Lean Techniques: Yokoten

May 2010 Vol. 144 No. 5



If you have never heard the term Yokoten, prepare yourself. It has been added to the Lean Operations lexicon as an important activity. Yokoten is being used by lean firms to help them become leaner. Yokoten is a Japanese term that can be roughly translated as "across everywhere." In the Japanese lean system, it is used to mean "best practice sharing." In short, Yokoten is used to talk about the transfer of lean manufacturing knowledge and practices from one operation to another.
These best practices can be shared between departments of one plant or sister departments of multiple plants of a company. Operations of a lean plant can be shared with a sister plant that is not so lean or struggling with lean. Although there is little literature to support this, Yokoten could also involve sharing among divisions of the same large company. More importantly, it can also be used to reach out to closely-linked suppliers to make the supply chain leaner.

by

Michael Paris

President
Paris Consultants Inc.
Hinsdale, IL

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