Authentic Toyota Production System

The Factory Performance System™

One operating system for the factory floor. Five disciplines — Daily, Process, People, Problem-Solving and Output Performance — that make the condition of your operation visible, problems solvable, and leaders accountable every single day. Built inside Toyota. Installed in your plant. Run by your team.

Book a Gemba Assessment Explore the system
25+
Years TPS Practice
200+
Kaizen Events Facilitated
40%
Avg. Productivity Gain
Toyota OMDD / TSSC Trained — The Source.
Who We Are
We don’t consult from conference rooms. We manage performance on your floor.

Fourtre partners with companies serious about transformation — not incremental tweaks, but deep operational change that moves safety, quality, cost, delivery, and culture at the same time.

We’ve been in your building, on your floor, and inside your numbers. Whether you’re a plant manager fighting chronic waste, a VP executing a productivity mandate, or a C-suite sponsor launching an enterprise rollout — we speak your language and deliver results you can measure.

The methodology is Toyota’s. The commitment is ours.
Most factories don’t fail for lack of hard work. They fail when the management system can’t make performance visible, problems actionable, and leaders accountable. The Factory Performance System™ fixes that — and your team keeps it forever.
Boutique by design · Proven by performance
Credentials

Toyota OMDD & TSSC trained.

This isn’t adapted TPS. This is the source.

Our consultants were trained directly through Toyota’s Operations Management Development Division (OMDD) and the Toyota Supplier Support Center (TSSC) — the same rigorous methodology Toyota uses to develop its own operations leaders worldwide.

OMDD Trained
Operations Management Development Division
TSSC Trained
Toyota Supplier Support Center
Authentic TPS
Learned at the source, on the floor
Toyota Methodology
Not “Lean-inspired.” The real system.
Factory Performance System™

One system. Five disciplines.

Not a collection of Lean tools — a complete operating system your leaders run every day. Five disciplines work together to turn authentic TPS into a daily rhythm for managing performance. Each one is broken out below.

01Daily 02Process 03People 04Problem-Solving 05Output
01

Daily Performance

Purpose
Create the daily rhythm for managing performance.

Daily Performance makes the condition of the factory visible. Through a tiered daily management system, leaders see whether the operation is on plan, where it is off plan, and what action is required — before the day is lost. It is the heartbeat of the entire system.

Core components
SQDCP boards
Hour-by-hour tracking
FMDS
Tiered daily meetings
Andon & escalation
Visual management
02

Process Performance

Purpose
Stabilize the work so output is repeatable.

Process Performance creates the foundation for repeatable output. Without stable, standardized work, leadership is only managing variation and firefighting. Here we engineer flow, build quality into the process, and control the points where things change.

Core components
Standardized work
Takt time
One-piece flow
Pull / JIT
Built-in quality (Jidoka)
4M change control
03

People Performance

Purpose
Develop the leaders who run and sustain it.

People Performance builds the daily leadership behaviors that sustain improvement. The focus is not classroom training — it is coaching leaders at the gemba until the routines become second nature, so capability stays in the building long after we leave.

Core components
Leader standardized work
Gemba coaching
Group Leader development
Team-member engagement
Process confirmation
SWCT
04

Problem-Solving Performance

Purpose
Convert problems into learning and countermeasures.

Problems are not hidden or worked around — they are surfaced, owned, investigated, and solved at the source through structured PDCA. Every problem becomes a chance to develop people and strengthen the process.

Core components
Practical A3 thinking
5 Why
Root-cause analysis
Jishuken kaizen
Countermeasure ownership
Problem escalation
05

Output Performance

Purpose
Restore and protect the production result.

Output Performance connects the daily management system to the business result. The factory knows the target, sees the gap in real time, and has a disciplined method to recover. This is where the system pays for itself — in safety, quality, delivery, and cost.

Core components
Schedule attainment
OEE / TPM
Bottleneck focus
Reclaimed capacity
Hoshin / KPI alignment
Recovery planning
Additional Services

The TPS toolkit, applied with intent.

Beyond the full system, we deploy targeted methods — standalone or woven into an engagement — to attack a specific problem or build a specific capability.

Targeted Workshops

1 week on-site
Flagship

Jishuken

Management-led kaizen at the gemba, where leaders solve real problems hands-on — the highest form of TPS development.

Improvement

Kaizen Events

Focused, facilitated improvement bursts that deliver measurable change in days — your team, on real problems.

Flow

SMED / Quick Changeover

Cut setup and changeover time to unlock flexibility, smaller batches, and reclaimed capacity.

Flow

Value Stream Mapping

Map material and information flow end-to-end to expose waste and design a faster, leaner future state.

Workplace

5S & Visual Management

A workplace that reveals its own condition at a glance, so abnormalities surface the moment they appear.

Methods Implementation

1–2 weeks
Stability

Standardized Work Design

The current best method, documented and followed — the baseline for stability and every future gain.

