Rating: 
Summary: lean literature up with the good stuff - but some flaws
Review: As a working lean sensei it is always interesting to read new books on this subject. The world is well used to the musings of academics drawn to the "worlds greatest manufacturer", so it is refreshing to read an above average insight to the subject. In this book the author, for the first time since Ohno, (one of the co-creators of TPS) gets beyond the usual list and descriptions of lean tools. Mr Likers work is at its best when he delves into the deeply held management principles that many generations of toyota people have used with continuing success. As with most things done well, these take a lifetime of practice to become truly competent, but reading this book will let people know the size of the undertaking. What we are discussing of course is a revolution in traditional management behaviour. Easy to read but terifically hard to do and almost impossible without good guidance. Toyota of course does what all leaders say they want to do, but never get round too. Most are too busy making the next quarter. Technically the book has all the main stuff in it but unfortunately it suffers from a structure that has the reader jumping around a little. Mr Liker didn't really need to describe the tools of toyota in such detail as that has been done to death by the 'lean thinkers' and it read like filler.
He would have been better illustrating the underlying principles of the toyota way by way of more real case studies outside of toyota but then as we know few have managed to emulate this secret sauce. Of course those who use and practice the toyota way everyday come to understand that the tools are a much smaller part than most writers would lead you to believe.
Because of this I would only recommend some passages to my clients / students, and avoid advising them reading the full book at the start of a lean transformation as would confuse most embarking on the lean enterprise strategy.
Only one big beef with the book...
I was terribly dissappointed by the product development case stories which actually contradicted many of the arguments presented and the principles espoused. Engineers informing spouses that they have to go and live in the plant is the overburden that toyota is supposed to deplore with a vengence and then to the waste....anyone can throw "hundreds of engineers" to a project. These elements of the book made me question how much value adding was really going on in these examples. So I ultimately questioned the accuracy of the reporting. Cynically I began to question the "one big room process" must have been a really really really big room! Did Mr liker really have access to toyota'product development process? In addition the mythical "18month development time for a new car" was not correct. From blank sheet of paper to new car in the Prius case cited was actually many years from the goals being set. This part was just plain hype. Sure Toyota 'productionises' their cars very quickly and undoubtedly their design re-use levels make for very high quality, but mostly bland designs. From blank sheet of paper to new car in 18 months? No way.
So in summary one of the better books on the subject. Only marred by a clumsy structure and over hyping in area's that could have done with more factual case studies than anecdotes. I suggest that the book on toyota's product development is yet to be really written. The lexus story is now a decade old and, in europe at least, lexus has not really achieved its aspirational brand goals.
The toyota way is an interesting read on the toyota phenomenon but like most things about toyota you only truly learn by doing.
The toyota way claims on its jacket to enable you to be like toyota. As a sensei I'll finish with a question....
Can we play like tiger woods after reading his book?
Chris Cooper
(...)
Rating:
Summary: Toyota Way - It is a way of life....
Review: As an employee of Toyota, I felt this book to be like an internal document to me, the depth of study the author has done being reflected in this book.
The approach is typically American, always comparing between mass production & TPS and thus showing merits of TPS. I would have liked an approach that does not compare with mass production, but with other lean companies ( Author has done this to some extent, to be frank with you all).
May be there is a lot of people around who believe in mass production and author has to take the message across to them also.
Whatever said and done, this book is unique because of it's holistic approach to Toyota Way.
I would suggest the following to enjoy the book better.
1. Do not think that Toyota Way is not only for Business, it can be applied effectively in day to day life.
( Try to apply the Sphagetti diagram when you are preparing your tea next time, you will see a lot of ways to improve the way you make tea!)
2. Do not get carried away by the examples given. Take a paper run your imagination and try to get a real life picture.
3. Try to apply each principle in Simple day to day real life process. Read through the Book once. come back review and read the book again.
In a nutshell "Feel the Toyota Way, dont just try to read it".
All Best for a good experience with Toyota Way.
Rating: 
Summary: Toyota way is a way of thinking
Review: As Liker clearly points out, the Toyota Way is more of a way of thinking than anything else. Also it is clear that the Toyota Way is a system of management that cannot be broken down into components and 'implemented' piecemeal. The interactions among the componenets are what make the system so powerful and it is described that way clearly by Liker. His explanations and examples are clear and insightful and his Principles and diagrams present good summaries of the writing.
Anyone interested in management should read this book. It is quite full of significant revelations and well worth the price.
