Problem Solving - PS

A comprehensive approach to TWI implementation.
By Patrick Graupp

In the spring of 1951, Lowell Mellen and his associates from TWI Inc. began teaching TWI classes in Japan under contract with the U.S. military occupation. Mellen had been a district representative of the TWI Service in Cleveland during the war, and he formed TWI Inc. when the service disbanded in 1945 at the end of World War II. After successfully planting the three original J-Programs in Japan, TWI Inc. was asked by the Japanese government in 1956 if they could teach supervisors how to solve workplace problems. In response, Mellen and his associates developed a new TWI program called Problem Solving (PS) Training.

It seems odd today to think that the Japanese would need lessons in problem solving, but a 1956 TWI Inc. report describes how Japanese industry was still controlled by “old hands” who didn’t want to give up on their “feudal prerogatives”:

This means that at all Supervisory levels below the very Top there is a reluctance to accept Responsibility for anything… so there is a constant crisis in waiting for someone to make a decision or come up with the answer to anything. The final result is that the average Japanese Supervisor is a very, very frustrated individual who hardly knows which way to turn.
TWI Inc., Final Report, 1956, page 32

The “average Japanese supervisor” has certainly come a long way since then! Even by the time I arrived in Japan in early 1980s to work at Sanyo Electric Co., front line supervisors knew exactly which turns to take and were active in confronting and solving the difficulties they faced each day. And the TWI Problem Solving Training was a key piece of their training regimen.

Today a lot of focus is being given to the Toyota techniques of problem solving, and many of the roots to that system can be seen in the TWI methodologies. Let’s compare the two using the 8 Steps presented by David Meier, author of Toyota Talent, at this year’s TWI Summit:

Toyota Problem Solving

1. Clarify the problem
2. Break down the problem
3. Target setting
4. Root-cause analysis
5. Develop countermeasures
6. See countermeasures through
7. Monitor both results and process
8. Standardize successful processes

TWI Problem Solving

1. Isolate the Problem
   • State the problem
   • Give proof or evidence
   • Explore the cause
   • Draw conclusions
2. Prepare for Solution
   • Use JM, JI, JR steps 1 & 2
3. Correct the Problem
   • Use JM, JI, JR steps 3 & 4
4. Check and Evaluate Results

1. Getting to the root cause.

Step 1 of TWI PS, Isolate the Problem, essentially covers the first half of the Toyota steps, and this is the most important part. As they say, “A problem well defined is a problem half solved.” In TWI, emphasis also is on securing facts, circumstances, figures, etc., that directly illustrate the problem. This evidence then allows us to search for the real causes, both direct and indirect, that lead us to the core or root cause. In TWI we call this root cause the "problem point" that needs to be addressed.

Much like Toyota’s “5 Whys” practice of getting to the root of a problem, TWI PS provided a tool to help us get to these essential problem points. This “chain of causation” analysis guides us through the questioning process as we ask “what were the causes of these causes” until we get to the final root of the problem:

2. Analyzing the root cause to determine plan of solution.

TWI PS then goes on to teach us to analyze the root cause to determine if the problem point is mechanical or people in nature. And, more times than not, problems that initially look like straightforward mechanical issues turn out, after closer scrutiny, to be more related to people concerns. Whereas the Toyota steps of “Develop Countermeasures” and “See Countermeasures Through” are more open-ended using techniques such as brainstorming and consensus building, TWI PS, being part of the TWI program, gives us more specific methods to both “Prepare for Solution” and “Correct the Problem.” More specifically, these would be the actual 4-Step Methods for each of the three TWI skills: Job Methods (JM), Job Instruction (JI), and Job Relations (JR).

If the problem is mechanical in nature, we use the JM method, along with other tools such as flow charts and flow diagrams, to make the correction. If the problem involves people, we consider if it is because they “Don’t know or Can’t do” or if it is because they “Don’t care or Won’t do.” The former would be a problem of knowledge or skill development, and here we use JI to correct the situation. The later would be a problem of attitude and behavior correction, and here we use JR.

3. Integration of the three TWI methods.

Since TWI PS specifically uses the three TWI methodologies for the purpose of solving problems, companies already employing one or more of the TWI skills can leverage these supervisory abilities and gain even more value from them. It gives renewed meaning to the TWI methods with a more specific focus — problem solving. Moreover, TWI PS provides a good opportunity to refresh, review, and reinvigorate the use of these powerful skills in workplaces.

Most companies want their front line supervisors to be self-sufficient and to solve the problems they face rather than wait for someone else to do it for them. The TWI Problem Solving program was the way, then, to consolidate and integrate the proven TWI methodologies of JI, JR, and JM under one plan for this purpose. If we look at how far Japanese industry has come since the introduction of these TWI programs and the effect they had on today’s Gold Standard of manufacturing excellence, the Toyota Production System, we can appreciate what a great contribution Mellon and his group made both then and now.