The Training Within Industry (TWI) service was created by the United States Department of War, running from 1940 to 1945 within the War Manpower Commission. The purpose was to provide consulting services to war-related industries whose personnel were being conscripted into the US Army at the same time the War Department was issuing orders for additional matériel. It was apparent that the shortage of trained and skilled personnel at precisely the time they were needed most would impose a hardship on those industries, and that only improved methods of job training would address the shortfall. [1] By the end of World War II, over 1.6 million workers in over 16,500 plants had received a certification. The program continued post-war in Europe and Asia, where it aided reconstruction. It is most notable in the business world for inspiring the concept of kaizen in Japan. In addition, the program became the foundation of the Toyota Production System and the DoD resourced open source Management System (3.1).
The four basic training programs (10-hour sessions) developed by TWI were developed by experts on loan from private industry. Because of the intensity of the situation, a large number of experimental methods were tried and discarded. This resulted in a distilled, concentrated set of programs. Each program had introductory programs called "Appreciation Sessions" that were used to sell the programs to top management and introduce the programs to middle management of a company. Each program also had 'Train-the-Trainer' programs and handbooks called "Institute Conductor's Manual" for the master trainers. [2] The TWI Service also developed a number of "Staff Only" training programs to support staff development and to improve the implementation success.
The TWI trainers had to be invited to a factory in order to present their material. In order to market the service, they developed the Five Needs of the Supervisor: every supervisor needs to have Knowledge of the Work, Knowledge of Responsibility, Skill in Instructing, Skill in Improving Methods, and Skill in Leading. [2] Each program was based on Charles Allen's 4-point method of Preparation, Presentation, Application, and Testing.
The 10-hour Sessions were:
There was also a short-lived course that taught union personnel (UJR) to work effectively with management. [2]
Internal training programs were; "Management Contact Manual" (1944) - a formal training course on how to sell the TWI programs to management, "How to get Continuing Results from TWI Programs in a Plant" (1944) - this training program was the out-growth of two years of practical experimentation and experience on what it took to have a successful implementation of TWI.
There were several groups that had an impact in the expansion of the TWI programs around the world - US State Department, US Army, British Ministry of Labour, International Labor Organization (ILO) and Standard Oil. [5] In 1944, the British Ministry of Labour sent Frank Perkins to the US to evaluate the TWI programs. [6] In the summer of 1944, Perkins returned to England to establish a similar program. The British Ministry of Labour actively promoted the TWI programs, listing 65 countries in addition to the US and England where TWI was known to be in use as of 1959. [7] Expansion into Europe was led by Standard Oil, which led the translation efforts of the manuals into native languages. Some European TWI activity was done under the Marshall Plan by "Visiting Experts" (VE), with limited success. It was the later work by the ILO using the Standard Oil translations and re-translation efforts that established the TWI programs in Europe. The ILO TWI training program in Bangalore India has the distinction of training the first Japanese about 1947. [8]
Although the TWI program funding for application of the programs in the USA by the government ended in 1945, the US government did fund the introduction to the war-torn nations of Europe and Asia. Several private groups continued to provide TWI in the US and abroad. Channing Dooley, Walter Dietz, Mike Kane and Bill Conover (collectively known as "the Four Horsemen") continued the development of the 'J' programs by establishing the TWI Foundation. [2] This group was responsible for continuing the spread of TWI throughout Europe and Asia. The Director of one of the district offices established TWI, Inc., and was hired by the US Government to provide TWI training in Japan. It was especially well received in Japan, where TWI formed the basis of the kaizen culture in industry. Kaizen, known by such names as Quality Circles in the West, was successfully harnessed by Toyota Motor Corporation in conjunction with the Lean or Just In Time principles of Taiichi Ohno. In the foreword to Dinero's book "Training Within Industry", John Shook relates a story in which a Toyota trainer brought out an old copy of a TWI service manual to prove to him that American workers at NUMMI could be taught using the "Japanese" methods used at Toyota. Thus, TWI was the forerunner of what is today regarded as a Japanese creation. [2]
The symbiosis between TWI program and Lean Management is such that one cannot effectively implement Lean Management without incorporating TWI principles. [9] Lean Management's success largely depends on the competence and awareness of middle management, which TWI aims to develop. This focus on leadership skills, as emphasized in sources like Jeffrey Liker's "Toyota Talent" highlights TWI's pivotal role in shaping organizational culture in the context of Lean Management. [10] The practical implementation of TWI Program within Lean Management underscores the program's enduring significance and its essential role in the successful transformation of middle management into effective leaders.
William Edwards Deming was an American business theorist, composer, economist, industrial engineer, management consultant, statistician, and writer. Educated initially as an electrical engineer and later specializing in mathematical physics, he helped develop the sampling techniques still used by the United States Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. He is also known as the father of the quality movement and was hugely influential in post-WWII Japan, credited with revolutionizing Japan's industry and making it one of the most dominant economies in the world. He is best known for his theories of management.
Training is teaching, or developing in oneself or others, any skills and knowledge or fitness that relate to specific useful competencies. Training has specific goals of improving one's capability, capacity, productivity and performance. It forms the core of apprenticeships and provides the backbone of content at institutes of technology. In addition to the basic training required for a trade, occupation or profession, training may continue beyond initial competence to maintain, upgrade and update skills throughout working life. People within some professions and occupations may refer to this sort of training as professional development. Training also refers to the development of physical fitness related to a specific competence, such as sport, martial arts, military applications and some other occupations.
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Kaizen is a concept referring to business activities that continuously improve all functions and involve all employees from the CEO to the assembly line workers. Kaizen also applies to processes, such as purchasing and logistics, that cross organizational boundaries into the supply chain. It has been applied in healthcare, psychotherapy, life coaching, government, manufacturing, and banking.
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In manufacturing, andon is a system which notifies managerial, maintenance, and other workers of a quality or process problem. The alert can be activated manually by a worker using a pullcord or button or may be activated automatically by the production equipment itself. The system may include a means to pause production so the issue can be corrected. Some modern alert systems incorporate audio alarms, text, or other displays; stack lights are among the most commonly used.
The Toyota Way is a set of principles defining the organizational culture of Toyota Motor Corporation. The company formalized the Toyota Way in 2001, after decades of academic research into the Toyota Production System and its implications for lean manufacturing as a methodology that other organizations could adopt. The two pillars of the Toyota Way are respect for people and continuous improvement. Jeffrey K. Liker popularized the philosophy in his 2004 book, The Toyota Way: 14 Management Principles from the World's Greatest Manufacturer. Subsequent research has explored the extent to which the Toyota Way can be applied in other contexts.
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Norman Bodek was a teacher, consultant, author and publisher who published over 100 Japanese management books in English, including the works of Taiichi Ohno and Dr. Shigeo Shingo. He taught a course on "The Best of Japanese Management Practices" at Portland State University. Bodek created the Shingo Prize with Dr. Vern Beuhler at Utah State University. He was elected to Industry Week's Manufacturing Hall of Fame and founded Productivity Press. He was also the President of PCS Press. He died on December 9, 2020, at the age of 88.
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