Lean Practices at Toyota Material Handling Solutions: Preserving Core Values from Sakichi Toyoda to Taiichi Ohno and Reflecting on Dr. Deming’s Work
John Willis
As an accomplished author and innovative entrepreneur, I am deeply passionate about exploring and advancing the synergy between Generative AI technologies and the transformative principles of Dr. Edwards Deming.
I recently visited the Toyota Material Handling Solutions (TMHS) facility in Columbus, Indiana, where I witnessed firsthand the precision and efficiency of their operations. Since 1973, TMHS has been a critical player in the material handling space, supplying a range of industry-leading brands like Toyota forklifts. The company stands as a model for lean practices—an approach deeply rooted not only in the philosophy of continuous improvement championed by Dr. W. Edwards Deming but also in the enduring core values established by Toyota's founders, Sakichi Toyoda and TPS founder Taiichi Ohno.
Preserving Core Values from Sakichi Toyoda to Taiichi Ohno
At the heart of TMHS's success lies a commitment to the foundational principles set by Sakichi Toyoda, the founder of Toyota Industries. Known as the "King of Japanese Inventors," Sakichi Toyoda revolutionized the textile industry by inventing the automatic loom, embodying a spirit of innovation and a relentless pursuit of improvement. His principle of "jidoka," or automation with a human touch, ensures that machinery stops when a problem occurs, allowing for immediate resolution and preventing defects. This idea has permeated Toyota's manufacturing philosophy.
Building upon these foundations, Taiichi Ohno, often referred to as the father of the Toyota Production System (TPS), formalized the concepts of "just-in-time" production and continuous improvement, or "kaizen." Ohno's vision was to eliminate waste and inefficiencies, creating a seamless flow of production that responds directly to customer demand. His work transformed Toyota into a global leader in manufacturing and established lean principles that have been adopted worldwide.
TMHS embodies these core values through its meticulous attention to detail and commitment to excellence. The facility deeply respects the principles of jidoka and kaizen, ensuring quality and efficiency at every step. Employees are empowered to stop processes if irregularities occur, fostering an environment where problems are swiftly addressed and solutions are implemented collaboratively. This continuous improvement culture directly reflects the legacy left by Sakichi Toyoda and Taiichi Ohno.
Lean Practices in Action at TMHS
Toyota's approach to lean manufacturing, deeply influenced by its founders, has become legendary. The TPS focuses on eliminating waste, improving quality, and enhancing customer satisfaction—principles that align closely with Dr. Deming’s 14 Points for Management. Seeing an Andon display show red while you're touring a plant is always fun. I saw the same thing in Nagoya at a Toyota plant and yesterday in Columbus.
At the TMHS plant, these principles are theoretical and practiced in every aspect of the operation. Their workflow optimization ensures minimal downtime and a miracle focus on improvement. One of the quotes I saw was about their warehouse: We reward the effort and the results. Implementing just-in-time production allows TMHS to respond quickly to customer needs without overproducing, reflecting Taiichi Ohno's vision. It is fascinating to see Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV) bringing parts to JIT kanban bins. The plant floor appears chaotic from a macro perspective but is a remarkable combination of humans and machines. It takes only 3 hours from metal parts to a ready-to-ship forklift.
Key to this is their use of kaizen, visible in every part of the facility—from equipment handling and worker processes to customer service. Each team member has a sense of ownership over their processes, suggesting an ingrained problem-solving culture and constant refinement. This empowerment of employees echoes Sakichi Toyoda's emphasis on human innovation and Taiichi Ohno's focus on team-based problem-solving. Maniacal practices of daily work were a focus at TMHS. The focus was on improving everyone's daily routines when they discussed Kaizen.
Some key takeaways from Wednesday’s visit:
Dr. Deming’s Influence and the Bridge to DevOps
The connection between lean practices, the foundational work of Toyota's pioneers, and Dr. Deming’s teachings is clear. Dr. Deming advocated for systems thinking, continuous learning, and feedback loops—principles at the heart of lean methodology. His teachings stress quality not through inspections or overregulation but by improving the process. In DevOps, we see similar threads addressing feedback loops, continuous integration (CI), and deployment automation.
Both DevOps and Lean focus on cross-functional teams and relentlessly pursue process improvement. At TMHS, this is reflected in the seamless collaboration between different departments—whether it's sales, operations, or customer support. There is constant dialogue where feedback is welcomed and acted upon, fostering innovation and better service delivery.
In DevOps, this kind of collaboration is essential for the Continuous Delivery Pipeline (CDP). Much like how Toyota reduces waste in manufacturing through standardization and automation, DevOps removes bottlenecks in software delivery through CI/CD tools, minimizing handoffs and ensuring faster, more reliable outputs.
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Lessons for DevOps Professionals
For those of us in DevOps, the visit to TMHS reminded us of the enduring value of lean principles and the foundational values from Sakichi Toyoda to Taiichi Ohno. Whether you're optimizing a pipeline or managing infrastructure, the lessons from Toyota's lean practices can be directly applied:
Conclusion
Visiting TMHS reinforced the importance of lean principles in modern business and the clear parallels they share with DevOps methodologies. By preserving the core values from Sakichi Toyoda's innovative spirit to Taiichi Ohno's systematic approach to eliminating waste, TMHS continues to exemplify excellence. Taking a systems-thinking approach, focusing on continuous improvement, and fostering collaboration allows organizations to drive value in software and tangible products like those crafted at TMHS. As we evolve in our field, there's much to learn from pioneers like Toyota's founders and thought leaders like Dr. Deming.
Deming Updates
Eric A. Budd outlines the five leadership activities within "Quality as a Business Strategy" (QBS), a framework inspired by Dr. W. Edwards Deming's management principles.
Martin Chesbrough reflects on the Joiner Triangle as a framework for understanding Dr. W. Edwards Deming's work.
The W. Edwards Deming Institute released a new video on what systems thinking really means.
I join Andrea Goulet and Ray Myers on an episode of Empathy in Tech, where we talk about how empathy is a core tenet of DevOps.