabrication work
Strive for mixed model production, even
in subassembly and fabrication

Line balance vs. Flexibility

A production line is said to be balanced when every worker’s task takes the same amount of
time. Line balancing is a manufacturing engineering function in which the whole collections of
production-line tasks are chopped up into equal portions, with each portion being assigned to a
different worker. They are generally mathematical, procedural and computer based approaches
to design well balance production lines. Well balanced lines avoid labor idleness and improve
productivity. Western production lines are unlikely to be very flexible because they are planned
“offline” by specialists using cumbersome analysis, because of labor and equipment inflexibility,
because of line shape, because of quality and inventory buffer policies and because of basic
strategies.

Japanese have a fundamental aversion to inventories. Without inventories production lines are
quite naked; that is, the lines are called upon to react right away when the part models or output
rates are changed. Consumers are fickle and change their patterns of buying which changes
demands of final assembly lines. And innumerable human and phsycial sources of delay in any
manufacturing stage will, in the absence of buffer inventories, be soon felt in preceding stages,
including production lines sub-assembling or fabricating parts. The Japanese strategy is to make
their lines flexible enough to absorb these external and internal irregularities.
 SHOJINKA: Meeting Demand through Flexibility
Toyota manufactures a variety of automobiles with many different specifications. Each type of
car is always subjected to fluctuation in demand. Therefore, the work load at each car line in the
plant must be frequently evaluated and periodically changed. Moreover, even though the
demand of all types of products may be reduced simultaneously because of general economic
depression or some foreign export restriction, the company should still be able to reduce the
number of workers at any line by taking out temporary workers or extra workers.

Attaining flexibility in the number of workers at a workshop to adapt to changes is called

Shojinka. Shojinka has an especially significant meaning when the number of workers must be
reduced due to decrease in demand. It is equivalent to increasing productivity by the adjustment
and rescheduling of human resources. In order to realize the Shojinka concept, three factors are
pre-requisite.

1) Proper design of machinery layout

2) A multi-function-versatile and well-trained worker.
3) Continuous evaluation and periodic revisions of the standard operations routine.

Casual Factors to realize Shojinka

 U-Turn Layout

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Isolated Island Layout

 Layout Design
Improper layouts which Toyota has avoided can be divided into three major categories

Bird Cage Layouts:

Here each worker is made to handle multiple machines of the same type. This is a better
arrangement than one worker-one machine layout, in terms of production quantity per worker,
which increases. But the inventory of semi-finished items or the intermediate inventory produced
at each station also increases. The layout therefore does not enable synchronization among work-
stations, and increases the production lead time.

Isolated Island Layouts:

In order to avoid the excessive intermediate inventories from each station, and decrease the
conveyance time, the layout of the machines should be in accordance with the sequential order of
processing a part. This layout assumes the existence of multi-function worker and enables a
continuous smooth flow of products among different types of machines, and ensures a
continuous walking route with the least distance for each worker. There are two problems with
this kind of layout.

1) When the entire factory is under this layout, workers are separated from one another, and
as such, cannot help each other. It is difficult to attain total balance of production among
various processes. Unnecessary inventory still occurs. The mutual relief movement
cannot be applied to isolate islands.
2) Since unnecessary inventory can exist among isolated islands, worker waiting time will
be absorbed in producing this inventory. Thus, the reallocation of operations among
workers to respond to the changes in demand is difficult in this process.

The layout of the isolated island is based on the methods engineering theory that a worker should
never walk at all while working at a certain position. This idea is correct when productivity is
viewed from the efficiency of individual worker: However it is incorrect when viewed from line
balancing within a whole factory and from minimizing the total number of laborers.

Linear Layouts:
To overcome the demerits of an isolated island layout, different types of machines can be laid
out in a linear form. Under this layout, workers must walk between machines. This is one of the
typical characteristics of Toyota’s layout. Using this linear layout, one of the major
disadvantages of isolated islands can be eliminated, thereby allowing products to flow smoothly
and quickly amongst machines.
One problem that cannot be eliminated using the linear layout, however is the inability of
reallocating operations amongst workers to adapt to changes in demand. Anther problem
associated with this type of system is that when machines are set out in a linear form, each line is
independent from other lines. In this situation, the repositioning of operations among workers in
accordance with the demand of the products often requires a fraction number of workers, such as
8.5 workers. Since 0.5 manpower is not possible, it must be rounded up to one person. As a
result, the worker will have some amount of waiting time, or excessive production will occur.
 WIP: Several days’ supply at each booth
Lead time = several days
Shop Paper for every booth: Job Orders, dispatch list,
move tags

