Covers the framework of Toyota Production System (TPS), including its theoretical underpinnings as well as pragmatic information on how it is implemented. This work presents the developments in TPS at Toyota. It focuses on electronic Kanban systems, computer-based information systems, and cellular manufacturing systems versus conveyor lines.

A bestseller for almost three decades, Toyota Production System: An Integrated Approach to Just-In-Time supplies in-depth coverage of Toyota's production practices, including theoretical underpinnings and methods for implementation. Exploring the latest developments in the Toyota Production System (TPS) framework at Toyota, this new edition updates the classic with new material on e-kanban, mini-profit centers, computer-based information systems, and innovative solutions to common obstacles in TPS implementation.

Yasuhiro Monden, instrumental in introducing the JIT production system to the United States, explains the logic and methodologies of the TPS. Extending the humanized aspect of production introduced in the third edition, Toyota Production System: An Integrated Approach to Just-In-Time, Fourth Edition explains how to cultivate the culture and way of thinking needed to establish the TPS holistically across your organization. Exploring the link between kaizen methods and calculation methods in TPS, this edition includes new chapters on:

• The goal of TPS
• One-piece production in practice
• Kaizen costing
• Material handling in an assembly plant
• Smoothing kanban collection
• Determination of the number of kanban
• New developments in e-kanban
• Cultivating the spontaneous kaizen mind

Following in the footsteps of its bestselling predecessors, the fourth edition provides easy-to-follow guidance for implementing the TPS in your organization. It explains how Toyota has adapted and reacted to recent fluctuations in demand, quality problems, and recalls. It also includes an appendix that considers the recent tsunami in Japan and investigates how to reinforce the JIT system to ensure supply chain flow during sudden stoppages at individual locations within the chain.