Rating:
Summary: The Toyota Way
Review: Dr. Liker tells us upfront in Chapter 1 that "I hope to show in this book that most companies have focused too heavily on tools such as 5S and just-in-time, without understanding lean as an entire system that must permeate an organization's culture." As a lean practitioner, I agree with Dr. Liker that "In most companies where lean is implemented, senior management is not involved in the day-to-day operations and continuous improvement that are part of lean." I see that everyday in our work with other companies and was immediately interested to find out more about how "Toyota's approach is very different." Although I read numerous books about Toyota and TPS, the 14 Toyota management principles were new to me. What a relief to read a "lean" book that doesn't focus solely on the tools. We all know what to do, doing it is the problem, and I learned a lot about how and why Toyota gets things done so effectively on the shopfloor. Team leaders at Toyota in Georgetown, KY wrote in that Toyota has problems the author did not address in this book and that things are not the same in Georgetown as the book would lead us to believe. The fact that things were according to the 14 principle 12 years ago cannot be discounted. American management may not be up to the task as the team leaders would have us believe but that's another problem that could be the basis for a book that compares the "old" and "new" Toyota. What a switch it would be to learn from Toyota mistakes! I still have much to learn from what Toyota does right, the author did not stray from his objective for writing the book, and as a result I learned a great deal. As Dr. Liker wrote in last chapter: "The Toyota Way was 'invented, discovered, and developed' over decades as talented Toyota managers and engineers like Ohno,'learned to cope with its (Toyota's) problems of external adaptation and internal integration.' The history of Toyota is very important for us to understand the challenges and context that led to active on-the-floor problem solving, not theoretical, top-down exercises." This book is long overdue for companies struggling to involve employees in active on-the-floor problem solving and to provide management with a model to build their own lean enterprise.
Rating:
Summary: Toyota DNA
Review: Even though no other company will have the exact Toyota DNA, the principles in this book should be like the 14 commandments for all companies. There is something that wows me just about in every page I read. I'm only through half of the book, but if I had the money I would send it to many of my manufacturing friends. But that is much rather like pushing it, and I am not sure they would read it, even as a freebie. I have read many of the "Lean books", Womack, etc. and liked them too. But "The Toyota Way" has been the best. There are many automotive Japanese companies, but Toyota is very special. No wonder everybody is trying to copy the tools used there. But what everybody misses is the basic philosophy and the 14 principles around Challenge, Kaizen, Respect, Teamwork and Genchi Genbutsu, or the 4 Ps of Liker. Liker does an excellent work in explaining them. a manufacturing engineering manager
Rating:
Summary: 14 Points
Review: Good read, no earth shattering take away material but a great story of quality in action. I HIGHLY recommend to anyone who wants to learn more about quality to read the timeless works of W. Edwards Deming, the man credited with teaching the Japanese about quality. His 14 Points are very evident in Toyota's DNA. Like an American "Milkman", it is obvious much of Toyota's DNA comes from this quality leader.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome! Read it twice!
Review: I am half way done with Toyota Way and would recommend this book to anyone looking for a thorough analysis of process and change. I do not work in manufacturing but am reading the book for ideas to apply in the service industry. The author has suggestions for services industries while talking about manufacturing---there are specific sections for service industry.
Rating:
Summary: Applying Visual Control Principle to Your Projects/Processes
Review: I recently had a senior executive in my company send me a template for what was labeled an "A-3 form". He said he wanted all his managers to use the form to map out their proposed projects and processes. He suggested that we buy a copy of Jeffrey Liker's book to understand it's basis. I bought and read the book, and found Chapters 13 & 14 particularly helpful in understanding the need and purpose for such a form. It provided some detailed insight on how to complete the form in a way that it best serves its purpose. It explained and illustrated the some of the less intuitive aspects such as the "root cause analysis". Although the book showed the A-3 document in a format labeled PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) and the Toyota form actually sent from my boss was labeled (Plan-Do-Learn), the contents were essentially the same. For anyone wanting to better visualize their processes and projects quicker, I highly recommend this book to see how Toyota has successfully applied "a picture is worth a thousand words" to their standardized reporting procedure.
Rating:
Summary: Required reading for our clients.
Review: If you read only one book about the Toyota Production System, make it Dr. Liker's "The Toyota Way". Well researched and well written, it captures the essence of Toyota's business system- a management philosophy of empowering people to achieve a culture of continuous improvement. It's required reading for our executive clients, and strongly recommended for all business leaders. A landmark book.
Mark Edmondson
President
www.LEANaffiliates.com
Rating:
Summary: What the other reviews didn't mention.
Review: If you read the other reviews here, you will buy this book. Here's what those other reviews do not say.
If you read this book, you will never buy another brand of car the rest of your life, (Toyota, Lexus & Scion). Unless of course you work for some other car company. This book supports years of industry analysis and data proving that Toyota is decades ahead in the management of quality improvement. Anyone who disagrees, doesn't quite know the whole story.
I disagree with a few reviews which imply or state that there's nothing Earth-shattering here. The old stuff is here too, 14 points, Kaizen, etc., but the single most profound developemnt in this book is the change in the production method to discard the traditional linear thinking of production processes, for cars normally a four step and four year process, (traditionally 5 to 6 in the U.S., pg. 59), for a dramatic and profound process of tandem development which reduces total production time to 12 months or less (for NEW vehicle types).
The other profound principle left unmentioned is Toyota's direct and public commitment to do the right thing. For Toyota sure, but also for customers and for the world.
You won't be surprised to know my wife and I each own a Toyota, she a Prius(possibly best car on the market for a variety of reason, see Popular Mechanics article), and me a Matrix(very cool, way cooler than my Previa).
This book is important for anyone to read, not just those in the industry. It brings home the facts about improvement and begs the question: "Why don't ALL companies use these principles?"
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