Job Shop Configuration

WIP: 1-2 Days’ Buffer Stock

Lead time = 1-4 hrs
Shop Paper : Daily Schedule/Kanban

Dedicated Lines: Group Technology

WIP: Single Unit

Shop Paper for every booth: One
Kanban per empty container

Dedicated Lines: Kanban Driven

Shop Paper for

common purposes:
None

Dedicated Lines: Physically Linked forward

---------=----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Single Line simplifies JIT linkages with upstream and

downstream processes.
Shop Paper options: (1) Daily Schedule (2) Kanban
(3) None, Physical Link with Next process
Single Line Running Mixed Models
There appear to be six rather distinct stages of development-or plant configurations-along the
way to JIT. These are:

1) Job Shop Configuration

2) Dedicated lines-Group Technology
3) Dedicated lines- Kanban driven
4) Single Line running mixed models
5) U-Turn Lines

Job Shop: In operations which use general purpose equipment (welding), the setup time is
rather high. So the production runs and lot sizes tend to be large- day’s or weeks worth, and
result in considerable cycle stock. They operate on process layout, batch basis and require a good
deal of shop paper work to sort out priorities for jobs in queue, to account for WIP inventory, etc.

Group Technology: Here groups of machines are dedicated to a process a family or group of
similar part families. Two types of configurations are possible: GT cells of GT flow lines. In
either case, there are significant reductions of inventory and shop paper. There are inventories of
incoming parts but very little WIP. GT flow lines are run intermittently according to the current
needs for each part type and on these, multi-skilled workers perform activities and move from
line to line.

Kanban: The line using Toyota style Kanban system or variation thereof is an adaptation of the
previous line. Here, Kanban system replaces daily schedule. This system triggers production of a
part only subsequent to the withdrawal by the downstream operation. Material control discipline
is facilitated by requiring that producing work centre make the precise quantity needed exactly to
fill the standard container. The system eliminates the need of schedules, and possibly computer
based scheduling, shop floor control software and hardware.

Physically Merger of Processes: Here the Kanban is eliminated. This is possible when there is
close coupling of two adjacent processes and the end of process inventories completely
eliminated. It may be useful to decouple the line segments, in the long run, to account for output
variability.

Single Lines running Mixed Models: GT is still retained but dedicated lines are consolidated
into a single line capable of running mixed models. This capability becomes possible when setup
times are reduced to a point where there is virtually no delay in changing to a different model.
Labor intensive final assembly lines are easiest to configure this way. Semi-Labor intensive
processes are more difficult to configure for mixed models and require high ingenuity for jig and
fixture designs.

1) This configuration can drastically cut down the number of stations, amount of equipment,
and required work floor space.
2) Inventory is also reduced. Implementation of Kanban is easier. Communication with
preceding work centre is simplified, and buffer stocks are reduced.
3) Supervision and Shop floor control is easier.

It is common for workers to be moved from line to line, during the day, as different models are
made.
 Combined line of making six kinds of parts

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Allocation amongst workers in January

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Allocation of operations among workers in February

U-Layout: The U-turn layout was widely adopted in the Toyota production system. The essence
of this layout is the entrance and exit of a line are at the same position. It has several variations,
such as concave and circle forms. The most remarkable and important advantage of this layout is
the flexibility to increase or decrease the necessary number of workers when adapting to changes
in production quantities (changes in demand). This can be done by adding or reducing the
number of workers in the inner area of the U-shaped workplace. One unit of material can pass
into the entrance of the process within they layout can always be constant. At the same time, by
keeping a standard inventory quantity at each machine, the imbalance of operations among
workers will be visualized, so that improvements in the process can be evoked. This type of
layout allows regions or areas to be developed for special worker operations.

Combining U-Form Lines: In order to overcome the problem of fractional number of workers,
Toyota eventually decided to combine several U-form lines into one integrated line. Using this
combined layout, the allocation of operations among worker in response to variations in
production quantities of automobiles can be accomplished by following the procedures of
standard operations routine.