Flow

Pull Systems & Kanban

Just-in-time replenishment that ties production to real demand and strips out overproduction.

Programs

Multi-week engagements
Reliability

TPM & OEE

Total productive maintenance and loss analysis that kill chronic downtime and reclaim hidden capacity.

Strategy

Hoshin Kanri

Strategy deployment that cascades boardroom objectives into aligned, measurable shop-floor action.

Leadership

Leader Standardized Work & TWI

Daily leadership routines and Job Instruction that build capability and make improvement stick.

Problem-Solving

A3 Problem Solving

Structured PDCA that drives problems to root cause while developing problem-solvers in the process.

People

Kaizen Leader Development

Build the internal kaizen leaders who carry improvement forward — coaching capability that compounds after we leave.

The TSSC Methodology

Model Line engagement.

The model line approach is how Toyota actually transfers TPS — not through classroom lectures, but through hands-on learning by doing, anchored in a focused pilot area where real problems get solved with real people.

It becomes a living laboratory where leaders experience the system firsthand, build the muscle to sustain improvements, and gain the confidence to spread it across the organization. This is the Fourtre engagement model — the same approach TSSC has used with 500+ organizations since 1992.

Phase 1
Top Management Workshop
Senior leaders learn the philosophy, their role, and align on the business need driving the engagement.
2.5 Days
Phase 2
Select Model Line
Identify the highest-priority value stream. Start from need — the most pressing problem becomes the teaching ground.
Weeks 1–2
Phase 3
On-Site Coaching & Kaizen
Weekly on-site presence. Consultants work side-by-side building stability, flow, pull, and built-in quality.
9–12 Months
Phase 4
Leader Capability
As we improve the line, we develop the internal leaders who will sustain and spread the system.
Concurrent
Phase 5
Sustain, Spread & Scale
Proven gains locked in with standardized work, FMDS, and daily management — then replicated enterprise-wide.
Ongoing
Model Line→Proven Gains→Leaders Spread It→Enterprise Transformation
1

Gemba Assessment

Two days on your floor. We observe, document, and prioritize — no assumptions.

2

Roadmap Design

A structured roadmap tied to your strategic targets and your team’s capacity.

3

Kaizen Execution

Facilitated events with your people. We teach while we improve — capability transfers in real time.

4

Sustain & Scale

PDCA governance, leader standardized work, and audits that lock in gains and spread them.

How to Engage

Five ways to engage. One system.

Most clients don’t start with a plant-wide transformation — they start where the need is sharpest and scale on proven results. Our engagements form a ladder: prove the Factory Performance System™ in a focused area, then expand it across the plant and the enterprise. Enter at the level that fits today.

01

Executive Diagnostic

A paid front-end assessment — time on your floor plus analysis — that pinpoints the gaps and returns a prioritized 90-day roadmap and a baseline performance scorecard.
Short on-site engagement
Best when you need to know exactly where to start.
02
Recommended · Core

90-Day Model Area Implementation

Install the daily management system in one focused model area and coach your leaders to run it. This is the core Fourtre engagement — and the proving ground for everything that follows.
90 days
Best for proving the system before you scale.
03

120-Day Intensive Implementation

Everything in the Model Area, over a longer runway — with deeper weekly on-site coaching, broader leadership involvement, and stronger executive integration.
120 days
Best for the deepest, most hands-on engagement.
04

Full Plant Deployment

Expand the model line across multiple areas, departments, and shifts — developing the internal coaches who sustain the system long after we’re gone.
Multi-month
Best for transforming an entire facility.
05

Multi-Site Rollout

A repeatable corporate playbook with train-the-trainer and site certification, deployed plant by plant to standardize performance across the enterprise.
Phased rollout
Best for standardizing across the enterprise.

Every engagement is scoped to your operation, with defined deliverables and a results scorecard. We put the numbers in a tailored proposal.

Request a proposal
Real-World Results

Case studies.

Three engagements. Three industries. Outcomes the numbers speak for themselves.

Frozen Food Processing · Business Turnaround

Profitable in six weeks — not six months.

A third-generation frozen-food processor faced bank action on a $20M loan after six months without profit — order swings, inventory chaos, and operational breakdown. Fourtre had eight weeks to turn it around.

C-suite goals translated into shop-floor metrics · Standardized Work deployed across three facilities to sustain the gains.
6 wks
back to profitability
−46%
lead time
−90%
overtime
Global HVAC Supplier · Cost Reduction

$8M saved in three months.

A global residential HVAC supplier saw conversion costs spike 20% — driven by low productivity and inexperienced management — threatening revenue across multiple sites.

Productivity recovery and management coaching, with Standardized Work locking in gains across all sites.
$8M
conversion cost saved in 3 months
$90M
monthly revenue, up from $75M
$17M
lost sales recovered
Wells Fargo Home Mortgage · Lead-Time Reduction

120 days down to under 15.

