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The Toyota Way
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A production philosophy built on continuous improvement and respect for people.
The Two Pillars
- Continuous improvement (kaizen). Every person, every day, looks for a small improvement.
- Respect for people. Workers close to the work are the experts; their input shapes the system.
Core Practices
- Just-in-time. Build what's needed, when it's needed. No overproduction.
- Jidoka. Stop the line when something's wrong — fix it at the source.
- Genchi genbutsu. Go and see. Understand the actual place of work before deciding.
- Standardised work. Make the current best way visible so you can improve on it.
Why It Matters for Products
- Product teams overbuild; JIT mindset cuts waste.
- Stopping the line when quality slips prevents debt compounding.
- Improvement kata — small, bounded experiments — scales to software.
The Trap
Copying the rituals without copying the culture. Kaizen without respect for people becomes surveillance.
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