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The Toyota Way (Hardcover)

by Jeffrey Liker (Author) "Toyota first caught the world's attention in the 1980s, when it became clear that there was something special about Japanese quality and efficiency..." (more)
Key Phrases: learning enterprise, level out the workload, supplier development center, Toyota Way, Toyota Production System, North America (more...)

4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (86 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

How to speed up business processes, improve quality, and cut costs in any industry

In factories around the world, Toyota consistently makes the highest-quality cars with the fewest defects of any competing manufacturer, while using fewer man-hours, less on-hand inventory, and half the floor space of its competitors. The Toyota Way is the first book for a general audience that explains the management principles and business philosophy behind Toyota's worldwide reputation for quality and reliability.

Complete with profiles of organizations that have successfully adopted Toyota's principles, this book shows managers in every industry how to improve business processes by:

Eliminating wasted time and resources
Building quality into workplace systems
Finding low-cost but reliable alternatives to expensive new technology
Producing in small quantities
Turning every employee into a qualitycontrol inspector

From the Publisher
Winner of the Institute for Industrial Engineer’s Book-of-the-Year award and the Shingo Prize for Manufacturing Excellence

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Product Details

Hardcover: 330 pages
Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (December 17, 2003)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0071392319
ISBN-13: 978-0071392310
Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.4 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (86 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,792 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
Popular in these categories: (What's this?)
#1 in Books > Business & Investing > Management & Leadership > Quality Control
#2 in Books > Nonfiction > Automotive > Industry
#4 in Books > Nonfiction > Automotive > Foreign

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Inside This Book (learn more)

First Sentence:
Toyota first caught the world's attention in the 1980s, when it became clear that there was something special about Japanese quality and efficiency. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
learning enterprise, level out the workload, supplier development center, using operational excellence, genchi genbutsu, lean learning enterprise, core value stream, andon system, kaizen workshop, continuous process flow, mass production thinking, leveled schedule, quality right the first time, use visual control, lean leaders, future state vision, lean transformation, make decisions slowly, lean tools, takt time, current state map, future state map, product development system, standardized work, value stream map

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Toyota Way, Toyota Production System, North America, Six Sigma, American Auto, Toyota Technical Center, Taiichi Ohno, Trim Masters, Kiichiro Toyoda, General Motors, Toyota Motor Corporation, United States, Henry Ford, Build Your Own Lean, Long-Term Philosophy, Respect Your Extended Network of Partners, Toyota Motor Company, Transform Organizations, New Fuel, Eiji Toyoda, Create Continuous Process Flow, Fujio Cho, Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Sakichi Toyoda, Culture of Stopping

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Citations (learn more)

This book cites 30 books:

Lean Thinking : Banish Waste and Create Wealth in Your Corporation, Revised and Updated by James P. Womack on 10 pages
The Machine That Changed the World : The Story of Lean Production by James P. Womack on 7 pages
Henry Ford Today and Tomorrow - Special Edition of Ford's 1926 Classic by Henry Ford on 6 pages
Becoming Lean: Inside Stories of U.S. Manufacturers by Jeffrey K. Liker on 5 pages
Toyota Production System: Beyond Large-Scale Production by Taiichi Ohno on page 26, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)

See all 30 books this book cites

Books on Related Topics (learn more)

The Toyota Way Fieldbook by Jeffrey Liker

Discusses:

The Lean Pocket Guide by Donald M. Tapping

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Lean Production Simplified by Pascal Dennis

Discusses:

Becoming Lean by Jeffrey K. Liker

Discusses:

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	91% buy the item featured on this page: The Toyota Way 4.4 out of 5 stars (86) $18.45
	4% buy The Toyota Way Fieldbook 4.7 out of 5 stars (29) $19.77
	2% buy The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement 4.5 out of 5 stars (341) $15.89
	2% buy Lean Thinking : Banish Waste and Create Wealth in Your Corporation, Revised and Updated 4.1 out of 5 stars (54) $19.80

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Customer Reviews

86 Reviews

5 star:		(55)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

Average Customer Review

4.4 out of 5 stars (86 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Clearly shows you why so many fail to copy them, November 3, 2006

By	Mike and Griffin (Madbury, NH) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

I've read this book a few times, and got our factory excited by it as well. We read it 2 chapters a week as a group, with a volunteer facilitator reviewing the content of the chapters in a weekly session. Suggest you start with this one and then read "Creating a Lean Culture" by David Mann and then "The Toyota Way Fieldbook" by Jeffrey Liker. A must read for those interested in Lean Manufacturing or Self-Directed Workteams.

Pro:
-Shows the commitment of Toyota to their methods and philosophies. By commitment they mean a willingness to pursue your transformation for at least 10 years, which is why I think so many fail... lack of commitment.
-Provides building blocks upon which to apply lean tools or lean toolkit
-Philosophy is quite detailed for a few hundred pages, appears thorough and complete so if you want to, you can create a similar systems-based approach

Con:
-Not a recipe for you to copy... no shortcuts or cutting corners here.

Neutral:
-Not much detail on "tools" which is out of scope for the content of this book

Bottom line: I think that this book is true to the philosophies of Toyota as I've directly observed from the 4 or 5 different senseis (former Toyota executives turned consultants) I have had the chance to work with. I only recommend a few books, this is one of them. Pairs well with "Creating a Lean Culture," by David Mann as a way to extend the lessons learned in The Toyota Way.