Under federal pressure to cut loan-modification time, a 120+ day process created regulatory risk and major customer impact across three campuses.

Lead time treated as the north-star metric · Process standards established across all three campuses for consistency.
<15 days
from 120+ days
−86%
rework
3
campuses aligned
Domain Expertise

Specialties

Every discipline in TPS — applied at depth, not surface level.

Toyota Production SystemJishuken KaizenStandardized WorkFMDSHoshin KanriOEE / TPMShop Floor LeadershipGembaVisual ManagementTakt TimeKanbanPDCAA3 Problem Solving5SAndonYamazumi4M Change PointsMuri · Mura · MudaOperational ExcellenceLean ManufacturingGroup Leader DevelopmentSWCTJITDOWNTIME Analysis
Online Learning

Learn TPS on your schedule.

Not every transformation starts on-site. Our online platform gives your team access to Toyota Production System fundamentals — built by OMDD and TSSC trained practitioners, not adapted from a textbook.

Designed for Team Leaders, Group Leaders, and Operations Managers who need working knowledge they can apply immediately on the floor.

Access Online Courses
Opens in new tab · Powered by Thinkific
Introduction to the Toyota Production SystemFoundation Standardized WorkOperations FMDS & Visual Board ManagementLeadership Kaizen Fundamentals & A3 ThinkingProblem Solving Shop Floor Leadership DevelopmentLeadership
The People Behind the Work

Our consultants.

Six Toyota-trained practitioners who’ve done this work inside the world’s greatest production system — OMDD and TSSC, the source.

MM

Monte Mitchell

President & CEO · Principal Consultant

Began his career at Toyota’s NUMMI facility managing Production, Special Projects, and the TPS Group. In 2003 he was selected from over 600 managers for Toyota’s three-year OMDD Executive Development Program, leading jishuken across North American Paint and Plastics facilities. He founded Fourtre in 2007 and has applied TPS across automotive, retail, finance, healthcare, and building products worldwide.

Toyota OMDDNUMMI / TMNAJishuken LeadLEI Faculty35+ Yrs TPS
PH

Paul Hamilton

Senior Lean Consultant

A strategic and tactical leader with 28+ years of Toyota-trained TPS experience. His OMDD tenure shaped a practitioner who moves fluidly from C-suite strategy to frontline standardized work — including as President of Global Operational Excellence & CI at Avon Technologies.

Toyota OMDDGlobal OpExC-Suite to Floor28+ YrsCI Transformation
SS

Salvador Sanchez

Senior Lean Consultant

Began at NUMMI in 1990, rising to Manager of the Plastics Plant. Spent three years at Toyota North American HQ learning TPS directly from Japanese managers at TSSC/OMDD, then deployed across 100+ plants in 20 countries. Toyota-certified in Standardized Work, Master Train-the-Trainer, and Problem-Solving — earned in Japan.

TSSC / OMDDNUMMI100+ PlantsLEI FacultyToyota Certified SW
MW

Matt Wehr

Senior Lean Consultant

A former Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America executive, trained by general manager–level sensei under former TSSC presidents Hajime Ohba and Hideshi Yokoi. From 2002–2009 he led TPS transformations across all Toyota North America assembly plants. A Harvard MBA, equally at home guiding boardroom strategy and coaching frontline leaders on the gemba.

TMENA ExecutiveTSSC TrainedLEI FacultyHarvard MBAExecutive Coaching
Timothy Benningfield

Timothy Benningfield

Senior Lean Consultant

More than 30 years of hands-on Lean and manufacturing leadership across automotive, building products, packaging, and industrial manufacturing. A decade at Akebono — deploying Lean and JIT across three plants as Plant Manager — built his shop-floor foundation, followed by leadership roles at Tomkins, Caraustar, and Automatic Spring Products, where he rose to Director of Manufacturing.

Automotive / IndustrialLean & JITMulti-Plant LeadershipDirector of Mfg30+ Yrs
MT

Michele Thomas

Senior Lean Consultant

Began her Toyota career in 1991 as a production team member in Body Weld at TMMK, advancing to Group Leader across the Camry, Sienna, and Venza lines. In 2011 she joined Toyota’s OMDD group, and from 2016 led the TSSC practice — guiding 45+ projects across 18 organizations. After 33.5 years of distinguished Toyota service, she continues her mission of organizational excellence through TPS.

TSSC / OMDDOMDDTMMK45+ Projects33+ Yrs Toyota
Daily Performance Control

The questions a good system answers every day.

01 Are we on plan?
02 Where are we off plan?
03 Why are we off plan?
04 Who owns the countermeasure?
05 When will performance recover?
06 What did we learn?
07 How do we prevent recurrence?
08 Is the gain holding?
Ready to Start?

Move from theory to results.

Let’s spend 30 minutes looking at your operation. We’ll observe, prioritize, and scope a gemba assessment from there.

If we can’t identify significant opportunity, the call is on us.
We respond within two business days. No obligation.