《Toyota#39;s Meltdown Lessons for Pharma on its Lean Journey》.doc

Toyotas Meltdown: Lessons for Pharma on its Lean Journey Pharmas Lean Six Sigma efforts are still at an early stage, but Toyotas quality woes offer important lessons By Agnes Shanley, Editor in Chief To cast your vote, log in or become a member. This quick, one-time registration gives you access to members-only site benefits. 1 vote Share Print Related RSS Text size: - + Toyota, whose Toyota Production System has been the model for Lean Manufacturing programs of all kinds, faced the greatest quality crisis in its history this year, when 8.5 million of its cars were recalled for safety problems. Consumer loyalty was shaken in a brand that, over the years, had become synonymous with quality. Sales fell, there were fines, and liability suits, all of which are expected to cost the company over $5 billion. In March, the company’s president and CEO apologized and admitted that the company had strayed far from its original mission of product quality and customer satisfaction to focus on growth. “I fear we have grown too fast,” he said. Experts on Toyota’s LessonsBelow are transcribed interviews with some of this article’s key experts on what lessons pharma can learn from Toyota’s travails: Thomas Friedli Gawayne Mahboubian-Jones But the company reacted swiftly, appointing a senior management team, led by the CEO, to focus on consumer satisfaction and product quality. In the headlines for the past few months, this story has been analyzed extensively, attributed to senior management hubris, lack of communication between corporate divisions, insufficient management attention to safety issues pointed out by company engineers, and pressures on a workforce already stretched thin to “do more with less.” Some analysts questioned whether applying Lean principles, by definition, meant compromising product quality. Some analysts questioned whether there was any flaw in Lean Manufacturing itself, and whether applying Lean principles, by definition, meant compromising product quality