Imitate Toyota
Shawn Chase
Thursday, November 2, 2006
WE HAVE SOME measures on the upcoming ballot about adding commissioners, managers, whatever to manage the budget and processes of Lyon County. Instead of adding (to the) headcount I would rather see the administration first focus on removing waste. The state of Connecticut, notably, is reducing government waste by employing the concepts that made Toyota Motor Co. the premiere manufacturer, automobile or otherwise, on the planet.
“What does Toyota have to do with the way we run the city and county?” Good question. Toyota is successful because it constantly exposes and removes waste from all aspects of its business. James Womack packaged these concepts and others regarding waste elimination under the umbrella of “Lean” in the middle 1990s.
We have an excellent resource for waste reduction in Kansas — the Mid-America Manufacturing Technology Center. Their team helps businesses eliminate waste and become more competitive so Kansas business owners don’t have to outsource our jobs to stay competitive.
The answer isn’t creating more jobs in local government. First you should learn how you can apply the wisdom of Toyota to your processes and remove waste. Leaders of Lyon County, please talk to MAMTC instead of consistently raising our taxes or hiring more people to ‘solve’ budget management problems. Value stream map, anyone?
Shawn Chase
Emporia