**2.2 Shingo model**

The Shingo Model was developed in the same period as the Lean Thinking model. The Shingo Model however gives more emphasis to human and cultural

**35**

**Table 1.** *Shingo principles.*

*Continuous Improvement*

Womack [3].

culture (**Figure 3**).

not exist.

Lead with Humility

Focus on Process

Embrace Scientific Thinking

Assure Quality at the Source Improve Flow & Pull

Create Constancy of Purpose

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.93638*

Toyota's way of working an organization is.

**Shingo principle Class**

Respect Every Individual Cultural enablers (People)

Seek Perfection Continuous improvement (Processes)

Think Systemically Enterprise alignment (Purpose)

Create Value for the Customer Results (Shareholders)

aspects than Lean Thinking. The Shingo Model [6] is the basis of the Shingo prize created by the Shingo Institute in 1988, curiously at the same time that the term "Lean" was being coined by the previously referred MIT group led by James

The Shingo Institute was established in 1988 at Utah State University in the USA following an honorary doctorate awarded to Shigeo Shingo himself. Shigeo Shingo contributed, with Taichi Ohno, with various theories and methodologies for the development of the Toyota Production System. He has written several major books including "A Study of the Toyota Production System: From an Industrial Engineering Viewpoint (Produce What Is Needed, When It's Needed)" first published in English in Japan in 1981 and then published in the US in 1989 [7]. The name of the institute was assigned in his honor. The Shingo Prize was established in 1989 and, in that year the prize was awarded to a single company, located in Bekerley in the USA, called Globe Metallurgical [8]. Since then, it has been awarded to numerous companies that meet the requirements established for this important award of excellence. The Shingo award is based on a set of criteria to assess how "Lean" an organization is, or, if otherwise perhaps more correct, how close to

The principles that were established in the Shingo Model are grouped into different classes, see **Table 1**. Comparing these principles with the principles of Lean thinking, it is easy to identify differences. Shingo principles are much more comprehensive than Lean principles and probably reflect in more detail the reality of Toyota's philosophy and culture, as they place a lot of emphasis on the less visible aspects of Toyota that are associated with human involvement, vision and

The first two principles are clearly dedicated to the side of respect for the individual, referred to by Sugimori et al.[1]. These principles are vital to develop a culture where everyone is motivated to contribute with work and creativity for the benefit of all. These principles are essential to "motivate the elephant" as nicely referred by Chip Heath and Dan Heath in their book entitled "Switch" Heath & Heath (2010). The idea is that even if everyone knows the direction to where their company wants to go, as well as knowing what they are supposed to do in order to go in that direction, no result is expected if motivation does

**Figure 2.** *The physical "leanness" observed with low levels of WIP.*

#### *Continuous Improvement DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.93638*

*Concepts, Applications and Emerging Opportunities in Industrial Engineering*

that are waiting for the next step, as waste.

production).

framed.

production looks "leaner".

**2.2 Shingo model**

central theme here in the chapter.

*The physical "leanness" observed with low levels of WIP.*

• Create flow: This principle argues that products when they are stopped waiting for the next step in the process represent waste. Ideally, products should always be either transformed in operation (or process) or being transported (as little as possible) to the next operation or process. This principle identifies products

• Create customer-pulled production: Implement the production pulled by the customer: ideally means that an operation/process is only performed when the downstream operation/process needs it, with the delivery to the customer being the last of these operations (i.e. the customer "pulls" the

• Pursue perfection: This principle is very important and requires major transformations in the structure and culture of organizations. This is where the continuous improvement and the central theme of this chapter is

Lean principles suggest a stronger connection to the physical part of the Toyota approach than to its human side. The term "Lean", in my interpretation, may have been the term chosen by the perception that the researchers had to what they observed in Toyota factories. The reduction of waste ("fat"), especially the reduction of WIP (and the consequent increase in the flow of articles throughout the manufacturing processes) would be easy to observe. This fact may have given the

As it can be seen at the bottom part of **Figure 2**, a smaller amount of WIP is metaphorically represented by a narrower pipe, i.e., it can be said that the

Different scholars of Toyota's approach vary greatly in the emphasis they give to the technical aspects and human/culture aspects. If we look at the five Lean principles, we realize that 4 of them are dedicated to technical aspects while only one is dedicated to a mixture of technical aspects and human/culture aspects. It is the principle of continuous improvement or pursuit perfection which is in fact the

The Shingo Model was developed in the same period as the Lean Thinking model. The Shingo Model however gives more emphasis to human and cultural

idea of "leanness" as can be interpreted when looking at **Figure 2**.

