VELOCITY - DEE JACOB [25]
“Yes, and they created the Toyota Production System,” said Harry. “Elements of this became known, in English, as Just-In-Time production. Quite revolutionary. Low inventories. Better quality. Quick changeover of production, so you could make a small number of parts, then set up to make another part very quickly. We tried it at the company, but … it was too radical. The vendors, the lower management people … nobody understood it.”
“Mom, is this true?” asked Amy.
“I don’t really know. But, as I recall, back in the nineteen eighties, the company sent him to Japan–”
“Yes, that was the place!” said Harry. “I was in Japan!”
“Funny, but I do not remember this,” said Amy.
“I think you were away at college, dear,” her mother said.
“And we drank that … what was it?” asked Harry. “That clear, sort of sweet-tasting wine they have. What was the name?”
“Sake,” said Zelda. “He came back from Japan and every Friday night he would have sake with dinner. And if it got cold – you’re supposed to drink it warm – he wanted me to heat it up for him. Finally, I told him, warm it yourself, I’m not your geisha.”
“Ah, but you are, my dear, you are,” said Harry, a twinkle in his eye, and he leaned over the table and kissed her on the cheek.
“Grandma!” said Michelle. “You’re blushing!”
Indeed she was. Zelda pulled back from him, smile on her face and a twinkle in her own eye.
“So, anyway, where were we?” asked Harry.
“Well, at one point, I was talking about muda,” said Amy, “and you were talking about moolah.”
“Right, right, right. And the question that occurs to me is, how are you going to get the moolah out of the muda?”
“Actually, Dad, that’s a pretty good question.”
“Of course it is. I asked it.”
Amy turned to her children and said, “What your grandfather is asking is, how is my company going to use the opportunity of eliminating waste to make money?”
“Exactly,” said Harry.
“Well, we’re supposed to get some quick, early results. But it’s a long-term proposition. We have to do the training. We have to form the teams. The teams analyze everything that’s going on, and then they tell us in management where the opportunities are. You see, the people on the teams have to be motivated; they have to be involved and engaged. We can guide them – have to guide them – but we have to let them have a say in which projects to pursue.”
“And so?”
“We urge them on, we encourage them, we recognize their efforts. We help them implement the solutions. And the results … happen.”
“All right, but seriously,” said her father, “how do you – as in your company – make money out of it?”
“Dad, I think that’s obvious, isn’t it? If we reduce muda, if we eliminate defects, then everyone can work faster.”
“All right. Perhaps. But is that good?”
“Yes, of course it’s good! Quality improves, everyone works faster, therefore, productivity increases, customer needs are met, and we make more money.”
Her father listened to all of this sagely but then said, “I don’t know. It just sounds to me like you’re going to spend a lot of moolah, but I don’t know if you know how you’re going to get the moolah back. How you’re going to make the moolah from the muda.”
Amy nodded.
“Well, Dad, there are no guarantees. But I am committed. I am what they call the Champion, the executive who supports the Lean Six Sigma program. So I am going down this road and … I think it’s going to work. In fact, I don’t see how it can’t work.”
“Ice cream, anyone?” asked Zelda.
Both the kids perked up.
“After you finish your salads,” Amy insisted.
“Oh, Mom!”
“So,” said Harry, “where are we?”
“We were talking about–”
“No, I mean, where in the world are we?”
Amy slumped back in her chair.
Zelda put her hand atop Harry’s on the tablecloth and repeated the litany:
“Harry, we are at Amy’s house. Amy is your daughter. These are your grandchildren, Ben and Michelle. We live nearby, and we come here every day …”
Just that quickly, the moment had passed.
“Look at this,” Wayne said in disgust, flinging his hand toward the seemingly endless line of orange barrels extending down the highway