Jidoka, one of the foundations of the often-emulated Toyota Production System, empowers employees to identify and quickly take action to correct problems at any stage of a process. It not only makes an organization efficient, but also helps create more employee buy-in for process improvement.

Some consider the Toyota Production System (TPS) a forerunner of Lean Six Sigma. Jidoka remains part of the Lean process for many companies. It promotes the active involvement of every employee, no matter their position and job title.

Jidoka ranks with the top practical Lean tools and concepts that can work not only on the manufacturing floor, but in all types of processes.

Jidoka and the Toyota Production System

Toyota created Jidoka as one of the two pillars of TPS (the other is Just-in-Time Production). The concept started in the early 1900s by Sakichi Toyoda, founder of the Toyota Group, who invented a loom that stopped automatically when the thread broke, according to the Lean Enterprise Institute. Before then, a loom would continue to create defective fabric when a thread broke, requiring someone to always watch the machine.

Today, Jidoka describes a process in which a worker who spots a problem in a process has the authority to stop production and correct the problem. This can occur at any stage of an operation.

When first put into place, the concept of Jidoka involved an Andon cord. This was simply a rope that an employee could pull to stop a process. Toyota felt that employees not only had the right to stop a process whenever they saw a problem, but had an obligation to do so.

On a modern manufacturing floor, Jidoka involves self-monitoring machinery that automatically detects an issue and safely stops. Employees can then conduct an inspection and make the necessary adjustments and changes. A board displays information about the shutdown for everyone to see, communicating what is happening and allowing employees to keep working in other areas, maintaining productivity.

Using Jidoka gives the people most qualified to fix a problem the authority to do so. It also eliminates the need for managers to hover around every task being performed. It’s an effective combination of innovative technology and human intelligence.

Toyota places an emphasis on the human factor. While machinery can get programmed to detect issues, it takes people to improve systems “by hand” until they reach a consistent state of safety and reliability. Toyota engineers build production lines based on meticulous plans, then continually improve how they operate. Jidoka is part of that continuous improvement process.

Jidoka Off The Manufacturing Floor

While designed for manufacturing, the principle steps of Jidoka can translate into any type of process, much like other Lean concepts. These steps include the following.

  • A worker detects an abnormality in a process, resulting in a deviation from the usual workflow
  • The process is immediately stopped
  • Employees then address the issue, identifying the problem
  • An immediate investigation is launched into the root cause of the problem, and a solution found

Jidoka offers one of many examples how Lean concepts can apply to any type of process. By investing in the right technology and empowering employees, organizations can more quickly address errors in any process.