The Roots of Lean: Training Within Industry: The Origin of Kaizen
TWI remains a model for training people in industry and may well be the ground zero of Lean Manufacturing and Kaizen.
The Secrets of Isao Kato, Toyota’s Master Trainer
Gain intimate knowledge and insight into how Standardized Work can yield dramatic results through a people-focused program heretofore taught only in Japan.
Summary Notes from Art Smalley Interview with Mr. Isao Kato, Topic: TWI Influences on TPS & Kaizen
Insider insights from the man who was there at the beginning when TWI was introduced into Toyota.
Creating an Adaptable Workforce: Using the Coaching Kata for Enhanced Environmental Performance
The Improvement Kata is not about immediate results. Instead, it’s about guiding the learner through the improvement corridor.
The Role of Front-line Ideas in Lean Performance Improvement
A great many Lean initiatives have fallen short of what is possible, because they have failed to incorporate a critical component needed for success – a high-performing idea system. Without such a system, a company could be ignoring as much as 80 percent of its improvement potential.
Why Standard Work is not Standard: Training Within Industry Provides an Answer
"You can do TWI without Lean, but you can’t do Lean without TWI." - Jim Huntzinger
Basic Stability is Basic to Lean Manufacturing Success
Taiichi Ohno and Toyota struggled mightily in the early 1950s to create and maintain basic stability. Then they got TWI.
Training Within Industry in the United States
A comprehensive review of the wartime TWI programs, given in April 1946 by C. R. Dooley, one of the founders of the program, from TWI’s initial inception to wider adaptation in offices, hospitals and agriculture throughout the war.
Training, Continuous Improvement, and Human Relations: The U.S TWI Programs and the Japanese Management Style
The quintessential research article that brought the TWI programs back from obscurity and reintroduced them into the US (and the rest of the world) from their continuing practice in Japan after the end of WWII.
Going Lean in Healthcare
“People are not cars!” But it turns out that, although healthcare differs in many ways from manufacturing, there are also surprising similarities and Lean principles have a positive impact.
Toyota Assembly Line Inspires Improvements at Hospital
“It saves pain and suffering for the poor patients, and then it saves an enormous amount of money by reducing the amount of time a patient stays in the hospital.”