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31 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly Recommended!, August 3, 2004

By	Rolf Dobelli "getAbstract.com" (Switzerland) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This book is like a Toyota vehicle: not necessarily fancy, but extraordinarily capable of getting you from point "A" to point "B." Author Jeffrey K. Liker's thorough insight into the continual improvement method known as "The Toyota Way" reflects his experience with the Toyota Production System (TPS) and his knowledge of its guiding philosophies and its technical applications. He explains why Toyota has become a global symbol of passionate commitment to continual improvement and efficiency. Toyota's success as the world's most profitable automaker is no accident and now, thanks to this book, it's no mystery, either. Liker drills down to the underlying principles and behaviors that will set your company on the Toyota Way. The book reflects years of studying Toyota's philosophy: it is well mapped out, straightforward and exceedingly although not daringly innovative. We highly recommend it to anyone striving to improve their organization's operational efficiency.

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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good insights on the thinking of Toyota management, December 9, 2004

By	Michel Baudin (Palo Alto, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book puts Toyota back where it belongs: front and center in the world of the lean enterprise. The idea that Toyota just originated lean and that others have since taken it further is a fallacy that has lately been creeping into publications and conference presentations. The reality is that Toyota is still far ahead and that the vast majority of companies that claim to be lean are only "kinda, sorta" lean, with managements that simply have not understood the approach.

The book has a visible structure that the reader can use to zoom in on topics of interest. Fourteen principles are stated upfront, and then a chapter is devoted to each of these principles. The writing is clear, and many outside sources are acknowledged with a thoroughness that is uncommon in business books. In particular, 28 Toyota executives are acknowledged or quoted, which gives the book the flavor of an authorized rendition of the company's philosophy.

The book's greatest strength, the closeness of the author to the company's management, is also its main limitation. As an academic, the author could have assumed a less worshipful stance. For example, rather than taking management statements about wanting to do right for society as a whole at face value, he might have pointed out that they sound like obligatory recitations of Confucian values, and that it is arguable that flooding the world with cars is in the best interest of the human race. Also, without attacking the company, he could have made its portrayal more nuanced and vivid by including more points of view, such as those of line workers and former employees who may have a different perspective than current top managers.

The executives quoted in the book clearly feel that the philosophy is more important than the technical tools of the production system. This insight, however, has come to them as a result of using the tools intensively for many years, and the reader should not be misled into thinking that it is possible to bypass the tools and go straight to the philosophy.

I also have a few minor quibbles with the way the book is produced. The fourteen chapters covering the fourteen principles have numbers that don't match those of the principles, so that, for example, Principle 6 is covered in Chapter 12. This is confusing when looking up cross references. The subject of this book also calls for abundant illustrations, but there is only one for every seven pages, and no photographs. Finally, I think that the use of long words where short ones would do should be identified as the 9th category of waste. We don't need to hear about a "paradigm," As Tom Wolfe's hero in "A man in full" points out, the only thing it ever does is shift. Saying "non-value-added waste" where "waste" would suffice also strangely suggests that there might be an opposite called "value-added waste."

All this being said, this book is a good read based on intimate knowledge. I recommend it to anyone involved with lean, and particularly to managers and engineers in the auto parts industry who want to sell their products to Toyota.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Driven to perform....and excel
After Allied Forces decimated the Japanese geography, spirit and psyche with atomic weapons in World War II - nobody thought anything would rise from the ashes of the "Country of... Read more

Published 5 days ago by Rebecca Clement

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book!!!
This is a great book. I have read "Lean Thinking" and "The Machine that Changed the World" and those are very good books, but "The Toyota Way" definitely does a great job... Read more

Published 4 months ago by G. Ramos

4.0 out of 5 stars Value for the operations oriented individual
For any individual working in an operations oriented field this book can be a valuable tool for learning more about the Toyota Way and Lean manufacturing.

Published 6 months ago by P. Deutschler

5.0 out of 5 stars Book Purchase
Book seller presented accurate information regarding the condition and quality of the book. Book receipt time was excellent and well within the timeframe given to the purchaser... Read more

Published 10 months ago by Cheryl Matzdorf

5.0 out of 5 stars To understand this company's success, first understand its DNA

I read this book when it was first published in 2004 and recently re-read it, curious to know how well Jeffrey Liker's explanation of Toyota's management principles and... Read more

Published 11 months ago by Robert Morris

5.0 out of 5 stars Toyota Production System Requires Stamina at the Top
This is an excellent book to uncover the beautiful simplicity of the Toyota Production System. Although simple is always best, with complicated cars, machines and huge sums of... Read more

Published 15 months ago by Dianna Sabo

5.0 out of 5 stars Operational excellence as a strategic weapon
The Toyota Way certainly does provide the foundation of using operational excellence as a strategic weapon. Read more

Published 15 months ago by Judith Kean

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Book on tape
Great for those that are on the go and would like to learn a little more about TPS and lean manufacturing.

Published 15 months ago by Stephen D. Elison

4.0 out of 5 stars A must have - a bit too long though
This is a must have for any manager or business administrator. My only observation is that some of the chapters are too long in making the point accross. Read more

Published 17 months ago by Max Leiva

5.0 out of 5 stars Lean Production
"I have visited hundreds of companies and taught employees from over one thousand companies. I have compared notes with many of those I have taught. Read more

Published 19 months ago by Golden Lion

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