The Training Within Industry (TWI) service was created by the United States Department of War, running from 1940 to 1945 within the War Manpower Commission. The purpose was to provide consulting services to war-related industries whose personnel were being conscripted into the US Army at the same time the War Department was issuing orders for additional matériel. It was apparent that the shortage of trained and skilled personnel at precisely the time they were needed most would impose a hardship on those industries, and that only improved methods of job training would address the shortfall.[1] By the end of World War II, over 1.6 million workers in over 16,500 plants had received a certification. The program continued post-war in Europe and Asia, where it aided reconstruction. It is most notable in the business world for inspiring the concept of kaizen in Japan. In addition, the program became the foundation of the Toyota Production System and the DoD resourced open source Management System (3.1).
The four basic training programs (10-hour sessions) developed by TWI were developed by experts on loan from private industry. Because of the intensity of the situation, a large number of experimental methods were tried and discarded. This resulted in a distilled, concentrated set of programs. Each program had introductory programs called "Appreciation Sessions" that were used to sell the programs to top management and introduce the programs to middle management of a company. Each program also had 'Train-the-Trainer' programs and handbooks called "Institute Conductor's Manual" for the master trainers.[2] The TWI Service also developed a number of "Staff Only" training programs to support staff development and to improve the implementation success.
The TWI trainers had to be invited to a factory in order to present their material. In order to market the service, they developed the Five Needs of the Supervisor: every supervisor needs to have Knowledge of the Work, Knowledge of Responsibility, Skill in Instructing, Skill in Improving Methods, and Skill in Leading.[2] Each program was based on Charles Allen's 4-point method of Preparation, Presentation, Application, and Testing.
The 10-hour Sessions were:
There was also a short-lived course that taught union personnel (UJR) to work effectively with management.[2]
Internal training programs were; "Management Contact Manual" (1944) - a formal training course on how to sell the TWI programs to management, "How to get Continuing Results from TWI Programs in a Plant" (1944) - this training program was the out-growth of two years of practical experimentation and experience on what it took to have a successful implementation of TWI.
There were several groups that had an impact in the expansion of the TWI programs around the world - US State Department, US Army, British Ministry of Labour, International Labor Organization (ILO) and Standard Oil.[5] In 1944, the British Ministry of Labour sent Frank Perkins to the US to evaluate the TWI programs.[6] In the summer of 1944, Perkins returned to England to establish a similar program. The British Ministry of Labour actively promoted the TWI programs, listing 65 countries in addition to the US and England where TWI was known to be in use as of 1959.[7] Expansion into Europe was led by Standard Oil, which led the translation efforts of the manuals into native languages. Some European TWI activity was done under the Marshall Plan by "Visiting Experts" (VE), with limited success. It was the later work by the ILO using the Standard Oil translations and re-translation efforts that established the TWI programs in Europe. The ILO TWI training program in Bangalore India has the distinction of training the first Japanese about 1947.[8]
Although the TWI program funding for application of the programs in the USA by the government ended in 1945, the US government did fund the introduction to the war-torn nations of Europe and Asia. Several private groups continued to provide TWI in the US and abroad. Channing Dooley, Walter Dietz, Mike Kane and Bill Conover (collectively known as "the Four Horsemen") continued the development of the 'J' programs by establishing the TWI Foundation.[2] This group was responsible for continuing the spread of TWI throughout Europe and Asia. The Director of one of the district offices established TWI, Inc., and was hired by the US Government to provide TWI training in Japan. It was especially well received in Japan, where TWI formed the basis of the kaizen culture in industry. Kaizen, known by such names as Quality Circles in the West, was successfully harnessed by Toyota Motor Corporation in conjunction with the Lean or Just In Time principles of Taiichi Ohno. In the foreword to Dinero's book "Training Within Industry", John Shook relates a story in which a Toyota trainer brought out an old copy of a TWI service manual to prove to him that American workers at NUMMI could be taught using the "Japanese" methods used at Toyota. Thus, TWI was the forerunner of what is today regarded as a Japanese creation.[2]
The symbiosis between TWI program and Lean Management is such that one cannot effectively implement Lean Management without incorporating TWI principles.[9] Lean Management's success largely depends on the competence and awareness of middle management, which TWI aims to develop. This focus on leadership skills, as emphasized in sources like Jeffrey Liker's "Toyota Talent" highlights TWI's pivotal role in shaping organizational culture in the context of Lean Management.[10] The practical implementation of TWI Program within Lean Management underscores the program's enduring significance and its essential role in the successful transformation of middle management into effective leaders.