A Study of the Toyota Production System: From an Industrial Engineering Viewpoint

by Shigeo Shingo, Andrew P. Dillon

This is the "green book" that started it all -- the first book in English on JIT, written from the engineer's viewpoint. When Omark Industries bought 500 copies and studied it companywide, Omark became the American pioneer in JIT. Here is Dr. Shingo's classic industrial engineering rationale for the priority of process-based over operational improvements in manufacturing. He explains the basic mechanisms of the Toyota production system, examines production as a functional network of processes and operations, and then discusses the mechanism necessary to make JIT possible in any manufacturing plant. If you are a serious student of manufacturing, you will benefit greatly from reading this primary resource on the powerful fundamentals of JIT.

Genres: Business, Engineering, Nonfiction

296 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1989

Reviews

[Bob Wallner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dr. Shigeo Shingo is one of my favorite authors from the Japanese productivity movement. His work with SMED and poka yoke is unquestionably some of the most advanced writings on the topic. His skills as an industrial engineer are virtually unmatched even today.

In this book, he looks at the Toyota production system from a consultants viewpoint. Much of the book discusses the areas he's comfortable with (SMED and poka yoke), but there are several instances where he goes outside of his comfort zone and discusses other facets of the Toyota production system. These areas are primarily waste reduction and the use of kanban. Additionally he discusses a non-TPS topic of MRP which is interesting.

Even though I am a fan of Dr. Shingo, I was not a fan of this book. Like the adage, if a carpenter has a hammer every problem looks like a nail, set up and error proofing seem to be Dr. Shingo's hammer. I found his assessments of kanban lacking deep understanding and in another section he incorrectly defines takt time as "the time it takes to produce one piece of product. This time is equivalent to the total working time divided by production quantity." P. 105.

It's hard to criticize someone who has contributed so much to the science of improvement, but I did not feel this was his best work. I have several books on my shelf written by him yet to read. I know I will gain a lot of wisdom from those books.

[Kostiantyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shigeo Shingo was an engineer, a thinker, and a philosopher. And his perspective on manufacturing is so original and so well-structured. That’s why “Toyota Green Book” is a must-read for any Lean professional. And even if you’re not a Lean professional but work in a manufacturing environment, it’s still a must-read. I’d probably be cautious about recommending it to beginners, but I’d definitely recommend keeping it on their must-read list.

Now this book, being over 30 years old, has many obvious disadvantages. Starting from the translation, the structure of chapters 9 to 12, the quality of the images, etc… However, it is still the best book on TPS. And if it is not the best, then it is on the short list.

[Stuart Bateman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for any Industrial or Production engineer, to truly start to understand the thinking behind the TPS system and what priorities they placed on the several wastes (Motion being the most important and Over production).
Shingo goes at length into what advances the system (SMED and Kanban) and the rules behind them, along with insights into how they were developed and should be used.
There are comments on the future (mainly about computers and robots) with his thoughts on how they can be integrated into the production system, but principally to aid workers.
A short but informative book, if you can't find the time to read it, Shingo has added a summary of the ideas that runs the TPS in the last chapter, but to prevent errors and problems in your implementation he recommends (as do I) that you read the book.

[Colin Giroux · Rating 4 out of 5]

Contains useful information, although somewhat disorganized. As someone who’s not used to reading translated books, the diction was sometimes confusing and made some of the ideas difficult to grasp fully.

[Mike Thelen · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is no one better to learn from than the original...

[Henrique Esser · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must for who is starting the lean way

[scott]

"another detailed look at the toyota system. including its conceptual underpinnings."

[Frank Dodd · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book is a bad interpretation -Or perhaps a word for word interpretation of the original Japanese language it was written in. This to make seems to understand hard! If you like that sentence then you will like the book. I read half-way through before I gave up.

[dewie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Everything about toyota production system

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not easy to read but informative.

[Carlos Perz coatz]

I want read this bokk please