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The Toyota Method
In the 1930s, in a textile company founded by Sakichi Toyoda, a young industrial engineer started creating a method that would revolutionize the industrial world.
Inspired by Shigeo Shingo’s work and having studied the textile industry, Taiichi Ochno developed the just-in-time approach in the 1950s for the production line of automobile manufacturer Toyota.
This is how the Toyota method began.
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Since then, the foundations of the Toyota method have inspired the expression “lean manufacturing.” Many adaptations of the Toyota method have emerged. In literature, the term “lean” (from which “lean medical” is derived) has been adopted to refer to the Toyota model and is now widely spread to indicate the slimness of a process.
At the upper management level, the Toyota method aims to establish a long-term vision that values the input of the people who work within the organization. The Toyota method strives to implement measures to maintain personnel by valuing them and, when necessary, reassigning the best employees to different departments so that they may develop their organizational creativity and deliver the values of the Toyota method.
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The Toyota method is based on two fundamental principles.
First, at the heart of the Toyota method is respect for employees and their ideas. This means encouraging them to suggest ways in which to improve their work and the organization as a whole. In the same light, the Toyota method values opinions.
Second, the Toyota method is a continuous improvement philosophy, or what the Japanese call Kaizen.
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| For the Toyota method to be implemented, the management of an establishment must first put in place an organizational culture receptive to “lean thinking.” Engaging in this line of thought must first and foremost come from the upper management of the organization. Personnel at every level should then be involved in redefining the processes in order to eliminate waste and improve flow, thereby reducing processing times. The Toyota method uses several tools to achieve this. |
| The application of the Toyota method begins by eliminating waste in order to remove non-value added steps and enable energy to continuously contribute to value, responding according to the client’s needs. The client may be a patient, an employee, a supplier or one of the organization’s processes. |
There is no question that the model for a health establishment differs from that of a manufacturer. However, there are many similarities between the two. To do anything from manufacturing automobiles, making furniture, performing surgery, or preparing chemotherapy protocol, employees must absolutely refer to procedures, sometimes very complex, to complete their tasks and give the best value to the client or patient. |
| The Toyota method can be summed up by “using less to do more.” |
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