Jun 8 2018
New Karakuri Kaizen Video From Toyota
My colleague Kevin Hop drew my attention to this video of Kazuhiko Furui showing some examples of Karakuri Kaizen at Toyota, the training of Toyota employees in coming up with new devices, and the iterations that go into making them work. It goes deeper into the topic than the videos I had posted earlier.
This is part of a series of videos called econohito, that shows actions by Toyota employees to avoid wasting power or water, and to collect electricity from solar panels. Perhaps the best way forward for sustainable development would be to shift away from cars altogether, but that’s not what this is about.
#toyota, #karakurikaizen, #econohito
June 9, 2018 @ 8:55 am
Awesome! Amazing! Inspiring! Thank you for sharing.
June 9, 2018 @ 11:28 am
Hi All,
Based on the video, there appears to be a high level of “ELEGANCE” that Toyota builds into their karakuri devices and subsequently integrates them into/with operations. This stands in stark contrast to other videos where such devices are built out of white [plastic] tubes and connectors. Again, I view this as an example of the higher-order level of THINKING AND BEHAVING that is endemic to the Toyota [PRODUCTION] SYSTEM in combination with the Toyota Way. Few companies appear ready, willing, and able to make such an investment (i.e., in time/resources, personnel, knowledge and competency building/sharing)… This form of THINKING AND BEHAVING is fundamental to Toyota’s on-going superior competitive performance.
June 10, 2018 @ 6:09 am
I think the “[plastic] tubes and connectors” you are referring to are Creform or one of their competitors, and they are plastic-coated metal tubes. Their great merit is the ease with which you can change the devices you build with them, which is why I like to call them generically “erector sets.” There are limits to the weight of workpieces they can handle. I suspect the examples shown in this video may exceed that limit, which may explain their “elegance.”
This is a professional video, produced and released for public relations purposes. There may be examples on Toyota shop floors that look less polished.
June 11, 2018 @ 3:59 pm
Hi Michel,
Yes, I’ve seen other videos of Toyota production operations where the “erector set” type karakuri devices are being used in less sophisticated (and ingenious) applications. And for such applications, the lower level of “elegance” is appropriate. That said, I believe it would be rather difficult for anyone seeking to achieve that higher-level of elegance to attempt to do so using the erector-set components.
As such, I believe what’s most important about this video is not so much the elegance in the devices that Toyota is designing and building, but rather the level of commitment to a higher-order level of THINKING AND BEHAVING which is manifest in the level of elegance being pursued and achieved,
November 21, 2018 @ 12:00 am
Why I can not play the video
November 25, 2018 @ 9:17 am
I am not sure. I opened the post and was able to play it. It’s from Youtube and it took a while to come up. Perhaps you need to wait a minute or so for it to be available. I wish it would pop right up.