Toyota Way changed world's factories; now it's retooling to face the future

Over decades, Toyota Motor Corp. built a corporate culture that was the envy of the manufacturing world. Now the auto industry’s most-emulated company is overhauling the way it brings its vaunted production system to every corner of the business.

The automaker last month created a single group, staffed with 200 employees, to manage the Toyota Production System, centralizing a function that was spread out through the organization. Their task is to evaluate how core concepts like kaizen, or continuous improvement, can be applied to new businesses that include car sharing and consumer robots. The person in charge is 59-year-old Shigeki