Fundamentals of Job Instruction and Job Relations proved their worth in healthcare in 1943 and have not changed since.

TWI applied to nursing during WWII, not only in manufacturing where it was founded

Taiichi Ohno and Toyota struggled mightily in the early 1950s to create and maintain basic stability. Then they got TWI.

The Improvement Kata is not about immediate results. Instead, it’s about guiding the learner through the improvement corridor.

“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.

Insider insights from the man who was there at the beginning when TWI was introduced into Toyota.

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.

TWI remains a model for training people in industry and may well be the ground zero of Lean Manufacturing and Kaizen.

Gain intimate knowledge and insight into how Standardized Work can yield dramatic results through a people-focused program heretofore taught only in Japan.

“It is the people in these plants, working together, who are producing.” – Walter Dietz, 1945

“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.”

Take an in-depth look at how the Toyota Production System is enhancing healthcare at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle.