The document provides details about La-Z-Boy's manufacturing plant in Dayton, TN and its journey implementing Toyota Kata. It describes the plant's production statistics, workforce size, and incentive pay system. It then outlines La-Z-Boy's steps to implement Kata, including initial training, sending employees to further training, establishing a vision of changing the company culture, and tracking learner proficiency over time. Metrics such as productivity, quality, and the percentage of daily coaching cycles are used to monitor progress toward targets.

1. Toyota Kata Journey
La-Z-Boy Tennessee, Dayton, TN
Maryland World Class Consortia
Hank Czarnecki – LeanHank@Auburn.edu
October 2014

2. Facts of La-Z-Boy - Dayton TN
 The majority of the product is made and assembled by hand,
assisted by powered tools
 The plant uses 45,000 to 50,000 board feet of wood each day,
10 million board feet annually
 The plant uses 100,000 lbs of steel /day, 24 million lbs/year,
enough to make 360 Sherman tanks
 The plant produces approximately 700 miles of units each year,
if lined up single file, they would stretch to Canada
 The plant uses approximately 168,000 gallons of wood glue/yr,
enough to fill an Olympic size swimming pool
 This facility produces approximately 3,500 units/day,(16,500
units/wk or 810,000 units/yr) across 2 manufacturing shifts
 Incentive Pay System – Approx. 1,200 Team Members
 Industry Week Best Plant Winner - 2012

3. Overview
What is Toyota Kata?
The Dayton Journey
The Step(s)
Vision & Tools
Passion
Results
Lessons
Learned www-personal.umich.edu/
~mrother/Homepage.html

4. Toyota Kata in 16 Languages

5. What is a KATA?
A kata is a pattern you practice to learn a skill
The research that led to the book Toyota Kata looked
into Toyota's management methods.
The word 'kata' perfectly described the routines we
found being practiced there:
the Improvement Kata and the Coaching Kata.
The suffix kata means way of doing. It refers to a form or
pattern that can be practiced to develop particular skills and
mindset.
© Mike Rother / Improvement Kata Handbook

6. Begin by practicing it this way for a while

7. What is Toyota Kata?
 It's a systematic approach to:
A. Generate Continuous Improvement &
B. Develop Strong Problem Solvers
 Combines a scientific pattern with techniques of
deliberate practice
 Doing small things on a daily basis to improve a
process toward a next 'target condition'
Working toward the target condition by overcoming
the next obstacle in front of you
 Kata is a continuous journey that never ends

8. Improvement Implementation
• Ongoing Daily Management Process for Continual Improvement
– No beginning or end
– Not project management
– Not Kaizen Event
– Not Kata Event
– Not Kata Project

9. Escalator video

10. House of Lean

11. Balanced??

12. The Dayton Journey - Milestones
 Aug. 2011: Initial Training Conducted - U of M
 Dec. 2011: Training held in Dayton - Mike Rother
 Corporate and Plant CI Managers
 Dec. 2011: Dayton Advance Team Formed
 May 2012: 3 sent to Siloam Springs for MEP Training
 July 2012: 4 sent to Siloam Springs for MEP Training
 Sept. 2012: 21 trained by MEP at Dayton (Advance Team Trained)
 Dec. 2012: Second MEP class at Dayton 24 trained
 Advance Team trained in Vision/Challenge Development
 June 2013: Third MEP class at Dayton 17 trained
 Nov. 2013: Fourth MEP/AME class at Dayton 24 trained with 11
outside companies participating on-site

13. La-Z-Boy Coaching Development
Awareness Advance
Team
1stWave
Do
2nd Wave 3rd Wave
Teach
4th Wave
w/ AME
2nd Coach MEP
Trained
Coach
MEP
Direction
Established
Advance
Team
Advance
Team
Evolve
1st Coach MEP
Trained
Coach
Advance
Team
2nd Wave 3rd Wave
Learner Aug & Dec
2011
May &
July 2012
Sept 2012
Advance
Team
Dec 2012 June
2013
Nov
2013

14. Kata the Kata Implementation
Current Condition
 Advance Team trained
 62 Learners trained
 34 Active Learners
 Daily Coaching Kata avg 27%
 Leadership Engagement 20%
Avg Learner Proficiency = 2.5
Target Condition (By 12/1/15)
 53 Active Learners
 Daily Coaching Kata > 70%
 Leadership Engagement 50%
Avg Learner Proficiency = 3.0

