Definition
OMCD — the Operations Management Consulting Division — is the English name commonly used for Toyota’s internal group known in Japanese as the 生産調査室 (Seisan Chosashitsu), literally the “Production Research Division” or “Production Investigation Office.” It is a small, select group within Toyota Motor Corporation staffed by disciples of Taiichi Ohno.
OMCD is not a large department. It has always been a handful of individuals. Its role has been threefold: to help codify and extend thinking on the Toyota Production System, to promote continuous improvement at Tier One suppliers, and to develop internal leaders at Toyota through short rotational assignments (generally two to three years).
Japanese Origin
Seisan Chosashitsu (生産調査室) combines 生産 (seisan, “production”) with 調査 (chosa, “research” or “investigation”) and 室 (shitsu, “office” or “division”). The name reflects the group’s original function: researching and investigating production methods. The English translation “Operations Management Consulting Division” emerged later as the group’s supplier-facing work became more prominent. The Japanese name is more descriptive of the group’s actual character — a small research office, not a large consulting organization.
History
Formation (~1970)
The group was established within Toyota around 1970 as the Production Research Division. It was staffed with a handful of Taiichi Ohno’s direct disciples — people who had learned TPS under Ohno on the shop floor and could teach it to others. The early members included Kikuo Suzumura, Fujio Cho, Junichi Yoshikawa, and others.
Ohno himself was not a member of OMCD. He stood above and outside it as an advisor and senior authority on TPS. The group carried his methods and thinking into supplier development work, but Ohno’s own TPS development had been done through direct shop floor practice over the preceding decades, not through OMCD.
What OMCD Did — and Did Not Do
A common misconception is that OMCD developed the Toyota Production System. It did not. TPS was largely developed before OMCD was ever formed — through Ohno’s decades of work on the Toyota shop floor, beginning in the late 1940s and continuing through the 1960s. OMCD was created to codify and spread what already existed, not to invent it.
The vast majority of OMCD’s work was done outside Toyota — in Tier One supplier locations — well after TPS was established inside Toyota. Internal OMCD workshops at Toyota itself were quite rare, although arguably influential in terms of developmental impact when they did occur.
OMCD’s primary activities included:
- Organizing jishuken (自主研究会) at Tier One suppliers — the structured self-study improvement activities that became the main vehicle for spreading TPS into the supply base (see the separate entry on Jishuken)
- Extended flow workshops involving material and information flow that related back to Toyota’s own operations
- Developing internal leaders through short rotational assignments — Toyota managers would spend two to three years in OMCD, gaining deep exposure to TPS teaching methods before rotating back to line positions
The Jishukenkai (October 1976)
OMCD’s most significant external activity was the founding of the Jishu Kenkyukai (自主研究会, “Voluntary Study Group”) in October 1976. This structured program brought together designated key persons from 17 Tier One suppliers for rotating improvement activities. The Production Research Division provided guidance and critical evaluation; the supplier participants did the hands-on improvement work. This activity grew over time — by 1997, 44 supplier companies participated in 6 groups (A through F).
See the separate entry on Jishuken for the full history and structure of these activities.
Key Personnel
Toyota OMCD members — The people who staffed OMCD and led its supplier development work were Toyota Motor Corporation employees:
- Kikuo Suzumura — early OMCD member; later organized his own NPS Kenkyukai (NPS Study Group) working with approximately 40 companies
- Fujio Cho — OMCD member who later became President and Chairman of Toyota Motor Corporation
- Junichi Yoshikawa — early OMCD member
- Nampachi Hayashi — key contributor in the latter period of OMCD’s jishuken work
Supplier key persons — The people at each Tier One supplier who were coached by OMCD were not Toyota employees. They were employees of their respective supplier companies, designated as the point person for jishuken activities at their site. Some of these individuals later became well-known consultants after retiring from their supplier companies — notably Yoshiki Iwata (Toyoda Gosei) and Chihiro Nakao (Taiho Kogyo), who founded the consulting firm Shingijutsu in Japan. Although instrumental in helping establish improvement activities at their own companies, none of these supplier key persons played any role in the development of the kaizen methodology or overall production system inside Toyota Motor Corporation.
Points of Clarification
OMCD staff vs. supplier key persons. OMCD staff (Suzumura, Cho, Yoshikawa, Hayashi) were Toyota Motor Corporation employees. The designated key persons at each Tier One supplier — such as Yoshiki Iwata at Toyoda Gosei and Chihiro Nakao at Taiho Kogyo — were employees of their respective supplier companies who participated in OMCD-organized jishuken activities.
OMCD’s role in TPS. The Toyota Production System was largely developed through Taiichi Ohno’s work on the Toyota shop floor from the late 1940s through the 1960s, before OMCD was formed. OMCD’s role was to codify and disseminate TPS — primarily into the Tier One supply base — rather than to develop the system itself.
Scope of OMCD’s work. The majority of OMCD’s activities were conducted at Tier One supplier locations. Internal workshops at Toyota were less frequent, though the group also contributed to developing internal leaders through its rotational assignment program.