**34**

**Figure 2.**

aspects than Lean Thinking. The Shingo Model [6] is the basis of the Shingo prize created by the Shingo Institute in 1988, curiously at the same time that the term "Lean" was being coined by the previously referred MIT group led by James Womack [3].

The Shingo Institute was established in 1988 at Utah State University in the USA following an honorary doctorate awarded to Shigeo Shingo himself. Shigeo Shingo contributed, with Taichi Ohno, with various theories and methodologies for the development of the Toyota Production System. He has written several major books including "A Study of the Toyota Production System: From an Industrial Engineering Viewpoint (Produce What Is Needed, When It's Needed)" first published in English in Japan in 1981 and then published in the US in 1989 [7]. The name of the institute was assigned in his honor. The Shingo Prize was established in 1989 and, in that year the prize was awarded to a single company, located in Bekerley in the USA, called Globe Metallurgical [8]. Since then, it has been awarded to numerous companies that meet the requirements established for this important award of excellence. The Shingo award is based on a set of criteria to assess how "Lean" an organization is, or, if otherwise perhaps more correct, how close to Toyota's way of working an organization is.

The principles that were established in the Shingo Model are grouped into different classes, see **Table 1**. Comparing these principles with the principles of Lean thinking, it is easy to identify differences. Shingo principles are much more comprehensive than Lean principles and probably reflect in more detail the reality of Toyota's philosophy and culture, as they place a lot of emphasis on the less visible aspects of Toyota that are associated with human involvement, vision and culture (**Figure 3**).

The first two principles are clearly dedicated to the side of respect for the individual, referred to by Sugimori et al.[1]. These principles are vital to develop a culture where everyone is motivated to contribute with work and creativity for the benefit of all. These principles are essential to "motivate the elephant" as nicely referred by Chip Heath and Dan Heath in their book entitled "Switch" Heath & Heath (2010). The idea is that even if everyone knows the direction to where their company wants to go, as well as knowing what they are supposed to do in order to go in that direction, no result is expected if motivation does not exist.


The second class of principles is related to CI. These five principles include almost all technical aspects and behaviors with direct influence in the production process. In this class of continuous improvement, three Lean principles are included, "Seek perfection", "Flow" and "Pull Flow". The principle of "Embrace Scientific Thinking" is also very much related to CI because it brings reliability in problem solving as well as reducing erratic judgment and erratic decision making. Erratic judgment as well as erratic decision making is the classic "jump to conclusions" that happens when managers or supervisors decide very quickly what is the best solution to a problem without using a systematic approach previously defined.

There also two principles related to the enterprise alignment creating the environment where everyone knows where to go (*Create Constancy of Purpose*) and how to act (*Think Systemically*) in order to go toward the vision of the company. The last principle is related to the need to be profitable to sustain the organization.

### **2.3 Toyota way**

The Toyota Way is the title of the book by Jeffrey Liker [9], it is the result of a change of designation that occurred at Toyota in 2001. As the Toyota Production System refers only to the production area, The Toyota Way was adopted to show the intention that the philosophy would extend to all sectors of the organization. As with Toyota, this extension to other areas than just production, has also occurred in various organizations around the world. Thus, with the designation of Lean <anything>, the most varied implementations were appearing, for example, in hospitals (Lean Hospitals), in accounting (Lean Accounting), in administrative environment (Lean Office), in services environment (Lean Services), in academia (Lean Teaching), as well as in many other areas.

This Toyota Way is referred to on the Toyota Europe website [10] as being based on two pillars: Continuous improvement and Respect for People (includes respect and teamwork). It is curious to be close to the concepts that were presented by Sugimori et al. [1] referred to at the beginning of this chapter. Toyota Way is broken down into 14 principles that were published by Jeffrey Liker [9] and which are grouped into the four sections as shown in **Table 2**.

