In this episode, I read my recent post about a visit to Toyota’s plant in Durban, South Africa, before I spoke at the KZN Lean Conference. I asked to see one thing: how the andon system works there and how it compares to other Toyota plants I’ve visited.
About a year ago, the plant replaced the overhead andon cords with two buttons. Yellow calls for help. Red stops the line immediately. I share the two reasons the team gave for the change, including an ergonomics problem that most plants would never have, because most plants don’t use their andon enough.
I also talk about what happened when a team member activated the andon while we were watching one station, why their leaders are wary of setting a target to reduce activations, how the plant traces downstream defects back to a station without turning it into blame, and why their suggestion box is only for improvements that are already done.
Any company can buy the buttons. What makes it Toyota is everything around them, starting with who shows up in the first minute.
Read the post, with photos from the plant and the safari afterward: https://www.leanblog.org/2026/09/the-toyota-andon-system-in-south-africa-two-buttons-instead-of-a-cord/