Involvement ◾ 145
Terrible Waste of Humanity
A celebrated story
1
from the early 1950s tells how during a visit to a supplier,
Taiichi Ohno stopped to observe a process. The operator stood watching his
machine. After watching several cycles, Ohno asked him, “How often does
this machine break down?”
“Never,” the worker replied.
“Well, what do you do all day?”
“I watch this machine, Ohno-san.”
“All day long, you watch this machine, which never breaks down?”
“Yes,” said the worker, “that is my job.”
“What a terrible waste of humanity,” thought Ohno.
This was a red-letter day in business history. With this flash of insight
Ohno began to bring planning and production together again. You will
recall that the Taylor system was based on separating planning ...