“All we are doing is looking at the time line, from the moment the customer gives us an order to the point when we collect the cash. And we are reducing that time line by removing the non-value-adding wastes.”
“Ask ‘why’ five times about every matter.”
“Costs do not exist to be calculated. Costs exist to be reduced.”
“Do anything immediately. Starting something right now is the only way to win.”
“Explain difficult things in an easy-to-understand manner. Repeat things that are easy to understand.”
“First reduce waste.”
“First say, ‘I can do it.’ And try before everything.”
“Having no problems is the biggest problem of all.”
“Is it really economical to provide more information than we need – more quickly than we need it? This is like buying a large, high performance machine that produces too much. The extra items have to be stored in a warehouse, which increases the cost.”
“Kaizen should be done when times are good or when the company is profitable, since your efforts to streamline and make improvements when the company is poor are limited to reduction in staff.”
“Machine cycle time and manual cycle time are still mixed up all over the world.”
“No goal, regardless of how small can be achieved without adequate training.”
“No one has more trouble than the person who claims to have no trouble.”
“Once you start something, persevere with it. Do not give up until you finish it.”
“Perhaps the more that a person is an intellectual the more they are prone to misconceptions.”
“Progress cannot be generated when we are satisfied with existing situations.”
“Re-improve what was improved for further improvement.”
“Standards should not be forced down from above but rather set by the production workers themselves.”
“The most important thing about doing kaizen is to do kaizen when times are good, the economy is strong, and the company is profitable”
“The workplace is a teacher. ”
“Toyota’s just-in-time production is a way to deliver exactly what the production line needs, when it is needed. This method does not require extra inventory. Similarly, we want information only when we need it. Information sent to production should be timed exactly.”
“Waste is hidden. Do not hide it. Make problems visible.”
“We are doomed to failure without a daily destruction of our various preconceptions.”
“Where there is no standard, there can be no improvement.”
“Wisdom is given equally to everybody. The point is whether one can exercise it.”