By Jon Tudor, Managing Director, True North Excellence
They say actions speak louder than words. The actions I saw at Toyota and a competing plant spoke volumes about the difference in culture and behaviours between the two sites.
The competitor experience
Last year, I took my teenage son on a factory tour of a UK automotive assembly plant. The aim was to encourage him to start thinking about his career options.
When we arrived, the production line had stopped due to supply chain delivery issues. The associates didn’t have the resources to do their job so they simply put down their tools and stopped work – some read newspapers, others hung around chatting. Our tour lasted an hour and 20 minutes and not a single car moved on the line during that time. Few operators added any value to the business through their behaviour.
Afterwards I spoke candidly to the plant leadership team about what I’d seen. They agreed there were problems to address and they would take steps to change behaviours. In my opinion, there was a clear need for some Kata coaching and improvement work!
Failure at Toyota
A few weeks later, I witnessed a similar turn of events at the Toyota final assembly plant, but with completely different outcomes. It demonstrated strong leadership driving a proactive culture and a clear commitment to continuous improvement.
‘We love problems’
One of the mantras of the leadership team at the plant was ‘we love problems, we manage them every single day and work so they don’t come back’. The actions and behaviours I witnessed that day were real testament to this.
Half way through the shift a catastrophic machine failure stopped the production line in its tracks. Further investigation revealed the incident could not have been foreseen. What was foreseeable is what happened in the minutes just after.
Exemplary shop floor behaviour
Within seconds the Toyota associates assembled around the production line to pin point the location of the problem. Their team leader was quickly on the scene, followed two minutes later by the plant leader. All hands were on deck to assess the situation and come up with a solution.
It quickly became apparent that the problem was not a quick fix. Realising they couldn’t continue with their work, and without being asked, the associates started moving around the plant to find other work to do, offering their skills to other teams.
The whole experience left me glowing with delight. It was in complete contrast to my experience at their competitor’s automotive manufacturing plant earlier that month. What a difference in behaviours, habits and culture between the two plants.
Kata Coaching and Improvement workshop, 14th– 15th November, Coventry
True North Excellence has enlisted Kata expert Drew Locher to take you on a practical journey through Toyota’s incredibly successful Kata managerial thinking process. This two-day workshop is ideal for improvement champions, Lean leaders and any professionals responsible for developing and coaching people.
Actions speak louder than words – download the brochure and book your place online.