Example: Attaining Shojinka using this concept

Suppose there is a combined process which consists of six different lines and each line is
manufacturing a different fear. According to the monthly demand of products in January, the
cycle time of this combined process was one minute per unit. Under this cycle time, eight
persons were working in the process and walking route of each worker is described by the arrow
line.
In February, however, the monthly demand for products was decreased and the process
cycle time was increased to 1.2 minutes per unit. As a result, all operations of this combined line
were reallocated among the workers and each worker now had to undertake more operations than
January. Figure shows the walking route of each worker was expanded under the new allocation
of operations. In this case, worker 1 will do as an additional job some of the operations which
worker 2 was doing in January. Worker 2 will also undertake additional job which was
previously accomplished by worker 3 in January. Workers 7 & 8 can be eliminated from the
combined line and hence fractional manpower which might have occurred in a linear layout was
absorbed in various individual lines under this combined layout.

Adaptation to Major Demand Fluctuations: A TPS approach

(1) Usually the load on the machines is set at only 90 percent of its future capacity and each
worker, operating as a multi-functioned worker, handles as many as ten machines.

(2) When demand increases, temporary workers are hired, each worker may handle five
machines, thereby enabling 100 percent utilization of the machines. It is necessary to have
machines on which newly hired, unskilled worker is able to become fully proficient within 3
days. On assembly lines, cycle time is reduced, numbers of workers are increased and production
rate goes up. An increase in capacity of 50 percent is in fact achieved just by introducing early
attendance and overtime, to fill the blank hours between the two shifts. Moreover, various
improvements within each process can cause slack that can be used during periods of increased
demand.

(3) If the demand decreases, adapting is much more difficult, but several steps are taken, in the
parts manufacturing processes, the number of machines handled by each single worker increases
because temporary workers are dismissed. On the assembly line, cycle time increases due to
reduced quantity
The following are examples of activities that might be organized during a slack period:

1) Transfer workers to other lines for which demand increased

2) Decrease overtime
3) Use a paid holiday
4) Conduct quality control circle meetings
5) Practice set-up actions.
6) Conduct maintenance and repair of machines
7) Manufacture improved tools and instruments
8) Conduct plant maintenance and upkeep
9) Manufacture parts previously purchased from suppliers.

Attaining SHIJONKA through MULTI-FUNCTION workers

Shojinka demands that the worker be able to respond to changes in cycle time, operations
techniques, and in many cases, the duties of individual job. In order to respond quickly the
worker must be multi-functioned; that is, he must be trained to be a skilled worker for any type
of job and at any process.

The results of skill development and job rotation have major benefits such as:

1) Job rotation challenges most operators to set goals for developing their skills.
2) Job rotation at stated intervals gives operators an opportunity to vary their work pattern.
Most operators find this refreshing, and helpful in maintaining concentration
3) Job rotation at short intervals allows operators to use different muscles and senses, and
helps prevent the development of muscle and eye strain.
4) Facilitates that sharing of skills and encourages strong teamwork.
5) As operators become more aware of the total production process, they start to help each
other by communicating information on work procedures, solving operational problems,
and developing improvement ideas. Each operator also starts to view the overall
operation of the group as his area of interest.
6) Development of standard work procedures.
7) Concern about safety, house-keeping, quality, cost and delivery increases.

In summary, job rotation will not only increase the flexibility of production activities as demand
changes and facilitate multi-process handling operations, but it will also increase co-ordination
among people and vitalize the organization as whole.
 Kanban System
Kanban literally translated means “visible record” or “visible plate”. The TPS employs a card to
signal the need to deliver more parts and an identical or similar card to signal the need to produce
more parts. One unique feature of the Toyota Kanban system when compared to Western
purchasing and production forms (job orders, route sheets) is that it is a “pull system”.

In the Toyota Kanban system every component part type, or part number has its own special
container designed to hold a precise quantity if the part number, preferably a very small quantity.
There are two cards, henceforth referred to as Kanban, for each container; and the Kanban
identify the part number and container capacity, and provide certain other information. One
Kanban, the production Kanban, serves the work center producing the part number; the other,
called a conveyance Kanban serves the using work center. Each container cycles from the
producing work center and its stock point to the using work center and its stock point, and back,
and one Kanban is exchanged for the other along the way.