15. Kata Learner Proficiency

16. Learner Tracking/Proficiency
No. Learner Coach 2nd Coach Trained By Position Proficiency
3 Angel Shaver Scott Gross AMS Coach 1
4 Bill Hays Janet Earnhardt David Lambeth Rother Lead Team 5
12 Chris Baldassaro Joe Burgess Scott Gross AMS Coach 3
14 Chris Jordan Steve Miller Jason Smith Rother Coach 2
16 Chris Smith Jason Smith Bill Hays AMS Coach 2
17 Christy Davis Everett Steve Miller Jason Smith AMS Coach 2
21 David Robinson Bill Hays David Lambeth Rother Lead Team 5
25 Dewayne Keener Ronnie Angel Scott Gross AMS Coach 2
26 Dewey Gravett David Robinson Jason Smith Rother Manager 1
27 Dustin Henderson Ronnie Angel Scott Gross AMS Coach 3
28 Earl Shadden Ronnie Angel Scott Gross AMS Coach 2
30 Gary Miles Robert Swafford Jim Gentry AMS Hourly 3
33 Greg Wilkey Joe Burgess Jason Smith AMS Coach 2
36 Jason Boles Charlotte Swafford Bill Hays AMS Coach 1
37 Jason Grasham Steve Miller Jason Smith AMS Coach 3

17. The Step
As a Company, everyone from top executives to
the floor coaches sat in a conference room for
hours to establish the Vision inside La-Z-Boy.
Everyone working toward one common goal
“Changing the Culture at La-Z-Boy”
This was a huge step in La-Z-Boy making the
commitment to Kata. (Dec. 2012)

18. La-Z-Boy – Implementation Steps
Understand
the Direction
Grasp the
Current
Condition
PDCA Toward the
Target Condition
The 5
Questions
1. What is the
Vision?
2. Process to
Improve?
3. What is the
Challenge?
4. Understand
the Current
Condition
5. Determine
the Target
Condition
6. PDCA
Towards
Target
Condition –
Then Repeat
Establish
the Next
Target
Condition
© Mike Rother / Improvement Kata Handbook

19. Dayton Campus Vision – Dec. 2012
• Establishing
Direction is Part of
Leadership
• Vision is Vague –
Very Far Away
• Path Not Known
Improvement
Kata activity
is here
TC
TC
Coaching the
development of
IK skills is
managements
job
 Zero Safety Incidents
 1 x 1 Flow at Lowest
Possible Cost
 Zero Defects
 100% On-Time
Delivery with No
Splits
 100% Value Added
Activities
© Mike Rother / Improvement Kata Handbook

20. Assembly Cell Challenges (12/31/14)
 1 Piece Standard WIP at all
Stations (1 x 1 Flow) with No
Double Handling
 Zero DTF (Disruption To Flow)
 Operate a balanced line at
200%
 100% Cross Trained on All Cell
Operations
 Tour Ready 24/7
 Zero Safety Incidents
 1 x 1 Flow at Lowest
Possible Cost
 Zero Defects
 100% On-Time Delivery
with No Splits
 100% Value Added
Activities

21. Current Condition -Visual Report Out
Boards
Report Out
Boards track:
• Safety
• Quality
• Productivity
and
• Kata
(Coaching
Cycles)

22. Current & Target Condition
Balanced @ 200%

23. Report Out Boards - Kata

24. Report Out Board

25. 5 Questions
Back of card - Reflection Section
Reflect on the Last Step Taken
Because you don't actually know
what the result of a step will be!
1) What was your Last Step?
2) What did you Expect?
3) What Actually Happened?
4) What did you Learn?
------------------------------>
Return
The Five Questions
1) What is the Target Condition?
2) What is the Actual Condition now?
--------(Turn Card Over)--------------------->
3) What Obstacles do you think are preventing
you from reaching the target condition?
Which *one* are you addressing now?
4) What is your Next Step? (next PDCA /
experiment) What do you expect?
5) When can we go and see what we
Have Learned from taking that step?
*You'll often work on the same obstacle for several PDCA cycles
Card is turned over to
reflect on the last step