**37**

*Continuous Improvement*

the Right Results

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.93638*

**Section 2** The Right Process Will Produce

**Section 3** Add Value to the Organization

**Section 4** Continuously Solving Root Problems Drives Organizational Learning

by Developing Your People

**Section Principle**

**Section 1** Long-term philosophy Principle 1. Base your management decisions on a long-term

problems to the surface

quality right the first time

that serves your people and processes

follow your company's philosophy

the situation (*Genchi Genbutsu*)

empowerment

philosophy, even at the expense of short-term financial goals

Principle 5. Build a culture of stopping to fix problems, to get

Principle 2. Create a continuous process flow to bring

Principle 3. Use "pull" systems to avoid overproduction

Principle 6. Standardized tasks and processes are the foundation for continuous improvement and employee

Principle 7. Use visual control so no problems are hidden Principle 8. Use only reliable, thoroughly tested technology

Principle 9. Grow leaders who thoroughly understand the work, live the philosophy, and teach it to others

Principle 10. Develop exceptional people and teams who

Principle 11. Respect your extended network of partners and suppliers by challenging them and helping them improve

Principle 12. Go and see for yourself to thoroughly understand

Principle 13. Make decisions slowly by consensus, thoroughly considering all options; implement decisions rapidly

Principle 14. Become a learning organization through relentless reflection (*Hansei*) and continuous improvement

Principle 4. Level out the workload (*Heijunka*)

**3. Continuous improvement**

**Table 2.**

*Principles of Toyota way.*

Constantly pursuing perfection means never being satisfied with what has already been achieved and always seeking to do better. There is a very interesting story of Toyota, on this subject, which was told by the manager, already retired, Isao Yoshino, who was involved in the installation of Toyota's first factory in the USA. This was the NUMMI (New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc.) project, which resulted from a partnership between Toyota and General Motors and led to the construction of a plant in Fremont, California, in 1984. This car factory was the first experience outside Japan, of implementing Toyota's way of management and culture. Returning to Isao Yoshino, the story he told did not convince me at first, but after a long and informal conversation, I was convinced. This story reveals one of the most fascinating aspects of Toyota's culture, and that is as follows: The word "Toyota" comes from the word "Toyoda", which already existed as a brand (Company Toyoda Automatic Loom Works) and which is actually the name of the family that created that company. In terms of writing, both Latin and Japanese, the words Toyota and Toyoda only differ in tenuous detail. However, it is in Japanese

(*Nemawashi*)

(*kaizen*)

*Concepts, Applications and Emerging Opportunities in Industrial Engineering*

The second class of principles is related to CI. These five principles include almost all technical aspects and behaviors with direct influence in the production process. In this class of continuous improvement, three Lean principles are included, "Seek perfection", "Flow" and "Pull Flow". The principle of "Embrace Scientific Thinking" is also very much related to CI because it brings reliability in problem solving as well as reducing erratic judgment and erratic decision making. Erratic judgment as well as erratic decision making is the classic "jump to conclusions" that happens when managers or supervisors decide very quickly what is the best solution to a problem without using a systematic approach previously

There also two principles related to the enterprise alignment creating the environment where everyone knows where to go (*Create Constancy of Purpose*) and how to act (*Think Systemically*) in order to go toward the vision of the company. The last principle is related to the need to be profitable to sustain the

The Toyota Way is the title of the book by Jeffrey Liker [9], it is the result of a change of designation that occurred at Toyota in 2001. As the Toyota Production System refers only to the production area, The Toyota Way was adopted to show the intention that the philosophy would extend to all sectors of the organization. As with Toyota, this extension to other areas than just production, has also occurred in various organizations around the world. Thus, with the designation of Lean <anything>, the most varied implementations were appearing, for example, in hospitals (Lean Hospitals), in accounting (Lean Accounting), in administrative environment (Lean Office), in services environment (Lean Services), in academia (Lean

This Toyota Way is referred to on the Toyota Europe website [10] as being based on two pillars: Continuous improvement and Respect for People (includes respect and teamwork). It is curious to be close to the concepts that were presented by Sugimori et al. [1] referred to at the beginning of this chapter. Toyota Way is broken down into 14 principles that were published by Jeffrey Liker [9] and which are

**36**

defined.

**Figure 3.** *Toyoda vs. Toyota.*

organization.

**2.3 Toyota way**

Teaching), as well as in many other areas.

grouped into the four sections as shown in **Table 2**.


#### **Table 2.**

*Principles of Toyota way.*
