Top 15 Jeffrey K. Liker Quotes

Most Business Processes Are 90% Waste and 10% Value-Added Work

Every team member has the responsibility to stop the line every time they see something that is out of standard. That's how we put the responsibility for quality in the hands of our team members.

We have to change the culture from one in which people simply do their own job in their own function to make their own numbers look good (a vertical focus) to one in which people are focused horizontally on the customer and on improving value streams that deliver value across functions.

Go and see for yourself to thoroughly understand the situation (genchi genbutsu).

We build cars, not intellectuals

The act of deeply thinking through problems, energizing people, and aligning them toward a common goal is the only way to practice and develop real leadership ability.

Standardization Is the Basis for Continuous Improvement and Quality

Andon works only when you teach your employees the importance of bringing problems to the surface so they can be quickly solved.

All we are doing is looking at the time line from the moment the customer gives us an order to the point when we collect the cash. And we are reducing that time line by removing the non-value-added wastes. (Ohno, 1988)

The use of a good process that engages people is much more desirable, even if it does not initially achieve all the results.

I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers. — Ralph Nader, consumer advocate

Automobiles account for about 20 percent of the carbon dioxide from all human sources, yet about one fourth of the world's population enjoys their benefits.

The Toyota Production System can be realized only when all the workers become tortoises. (Ohno, 1988)

You do not simply, mindlessly, implement the best practices. You have to think deeply about your condition. If the “best practice” seems like a useful countermeasure for your problem, you should learn from the best practice; however, what may have worked in some other place may not work for you without adjustment and even further improvement.

No matter how many improvements have been made, every process is still full of waste and rife with opportunity to improve.