ABSTRACT
Weak-Point Management (WPM) is the name attached by members of overseas bases of Toyota Industries when the people were implementing the activities to eradicate chronic and frequent defects. WPM features visualization of transition of chronic defects with record of countermeasures, allowing the reader to think about why the previous measures did not work after each recurrence and to consider new measures. It allows for visualization of how many times mistakes occurred in relation to which steps in procedure specified in the manual, so that cause of frequent defects occurring in the relevant procedure can be investigated and necessary countermeasures can be taken. This is a technique used to visualize components and/or processes where defects occurred and to determine where to start from. To eradicate a deep-rooted chronic and frequent defect, long-term tenacious effort is necessary. Today, there are so many companies that store all information in computers, but placing too much dependence on computers will not make quality much better.
