Toyota Kata Advancing Knowledge

Toyota Kata and Training within Industry (TWI)

Practicing the Improvement Kata pulls the need for the three “J” skills of TWI.

A “pull system” describes a situation where what’s happening is only happening when the downstream “operation” needs it to be happening. Experimentation in step 4 of the Improvement Kata pulls in tools and skills. From time to time these skills will be Job Relations (JR), Job Instruction (JI) and Job Methods (JM). Further, as a whole, JR skills are synergistic with the Toyota Kata habits.

Toyota Kata and TWI Simulation: ‘Manufacturing’ or ‘Service’

A PARTICIPATORY SIMULATION that helps you identify what capabilities your company needs to practice and develop.

It is much easier to communicate what to expect via experience and illustration as opposed to just ‘telling’. Our simulations fit well with the saying ‘a picture paints a thousand words’. You will better understand through what you see, say and do.

What is scientific thinking?

Scientific thinking is different to the ‘scientific method’.

The four steps of the Improvement Kata parallel a scientific approach. Further, at step 4 of the Improvement Kata – Experiment toward the Target Condition – the learner needs to be thinking scientifically. The Coaching Kata is a way of helping a person develop a ‘scientific thinking approach’ to improvement through small ‘obstacle addressing steps’ connected to what has just been learnt.

Unleashing Scientific Thinking Through the Meta-Pattern of the Improvement Kata

Scientific thinking can be a powerful driver of progress, a powerful driver of Lean; many applications exist including the Improvement Kata. The Improvement Kata/Coaching Kata approach is a meta-pattern that gets us to use the reps we need to unleash any application of scientific thinking.