The Toyota Way
I've just finished a very interesting book lately - The Toyota Way - on lean manufacturing developed at Toyota Motor company and written by Jeffrey K. Liker. It is the first that I read on this kind of subject, management and industrial engineering. And I'm glad I did. The Toyota way is all about how well you keep a healthy and growing business through 14 principles, which brings your organization in the lean production sphere. The principles are organized on the idea expressed in Maslow hierarchy of needs . So basic principles have to be accomplished and lived before climbing to the next level. The principles are : Base level: 1. Develop a long term vision. Seems obvious but in fact only few companies really follows a long term strategy when short-term profits are reacheable. And many times, layoffs are solely due to satisfy shareholders and show great columns in the annual report final pages. Second level: 2. Create a continuous process flow . Stop moving around pieces and