Store Preceding Process

Shelf No. 5E215 Item Back No. A2-15 FORGING
Item No. 35670807 B-2
Item Name Drive Pinion
Subsequent Process
Car Type SX 50 BC
Box Capacity Box Type Issued No. MACHINING
M-6
20 B 4/8

Kanban Rules:

1. The subsequent process should withdraw the necessary products from the preceding process in
the necessary quantities at the necessary point of time.
(1). Any withdrawal without Kanban should be prohibited
(2). Any withdrawal which is greater than the number of Kanban should be prohibited.
(3). A Kanban should always be attached to the physical product.
2. The preceding process should produce its products in the quantities withdrawn by the
subsequent process.
(1). Production greater than number of sheets of Kanban must be prohibited.
(2). When various kinds of parts are to be produced in the preceding process, their
production should follow the original sequence in which each kind of Kanban is delivered.
3. Defective products should never be conveyed to the subsequent process. If there is a defect,
the line should be stopped to determine counter measures.
4. The number of Kanban should be minimized to link processes better and expose waste for
improvement.
5. The Kanban system should be used to adapt to fluctuations in demand.
Increase/decrease in demand can be matched by increasing/decreasing frequency of
Kanban transfers. In Toyota’s experience, 10-30 percent variation in demand can be handled by
changing only the frequency of Kanban transfers without revising the number of Kanban.
 Shortening Lead Time
A major achievement in TPS is the extremely short lead times. The production lead time
comprises:-

(1) Production time

(2) Waiting time between processes
(a) Unbalanced production time between processes.
KEY-Line Balance and standardization of operations or action routines that help minimize
variation in actual operation time among processes, and achieves line balance.
KEY-Mutual Relief Movement- Operators take off the work and depending on the need help
each other to minimize process delays.
KEY- Full Work Control System- An automation which releases exact quantities of WIP
between preceding processes and subsequent processes.
(b) Whole lot sizes
KEY- Minimize conveyance-Even if the production lot is large; the product is conveyed in
single units to the subsequent process. By conveying each single unit to the SP, they can operate
at the same time. Frequency of deliveries can be increased using conveyors or chutes.
(3) Conveyance time between processes
KEY- Use of whirl jig- frequent small trips between processes and round tour systems-
collection of WIP from many processes by a common conveyor to minimize distribution costs.

In order to reduce setup times, four major concepts need to be recognized:

(1) Separate the external setup from the internal setup. The “internal setup time” refers to those
actions that require the machine to be stopped. The “external setup” actions can be taken while
the machine is operating.
(2) Convert as much possible of the internal setup to the external setup-must for a “single setup”.
(3) Eliminate the adjustment process. The process of adjustment in the set up actions usually
takes about 50-70 percent of the total internal setup time. Reducing this adjustment time is very
important to shortening the total set time.
(4) Abolish the setup itself. Two approaches can be used. The first is to use uniform product
design and to use the same part for various products. The second is to produce the various parts
at the same time. Here again two methods are possible. One is the use of “set system” and the
other is to use parallel processing using expensive multiple machines. In the set system, shapes
of different parts are carried as “set” in a single form tool like “die”. They are separated after
continuously punching the parts at the same time.

The following six techniques can be utilized for concepts (2) and (3):

(1) Standardize the external setup actions

(2) Standardize only the necessary portions of the machine, so as to minimize the cost.
(3) Use a quick fastener, pear shaped holes, U-shaped washer and chipped nut and bolt.
(4) Use a supplementary tool. IT takes a lot of time to attach a die or a bite directly to the punch
press or the chick of a lathe. Therefore, the die or bites should be directly attached to the
supplementary tool in the external setup phase. This tool can be set in the machine at one touch.
The supplementary tool must be standardized.
(5) Use parallel operations.
 Autonomation: Jidoka
Methods for Stopping the Line

In general, there are two ways to stop the line when abnormalities occur; by relying on human
judgment and by means of automatic devices.
Each worker has the power and the responsibility to stop the line if all operations are not
or cannot be performed in accordance with the standard routine. Defective units produced at the
preceding process usually appear when reductions in intermediate inventory under the Kanban
system or reductions in the workforce, make it impossible to replace the defective units from
inventory or repair them during waiting time. As a result, the line must stop when the defects
appear, which calls attention to the problem and presents and opportunity for further
improvement activities. Design defects, for example, or a continually omitted operation at the
previous process may surface this way. Quality control methods based in human judgments alone
may fail as a result of the worker’s reluctance to slow production and call attention to himself, by
stopping the line. Hence a series of devices are installed to stop the line automatically if the
worker fails to complete his assigned operation in the allotted time.
Both methods fulfill the major purposes of Autonomation: quality assurance, cost
reduction, realization of just-in-time delivery, and increased respect for humanity.

