The Toyota Product Development System

In this summary you will learn

• How Toyota approaches product development
• Why it values learning and organizational knowledge so highly
• Why cultural change is critical to the creation of a lean product development system

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Why you should read The Toyota Product Development System

The rise and global success of Toyota inspired vast numbers of studies, articles and books on the company’s production system and culture. The authors show how the Japanese auto maker’s system for developing products has contributed to its success. James Morgan and Jeffrey Liker explain Toyota’s insistence on starting projects correctly, applying the best resources to them in a timely fashion and terminating wasteful processes that provide no customer benefit. The authors also portray Toyota’s approach to technology, project management tools, communication and corporate culture and compare Toyota to American auto makers. While this book is most useful to those involved in manufacturing product development, especially engineers and their managers, getAbstract recommends it to anyone who is fascinated by the world’s largest automaker and wants to learn about its integrated approach to creating cars.

About the Authors

James M. Morgan, Ph.D., has spent more than 24 years in automotive operations and development. He has published numerous articles and taught at several prestigious institutions. Jeffrey K. Liker, Ph.D., has written or co-written seven books, including the international bestseller The Toyota Way, and more than 70 articles. He is a professor at the University of Michigan.