P-Course

The P-Course (P stands for Production) is a practical training program about Industrial Engineering implemented to teach the main techniques for industrial work improvement (改善 "kaizen" in Japanese). Although especially aimed at applications in manufacturing, it can be useful also to transfer the core concepts of systematic improvement approach to people involved in operational activities in non-manufacturing businesses(i.e. services, indirect corporate functions).

This course was born in Japan and was intended for production technicians, so they could best contribute to the rebirth of the manufacturing industry in the postwar period. After World War II it was necessary to reconstruct the foundations of the Japanese industrial system: in May 1946 (year 22 of the Showa era) the Japan Management Association (JMA) decided to start off a course specifically conceived for the development of those skills and knowledge required to production technicians. That was the P-Course. The training format was basically an off-site program. It was held each time in a company that would host the lessons at its shopfloor. It consisted of sessions of intensive work until late evening and it lasted one full month. Such formula was based on the scheme of a former practical course held by the Nihon Kōgyō Kyōkai (日本工業協会), which included in-depth study of operational activities and was 2 to 3 months long. The P-Course could therefore be considered a compact version of the original course offered by this body, saving as much as possible the value of the original course. The first and second edition of the P-Course(Production Course) were held at the Kōsoku Kikan Kōgyō (高速機関工業 High Speed Engine Ind.) of Shinagawa, whereas the third edition was held at Hitachi Kōki (日立工機) of Katsuta, near Mito. The first two editions were held by Mr.Ohno Tsuneo, but from the third edition onward the courses were under the responsibility of Mr. Shigeo Shingo, whose personal touch remained unequalled and yet remembered, focusing in particular on the concept of “motion mind”.

Up to 1956 a total of nineteen (19) editions were held, which allowed the training of 410 participants. This course had been created by the joint effort of JMA and the Japanese Government intending to supply the most promising enterprises with the right tools and operational know-how in order to get the maximum value by the least investment from the resources of a Country willing to go a step further the post-war reorganization. This was especially an orientation shared by an automotive company (Toyota Motor Company) which would soon become a top reference for its best practice in the management of production. Thanks to the great contribution by Mr. Taiichi Ohno – a young mechanical engineer who soon became the vice-president of Toyota – the Toyota Production System (TPS) is the approach to production engineering and organisation set in the 1950s by the said carmaker with the objective of increasing dramatically the efficiency of the company.　

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