Cause Relationships in Line Stoppages

Visual Control
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Evolution of quality control activities at Toyota

How Autonomation attains its purposes

 Visual Controls
Visual displays and controls help keep things running as efficiently as they were designed to run.
The efficient design of the production process that results from lean manufacturing application
carries with it a set of assumptions. The process will be as successful as it was designed to be as
long as the assumptions hold true. A factory with expansive visual display and control
applications will allow employees to immediately know when one of the assumptions has not
held true.

Visual controls benefits in the following ways:

• Visual control is essential for cellular manufacturing as it expresses information quickly

in a manner that is easily understood by everyone.
• Visual information can help prevent mistakes. Color coding is a type of visual display
that is useful to prevent errors. “Shaded” pie pieces immediately warn the viewer when
the needle is out of safe range. Matching color marks for different components can help
people choose the right tool or assemble the right part.
• Visual controls describe workplace safety, production throughput, material flow, quality
metrics and other information such as missing or “out of phase part”.
• A visual display relates information and data to employees in the area. For example,
charts showing the monthly revenues of the company or a graphic depicting a certain type
of quality issue that everybody should be aware of.

Examples of Visual Controls:

Color coded pipes and wires, Indicator lights, Production status boards, workgroup display
boards with charts, metrics and procedures, Direction of flow indicators.

Andon and Call Lights

Each assembly and machining line is equipped with a call light and an Andon Board. The call
light is used to call for a supervisor, maintenance worker, or general worker. Usually it has
several different colors of lights, each of which is used to summon a different type of assistance.
On most lines the call lights is suspended from a ceiling or otherwise located so that supervisors
and maintenance workers can see it easily.
Andon is the nickname for the indicator board that shows when the worker has stopped a
line. In many cases, Andon has different colored lights that indicate the condition of the line.
Andon boards may even have more lights and use a different color code to indicate the condition
of the line. The board has usually five colors with the following meanings:

1) Red-Machine Trouble
2) White-End of production run-given quantity has been produced.
3) Green- No work due to shortage of materials
4) Defective Unit.
5) Setup required.

All lights are turned off when a supervisor or maintenance person arrives at the workstation for
the delay.
 Poke A Yoke
Poka is a Japanese word meaning “Inadvertent Errors” and Yoke comes from Japanese word
Yokerie meaning “to avoid”. This also has been termed as “Mistake/Fool Proofing” or “Fail
safing”. The idea behind poka a yoke is to free a person’s mind from maintaining repetitive vigil
which may be practically infeasible. By doing so a person without the fear of making mistake
can constructively do more value added activities.

A Fool Proof system consists of

1) Detecting Instrument: senses Abnormalities or Deviations in the Work piece or the Process
2) Restricting Tool: Stops the Operation/Process/Line
3) Signaling Device: Sounds a buzzer or light to grab the attention of the worker

Detecting Instruments fall into 3 Categories:-

Contact Method: Check for the presence of particular feature or to ensure that a specific method
has been performed correctly.

Example: Limit Switches, Electric Eyes used to detect differences in the size and shape of the
product and thus to check the presence of specific types of defects. Uniqueness of the shape or
size is sometimes intentionally designed into essentially similar parts and devices that distinguish
one color from another also part of the contact method.

Altogether Method: Used to ensure that all parts of an operation have been successfully
completed.

Example: An altogether system is used to be sure that the worker puts all required parts and an
instruction sheet into the shipping box. To construct the fool proof, electric eyes were installed in
front of each part bin so that the worker’s hand interrupts the light beam when he removes a part
or instruction sheet from its bin. Unless all the beams have been interrupted, the stopper will not
release the box and allow it to leave the worker’s station. Other processes controlled by the
altogether method use a counter to prevent oversights.

Action Step Method: It requires the worker to perform a step which is not part of the operations
on the product.

Example: Consider a station in which metal fittings are attached to the seats. Since the same
department would often process as many as eight different kinds of seats in a mixed schedule, a
Kanban was attached to each seat so that the worker would know which metal fittings to attach.
Even so, improper metal fittings continued to be installed several times a month. As a result,
Kanban attached to seats where designed with an aluminum strip across the bottom which, when
inserted in a Kanban strip box, activated a red light over the proper box of metal fittings and
opened the box
 Five Major Causes of Machine Troubles:
1) Failure to maintain fundamental machine requirements- housekeeping, oiling, bolt tightening.
2) Failure to maintain correct operating conditions-temperature, vibration, pressure, speed,
torque.
3) Lack of skills-operator’s mis-operations, maintenance crew’s errors.
4) Deterioration-Bearings, gears, fixtures.
5) Design deficiency- Materials, dimension.