26. PDCA Cycles to Target Condition
1. PREDICTION SIDE:
Before the first coaching cycle the
Learner proposes the 1st step, what will
be measured, and what s/he expects in
the first two boxes of the form
2. EVIDENCE SIDE:
Once the step (experiment) is done, the
Learner fills in data on What Happened,
reflects by comparing that with the
expectation, and records What We Learned
3. Based on what was learned in the last
experiment, the learner proposes the next step,
what will be measured and what s/he expects

27. Improvement Kata Tracking
Learner 1st Coach Process
Challenge
Theme
Starting
Condition
Current
Condition
Starting
Date
Current
Date Learned Status
Days
Coaching
Total
CK's % CK"s
Scott Gross Katie Hall Cell 1
200% base
line 146% 170% 7/16/2013 8/1/2013
Working in Cell last week the cell
averaged 164% Active 12 8 67%
Katie Hall Scott Gross Cell 12
200% base
line 100% 110% 7/16/2013 8/16/2013
7 man team now banding machine
causing a lot of probllems Active 20 20 100%
Earl
Shadden Scott Gross Cell 14
200% base
line 141% 154% 3/25/2013 8/1/2013
Had to replace 2 people in cell
/Starting over with crosstraining Active 106 42 40%
Randall
Masengale Scott Gross cell 29
200% base
line
New
employee
starting over 161% 3/25/2013 6/10/2013
Cell won most improved cell 3 times
in the last 3 months Active 106 50 47%
Russell
Goins Scott Gross Cell 17
0%
controlable
DQC in
Cells
VOC
Complaints
14.14 8.36 3/4/2013 8/19/2013
Russell has lowered the complaint
rate in half and has hit his target
condition and will now set new
target Active 121 35 29%
Paul
Bowling Scott Gross Cell 7
0%
controlable
DQC in
Cells
VOC
Complaints
15.19 10 7/17/2013 8/1/2013
Paul has dicovered that the 306s are
the main thing driving the DQC in
Cell 7 Active 24 7 29%
Rick
Johnson Scott Gross Cell 18
0%
controlable
DQC in
Cells 8000 DPMO 8000 DPMO 5/21/2013 8/1/2013
DPMO went up last week /checking
to see whats driving the rise Active 65 21 32%

28. Learner
Learner going over
her Coaching Cycle
with her Team
Members prior to
the Coaching Cycle
with her 1st Coach
and 2nd Coach

29. Coaching
The 2nd Coach evaluates the
1st Coach to ensure that the
1st Coach is:
• Following the process
• Asking the right
questions
• Understanding
Knowledge Threshold
• Linking Data with next
PDCA experiment
• Pulling Lessons Learned
from the Learner

30. The coach is responsible for
teaching the improvement
kata, and for the results
The coach uses the coaching
kata, asking the 5 TK
questions
2nd Coach Participates
periodically Pays
particular attention to the
coach (coaches the coach)
The learner and
team use the
improvement kata
The team owns the
target condition and
works to achieve it.
Knowledge
Threshold

31. 2nd Coach Observation Form

32. Coaching Tracking Form
Having a Coaching
Tracking Process for
all active “Kata” lets
anyone see who are
the Coach and
Learner. Easy way to
track participation
from our coaches
and learners.

33. Scheduled Times - Daily

34. The Passion
Finding someone to fill a role of a lead person to
understand Kata and that can help coach Kata
This person has to have passion in what they do
They have to want to make a difference everyday
they walk in the door
Their passion and enthusiasm is what drives new
ways of learning
Passion is what helps change a culture

35. Production Coaches (Passion)

36. Kata Results Summary
 Cell Efficiency Increases from 10% to28%
 Defect Level Improvements of 20% to 50%
 5S Scores Improved 20%
 Supply Route Time Improved 30%
 Cell Disruption to Flow’s Reduced 15%
 Employee Involvement with Kata

37. Lessons Learned & Next Steps
 Lessons Learned
 Must start with Vision + Challenge
 Don’t begin IK’s without this
 Need alignment in Vision/Challenge/Target
 The 2nd coach is critical to the process
 Strong tendency to view Kata as Kaizens, as “Events” or “Projects”
 Must focus on the Learner, not the process or “project”
 Daily Coaching Kata are critical – this is a learning process
 Next Steps
 Increase Daily Coaching Cycles to embed in the culture
 Increase top management engagement
 Expand use to non-production areas
 Continue to drive into the organization “DNA”

38. Questions?
Hank Czarnecki
LeanHank@Auburn.edu
Auburn Technical Assistance Center
www.AuburnWorks.org