Learning from GURU...

Regular visitors to the management sections of bookstalls
would have never missed the title ,
"Toyota Production System"(TPS).
Its a great collection of the best practices in manufacturing
and plant management of one of the worlds best autombile
company.

The snapshot below summarizes the Macro level process flow of TPS.
The Toyota Production System (TPS) was established based on two
concepts:
The first is called "jidoka"(which can be loosely
translated as "automation with a human touch") which means that
when a problem occurs, the equipment stops immediately, preventing
defective products from being produced; The second is the concept
of "Just-in-Time," in which each process produces
only what is needed by the next process in a continuous flow.
For organizations looking for process improvements,without any doubt,
Toyota Production System(TPS),has plethora of good practices.
Source :http://www.toyota.co.jp

Think the constraints way ...

'Consultant is a person who sees your watch and tells you
the time', a anonymous quote which I had enjoyed being in
that profession !
Though it looks bit sardonic at first glance, it isnt.
A consultant should be a person who is able to find
solution by involving the customer and help them
understand their pain.
Once the fundamentals are clear it is just 'Common sense'.
Whatever tags we attach to it by calling it Scorecard,Lean,
systems thinking or anyother end of day they are just
'Labels' for the common sense approach beneath it.
One such book which has given me a strong sense of this feel is,
'The Goal' by Goldratt and Jeff COx.
Any problem (business/personal/project) try to hover around
three questions :
1.What is the end goal ?
2.What do we need to change ?
3.How do we change ?
Though looks simple , application of these in complex
environment (self made !!) filled with so much information
and dynamics isnt easy.
The art of questioning ,the socrates way is indeed a focussed approach.
And now donning the role of influencer , I recommend the book'The Goal'. 'The Goal' is definitely a MUST READ for any person in business operations function
in particular if you are a QA guy !