Factors Leading to Machine Trouble

Machines Operators Maintenance Crews

Dirty Machine Not concerned about dirty Replace or repair parts, but do not
Dirty Oil machines question why trouble occurred.
Flooded Oil Pan Make mistakes in operation Do not instruct operators on basic
Oil Leakage Have no knowledge of Inspection maintenance
Empty Oiler Cannot conduct any maintenance No effective communication with
Heated Motor Lack of knowledge of Machine workers
Noisy Motor itself-oiling, tool change, parts Focus efforts on major urgent
Vibration change, adjustment, etc. troubles, and forget about dealing
Scattered Chips Do not ask for help even when with quality related problems and
Difficulties in problem exists. loss of machine speed
Inspection Consider production more Seek Solutions in new machines or
Unnecessary Goods important than machine new technologies rather than in
Lack of Organization maintenance available resources
Do not have control over Consider machine deterioration as
machines. unavoidable.

How to Prevent Machine Breakdowns

Machine Problems and Countermeasures

 Aiming for Zero Machine Trouble
Just as Quality should be controlled at the source rather than by inspection, zero machine
breakdowns can only be assured at the source, that is, at the machine- but not only by the fire
fighting mode of maintenance activities. Because of heavy dependence on the operator’s usage
of machines as well as their ability to sense problems before serious machine breakdowns occur,
operator involvement is a crucial step in achieving trouble free operations. In order to remain
competitive in manufacturing, all machine breakdowns and troubles should be eliminated.
Machines should be maintained to attain a 100 percent on demand-utilization rate for immediate
use as required by the next process.

One of the basic points here is the realization that people themselves are the cause of the
problems. Machines do not create problems by themselves; rather, people let machines break
down. Even though machines are getting more and more sophisticated and capable, their basic
functions remain the same. The role of the people becomes more important as machines become
more complex.

The process of questioning should be persistent, so that problems do not recur. As Taiichi Ohno
of Toyota comments, if ask “why” five times, we may be able to capture the true cause of a
problem.

Example: Problem-Malfunction of Digital Controller for NC Machines

Why-Defective printer circuit board-Why-Lack of Cooling-Why-Lack of Air-Why-Lack
of Pressure-Why-Dust on Filter.

Four Phases of Machine Maintenance

1) Forced Deterioration- Irresponsibility for routine maintenance/ Operator Mistakes.

• Machine Breakdown Probability is very high.
• Restoration work needs to be done to regain the original level of machine performance.
2) Natural Deterioration-Machines are operated under prescribed conditions together with
efforts in cleaning; inspecting and periodic preventive maintenance work starts to pay back.
• Probability of Breakdown is decreases.
3) Machine Redesign/ Improvement in Restoring Deterioration
• Operators are involved in identifying abnormal conditions and use skills of operators are
increased and are able to repair any abnormal condition themselves.
• Poka A Yoke and improvement ideas are incorporated to prevent these mis-operations
and certain parts are redesigned to improve life.
• Probability of Breakdown decreases greatly.
4) Improvement in Diagnostic Technology- Condition Maintenance through Monitoring
• Use of diagnostic equipment to detect variance and abnormalities and forecasting life of
machine parts and quality level of a processed work piece. Using Vibration monitors,
Shock pulse meters, ultrasonic meters.

Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) Activities to prevent Machine Failures.

TPM is a concept that involves all employees. The goal of TPM is to achieve overall
effectiveness of the production system through employee participation in productive
maintenance activities. Production People and Maintenance Crew should co-operate and
eliminate common factors leading to machine failure as shown in the table.
 Decoding TPS: A Harvard Business Review
The activities, connections and production flows in Toyota Production Systems are rigidly
scripted, yet at the same time Toyota’s operations are enormously flexible and adaptable.
Activities and processes are constantly being challenged and pushed to a higher level of
performance, enabling the company to continually innovate and improve.
To understand Toyota’s success, it is necessary to understand the Paradox- The rigid
specification is the very thing that makes the flexibility and creativity possible. The key to
understand that the Toyota Production System creates a community of scientists. Whenever
Toyota defines a specification, it is establishing sets of hypotheses that can be tested. To make
any changes, Toyota uses a rigorous problem-solving process that requires a detailed assessment
of the current state of affairs and a plan for improvement that is, in effect and experimental test
of the proposed changes. The fact that the scientific method is so ingrained at Toyota explains
why the high degree of specification and structure at the company does not promote and
command and control the environment as expected. Indeed, in people doing their jobs and
helping to design production processes, the system actually stimulates workers and managers to
engage in the kind of experimentation that is widely recognized as the cornerstone of a Learning
Organization.

Rule 1: How People Work

Toyota’s managers recognize that the devil is in the details, that’s why they ensure that all work
is highly specified as to content, sequence, timing and outcome. Such exactness is applied not
only to the repetitive motions of the production workers but also to the activities of all people
regardless of their functional specialty or hierarchical role.

Example: Let’s look at how operators at atypical U.S. auto plant install the front passenger seat
into a car. They are supposed to take four bolts from a cardboard box, carry them and a torque
wrench to the car, tighten the four bolts, and enter a code into a computer to indicate that the
work has been done without problems. Then they wait for the next car to arrive. New operators
are usually trained by experience workers, who teach by demonstrating what to do. A seasoned
colleague might be available to help a new operator with any difficulties, such as failing to
tighten a bolt enough or forgetting to enter the computer bolt.
This might seem straightforward, but the problem is that those specifications allow and
even assume considerable variation in the way employees do the work. Without anyone realizing
it, there is plenty of scope for a new operator to put the seat into the vehicle differently than an
experienced worker would. Some operators might put the front bolts in after the rear bolts; some
might do it the other way around. Some operators might put each bolt in and then tighten them
all; other might tighten as they go along. All this variation translates into poorer quality, lower
productivity and higher costs. More important, it hinders learning and improvement in the
organization because the variations hide the link between how the work is done and results.

At Toyota’s plants, because operators follow a well defined sequence of steps for a particular job
it is instantly clear when they deviate from the specifications. Consider how workers at Toyota’s
George Town Kentucky, install the right-front seat into a Camry. The work is designed as a
sequence of seven tasks, all of which are expected to be completed in 55 seconds as the car
moves at fixed speed in the worker’s zone. If the production worker finds himself doing the task
6 (Installing rear bolts) before task 4 (Installing the front bolts, then the job is actually being
done differently than it was designed to be done, indicating that something must be wrong.
Similarly, if after 40 seconds, the worker is still on task 4, which should have been completed
after 31 seconds, then something, too, is amiss. To make problem detection easier, the length of
the floor for each work area is marked in tenths. So if the worker is passing the sixth of the ten
floor marks (33 sec into cycle) and is still on task 4, then it is known that he has fallen behind.
Even complex and infrequent activities, such as, training an inexperienced workforce at a new
plant, launching a new model, changing over a production line, are designed according to this
rule. In calling for people to do their work as a highly specified sequence of steps, rule 1 forces
them to test hypotheses implicit in its design: first, that the person doing the activity is capable of
doing it correctly and, second, that performing the activity actually creates the expected outcome.
In refuting at least one of the two hypotheses, it is clear that the activity needs to be redesigned
or worker is to be trained.

Rule 2: How People Contact

Every connection must be standardized and direct, unambiguously specifying the people
involved the form and quantity of goods and services to be provided, the way requests are made
by each customer and the expected time in which the requests will be met. The rule creates a
supplier-customer relationship between each person and the individual who is responsible for
providing that person with each specific good or service. As a result, there are no gray zones in
deciding who provides what to whom and when.

Example: When a worker makes requests for parts, there is no confusion about the supplier, the
number of units required, or the timing of the delivery. Similarly, when a person needs
assistance, there is no confusion over who will provide it, how the help will be triggered, and
what services will be delivered. At Toyota, Kanban cards and other devices like Andon cords set
up direct links between supplier and customers. The connections are very smooth as they are
carefully thought out and executed. For example, the numbers of parts in containers in
circulation for any given part are determined by the physical realities of the production system-
the distances, the changeover times, etc. Likewise, the number of workers per team is determined
by the types of problems expected to occur, the level of assistance the team members need, and
the skills and capabilities of the team leader.
Other companies devote substantial resources to coordinating people, but their
connections generally aren’t so direct and unambiguous. In most plants, requests for materials or
assistance often take a convoluted route from the line worker to the supplier via an intermediary.
Any supervisor can answer any call for help because a specific person has not been assigned.
The disadvantage of that approach, as Toyota recognizes, is that when something is everyone’s
problem, it becomes no one’s problem. The requirement that people respond to supply requests
within a specific time frame further reduces the chances of variance. A worker encountering a
problem is expected to ask for assistance for once. If the worker is installing a front seat every 55
seconds say, then a request for help must be answered and dealt within less those 55 second. If
the problem cannot be resolved in less than 55 seconds, that failure immediately challenges the
hypotheses in the customer-supplier relationship. Perhaps the response system is ambiguous or
the designated assistant has too many requests for help and is busy or not a capable problem
solver. Constantly testing the hypotheses in this way keeps the system flexible, making it
possible to adjust the system continually and constructively.

