Lean enterprises are corporations that hold extensive adaptability when adjusting with the economic flow through creating processes that can lead to a successful change for the corporation. Non-standardized processes are processes that diverge from what the company always does. Toyota is a company that has notable non-standard processes examples that happen when a person or an organization particularly request a change to a vehicle that is not done by the company or may make the company incur extra costs (Toyota, 2018). The non-standardized processes can be standardized only when they shift back to the route that the business model or the process reveals. Toyota has had a couple of non-standardized processes. The first non-standardized process identified in the company was preparing vehicles for paraplegic to enable them to drive. The second non-standardized process was to design military vehicles that could allow them to handle missions outside the United States.
Non-Standardized Processes
The first non-standardized process that Toyota Company encountered was designing vehicles for paraplegic individuals. The added feature on Toyota vehicle to accommodate paraplegic individuals made it a non-standardized process. The vehicle for paraplegic people was outfitted with a ramp. The brake pedals and gas were placed as paddles on the steering wheel to permit a person to drive the vehicle easily and comfortably. In this vehicle, the driver's seat can be removed to create an area where the wheelchair can enter into the driver’s spot so that they can proceed with driving the vehicle. The size of the car will define ramp placement and other features that make things easier for paraplegic individuals to enter the vehicle with their wheelchair. The overall vehicle design allows paraplegic individuals to feel independent and gives them a chance to control their lives. The change made on the car design to accommodate people with disabilities make this process a non-standardized process.
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The second non-standardized process of Toyota is developing something outside their standards as per the military's request. For instance, the United States military can contact Toyota Company or any other vehicle manufacturers on different occasions to have them create a vehicle that suits them and can protect them during missions or permit them to travel through rough terrain. Military vehicles have a different set of requirements as compared to civilian vehicles that are normally designed. Most military vehicles can travel in almost all terrains. Some developed cars are only used around the military camp, while others are designed to suit different climates. Therefore, the non-standardized process can be modified as well as standardized in any company by setting particular areas to concentrate on working with the non-standardized processes.
Standardizing non-standardized process in companies is important because it decreases guesswork and ambiguity. With detailed instructions to complete certain tasks, employees will spend less time figuring out what to do and more time doing it. Effective procedures standardization of a product is one correct way to complete a specific task. Additionally, standardization guarantees quality ( Joseph, Joey & Jeffrey, 2017 ). It ensures quality by reducing the chances of omitting crucial information. It is also associated with leaner and more functional performance. Apart from improving quality, standardization fosters productivity by removing inefficiency. As a result of providing quality control and eliminating ambiguity, tasks will be completed efficiently, and few quality control issues will be witnessed.
The option involved to standardize the non-standardized processes is to dedicate manufacturing facilities toward developing vehicles at a normal pace and place them on the market. It would be more effective for military vehicles if these vehicles are released to them through a contract and operated in their facility. For a vehicle designed for paraplegic people, it would be better to develop as civilian vehicles but increase the price to cover the cost. The changes in prices can inflate the cost to cover the different material used during the development of the military vehicle or the custom vehicle for someone paralyzed from sickness or injury. Non-standard processes can be changed into standard procedures by developing a way for them to balance. One of the steps that will make the process easier is to locate places in need of these features while finding an appropriate way to use lean methods that balance or minimize waste.
Challenges Encountered When Implementing the Process
Various challenges are involved while trying to implement non-standardized process and make them standard together with lean techniques that can be used to reduce future issues and waste. One of the challenges involved in implementing a non-standardized process is training the workforce for the standardization process. To make the defects of the non-standardized process work, it is important to train workers accordingly. According to Smith (2021), training workers about the process prevents mistakes that can occur during implementation. Preventing errors saves time and money. The significant challenge in the making non-standardized processes standard is difficulty getting the procedures approved to become standardized when applying standard production techniques toward the process.
Manufacturing specialized vehicles may also be costly to companies. The entire cost involved in making military or a vehicle for a paraplegic individual may be expensive because of the added materials and features in the car. Most companies can standardize these processes during the contract or if the process can generate voluminous income. Convincing people about the non-standardized process is another challenge. Some individuals think that standardizing the non-standardized process can take away the responsibility and joy and make it boring. When there are no procedures, people concentrate on the detail and the work itself, but if processes are standardized, they do not give much attention to their work. This makes it difficult to convince people about the process and may waste more time and energy.
In this case, proving to the board of directors that the non-standardized process is an important source of revenue and there is a way that the company can reduce cost, time and labour regarding the development of the non-standardized product is the biggest barrier. Most board members resist change because they are not sure if such action can benefit the company. Another challenge that is faced when implementing the non-standardized process is laying the foundation of the implementation. For the consistent performance of the non-standardized process, it is important to create standardized processes and procedures. Without establishing the required procedures, the process is destined to fail. Toyota has three standardization categories which include process standardization, standard skill sets as well as design standardization. If the company establishes the non-standardized process in the three categories, successful implementation will be ensured.
In conclusion, when new processes are initiated, they are considered non-standardized unless the company finds a way to implement them properly. Each process that the company utilizes was a non-standardized process until it aligned with the business model. In most cases, companies concentrate more on keeping what works unless there is a reason for them to try and transform the model to the introduced process. Currently, vehicles are being designed for individuals with a wheelchair more often because they are becoming another source of income for the company. When developing a new product or adjusting a standard process to fit the latest product, every company have to deal with numerous barriers and overtime issues.
References
Joseph, S. V., Joey, F. G., & Jeffrey, A. H. (2017). Modern Systems Analysis and Design. St. Louis .
Smith, A. (2021). Leading Project Teams. Design for Learning .
Toyota. (2018, may 12). Toyota Production System. Retrieved from Toyota: http://www.toyota-global.com/company/vision_philosophy/toyota_production_system
