Thank you to all those who filled out our Toyota Kata survey, we had 37 responses and a wide variety of responses among them. Here is a summary of the answers (scroll down in the window below to see them all):
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While some people have a very good understanding of Toyota Kata and are using it regularly, others haven’t heard about it, or seem to be confusing it with lean management as a whole. We offered respondents the opportunity to receive more information about the Toyota Kata, and given there were many requests for it, we thought we’d include these here. This is what we have selected:
Videos:
- A 5 minute video of Mike Rother talking about the role of Kata in lean.
- This 45-minute video explains the role of Kata in changing an organization’s culture.
- Case study: A 30 minute presentation by Tilo Schwarz about his time at Festool in Germany, and their use of the Kata.
Reading:
- The introduction to Mike Rother’s Improvement and Coaching Kata practice guide, which will give you an overview of the Kata. (Link directs to PDF)
- A good “why Kata” blog post by Jeff Liker: “How Small Steps Turn into Lean Manufacturing Game Changers”.
- A 7 page PDF about the research that led to Toyota Kata, written by Mike Rother.
- If you’re looking for something lighter, here is a paper about a Dutch couple who used the Improvement Kata for their children! (Also a PDF); also, you could Google: ‘kata at home’ for the YouTube posting by Jeremiah Davis.
Events:
- Our Lean Summit Africa 2016 will take place on the 19 – 21 October in Cape Town. Mike Rother will be the keynote speaker, and we will also have case studies of organisations using Toyota Kata for you to hear about. Visit our Summit webpage for all the important information.
- We have four 2-day Toyota Kata workshops running this year; two in each of Cape Town and Johannesburg. You can find out all the information about them on the workshops section of our website. If you aren’t able to make it to the scheduled workshops, but would like to attend one, please get in touch.
If you have any other questions about, or experiences of Toyota Kata, we’re always keen to hear from you. You can email us at leaninfo@gsb.uct.ac.za, reply to this email or get in touch on social media.