The striking thing about the requirement to ask for help at once is that it is often counter intuitive
to managers who are accustomed to encouraging workers to try and resolve problems on their
own before calling for help. But then problems remain hidden and are neither shared nor
resolved companywide. The situation is made worse if workers begin to solve problems
themselves and then arbitrarily decide when the problem is big enough to warrant a call for help.
Problems mount up and only get solved much later, by which time valuable information about
the real causes of the problem have been lost.
Rule 3: How the Production Line is constructed
All Production Lines at Toyota have to be set up so that every product and service flows along a
simple, specified path. The path should not change unless the production line is expressly
redesigned. There are no forks or loops to convolute the flow in any of the supply chains. Goods
and services do not flow to the next available person or machine, but to a specific person or
machine. The stipulation that every product follows a simple, pre-specified path doesn’t mean
that each path is dedicated to only one particular product. Quite the contrary: each production
line at a Toyota plant typically accommodates many more types of products that its counterparts
do at other companies.
The third rule also applies to services and help requests as well. By requiring that every
pathway is specified, the rule ensures that an experiment will occur each time the path is used.
Here the hypotheses embedded in a pathway designed according to Rule 3 are that every supplier
connected to the pathway is necessary, and any supplier not connected is not necessary. If
workers at the auto parts supplier found themselves wanting to divert production to another
machine or welding station, or if they began turning for help to someone other than their
designated helpers, they’d conclude that their actual demand or capacity didn’t meet their
expectations. Thus, this rule enables Toyota to conduct experiments and remain flexible and
responsive.

Rule 4: How to Improve

Identifying problems is the first step. For people to consistently make effective changes they
must know how to change and who is responsible for making the changes. Toyota explicitly
teaches people how to improve, not expecting them to learn strictly from personal experiences.
Specifically the Rule 4 stipulates that any improvement to production activities, to connections
between workers or machines, or to pathways must be made in accordance with the scientific
method, under the guidance of teacher, and at the lowest possible organizational level.
Frontline workers make the improvements to their own jobs and their supervisors provide
direction and assistance as teachers. If something is wrong with the way a worker connects with
a particular supplier within the immediate assembly area, the two of them make improvements,
with the assistance of their common supervisor, who was also their instructor. When changes are
made on their larger scale, Toyota ensures that improvement teams are created consisting of the
people who are directly affected and the person responsible for supervising the pathways
involved. To reinforce the learning and improvement process, each plant and major business unit
in the Toyota group employs a number of Toyota Production System consultants whose primary
responsibility is to help senior organizers move towards the ideal. They teach how to solve
problems scientifically.

Toyota does not consider any of the tools or practices-such as Kanban or andon cords, which so
many outsiders have copied –as fundamental to the TPS. Toyota merely uses them as temporary
responses to specific problems that will serve until a better approach is found or conditions
change. They’re referred to as “countermeasures” rather than “solutions” because that would
mean permanent resolution to a problem. Over the years, the company has developed a robust set
of tools and practices that it uses as countermeasures, but many have changed or even been
eliminated as improvements as made. By inculcating the scientific method at all levels of the
workforce, Toyota ensures that people will clearly state the expectations they will be testing
when they implement the changes they have planned. They have a common sense of what the
Ideal production system would be, and that shared vision motivates them to make necessary
changes beyond what would be necessary merely to meet the current needs of their customers.
Toyota’s ideal state shares many features of the state of the popular notion of mass
customization-the ability to create infinite variations of a product as efficiently as possible and at
the lowest possible cost.
 Reference:

• Japanese Manufacturing Techniques: Schonberger R.

• Just in Time: Korgaonker G.
• Toyota Production System: Monden Y.
• The New Manufacturing Challenge: Suzaki K.
• Poke A Yoke: CII Publication
• http://www.advancedmanufacturing.com
• http://www.mamtc.org