Whether analyzing Toyota’s supply-chain management, culture, history, or philosophy, writers have long been intrigued by the inner workings of the internationally successful automotive manufacturer. Some books have become celebrated best-sellers. Yet despite the acclaim, Fujio Cho, former president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky felt something was missing from the popular literature.

“Cho-san was not happy with the books written about Toyota because they were all beautifying,” says Kozo Saito, director of the University of Kentucky’s (UK) Institute of Research for Technology Development (IR4TD), where the university’s Lean Systems Program is housed. “The authors had no direct experience with the Toyota Production System (TPS), so they could not convey the essence of it. Because we have had direct experience with TPS, Cho-san considered us ‘owners’ he could trust to capture that essence.”

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