Technician Handbook 031 Maintenance and General Service The Toyota Way Welcome to the Toyota family. Toyota is a respected leader in manufacturing technology, and the leading automobile brand in North America. We hope that you find your association with Toyota a rewarding experience. One of the things that has driven Toyota’s growth and success is a philosophy called the Toyota Way. This philosophy has been developed over the past 100 years, and is based on a proven set of core values. • Respect for people is the first of two pillars of the Toyota Way. Respect for people goes beyond just being respectful.
It is a recognition that people drive results, and that without dedicated people there cannot be a successful company. • Continuous improvement , also known as kaizen, is the second pillar of the Toyota Way. It recognizes that good enough is simply not good enough. Toyota encourages everyone to continuously look for ways to improve quality, consistency, and efficiency in order to maintain our leadership position. • Automation with a human touch (or jidoka ) describes manufacturing processes that automatically stop when a defect is detected. This helps prevent the passing of defects, and makes it possible to build quality.
It ensures product quality by calling attention to manufacturing problems as soon as they appear and then eliminating them at the source. • Go see for yourself (or genchi genbutsu ) encourages personal observation on the plant or shop floor to identify problems and their root causes, and uncover effective solutions. 6 Technical Training