Portal:Business/Selected quote/79

"Manufacturing is also done through teamwork. It might take 10 or 15 workers, for example, to take a job from raw materials to finished product. The idea is teamwork - not how many parts were machined or drilled by one worker, but how many products were completed by the line as a whole.

''Years ago, I used to tell production workers one of my favorite stories about a boat rowed by eight men, four on the left side and four on the right side. If they do not row correctly, the boat will zigzag erratically.''

''One rower might feel he is stronger than the next and row twice as hard. But this extra effort upsets the boat's progress and moves it off course. The best way to propel the boat faster is for everyone to distribute force equally, rowing evenly and at the same depth.''

''Today a volleyball team has six players; previously there were nine. If a nine-member team tried to play a six-member team using the same plays, players might be injured bumping into one another. They would probably lose also because having more players is not necessarily an advantage.''

''Teamwork combined with other factors can allow a smaller team to win. The same is true in a work environment."''


 * &mdash;Taiichi Ohno, Toyota Production System, English edition of 1988

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