More firms take the Toyota route

Straits Times ^ | By Kwan Weng Kin

[DeaconBenjamin]

To emulate the car giant's success, companies adopt the 'Toyota Production System' for high quality and productivity

TOKYO - Last April, when Japan Post decided that its staff must work smarter and faster to ward off increasing competition from private-sector operators, it turned to a carmaker for help.

It brought in efficiency experts from Toyota Motor, the world's second-largest manufacturer after General Motors, to study and streamline operations.

So did a host of other Japanese companies, from shipbuilders to food-makers, all wanting to make themselves leaner and meaner, and successful like Toyota.

The car giant's success has much to do with the 'Toyota Production System' (TPS), which refers to a whole host of techniques developed over 30 years ago to increase productivity or cut costs.

The better-known techniques include the 'Just-In-Time' system to reduce waste, irrational procedures and irregularities in the production process, the 'Kaizen' principle of continuous improvement and the 'Jidoka' defect-detection system.

'TPS is based on our desire to respond to customer needs as quickly as possible by achieving high quality and high productivity. The TPS philosophy is firmly entrenched throughout the entire company,' said a Toyota spokesman.

Japan Post, an entity formed with the aim of privatising postal services by 2007, saw TPS as the remedy that the agency needed in order to become competitive.

'Postal services were in the red, so we decided to use TPS to improve ourselves,' said a Japan Post spokesman.

Japan Post invited seven Toyota experts to its Koshigaya Post Office, north of Tokyo, where they spent several months observing the work flow with stopwatches in hand.

They later came up with a 200-page manual to revamp postal operations.

The results of this 'Toyota Project' at Koshigaya are still being evaluated, but Japan Post expects its entire network of post offices throughout the nation to eventually benefit from the exercise.

Underpinning the popularity of the Toyota system is undoubtedly the success of Toyota Motor itself.

'Despite the sluggish Japanese economy, Toyota is still doing very well. This is one big reason why so many Japanese companies are now looking to TPS,' said Mr Masanaka Yokota, a senior consultant at Japan Management Association Consultants (JMAC).

Toyota's highly touted production system first attracted public attention in the early 1970s at the time of the 'oil shocks' that hit Japan, when the company was able to pull ahead steadily while others were stalling.

Over the years, not only Japanese companies but also many foreign enterprises, including United States computer-maker Dell, have taken a leaf from Toyota's book.

The current Toyota boom in Japan, which reflects a re-awakening by Japanese businessmen to the merits of the Toyota method, also mirrors a renewed surge of interest by foreign companies.

JMAC has received requests from many European and Chinese companies wanting to visit a Toyota plant and other Japanese companies that have successfully introduced TPS.

But adopting Toyota's techniques alone is not enough.

'TPS itself is not a panacea. People have to be trained to make it work properly,' Mr Yokota pointed out.

OJT Solutions, a consultancy firm set up by Toyota two years ago to offer its system to companies seeking salvation, focuses precisely on such training.

'Many companies are unable to build up their own expertise. We do not offer a turnkey solution but we train the staff for our clients so that they can implement TPS themselves,' said an OJT spokesman.

Besides TPS, Toyota's executives have been in great demand recently.

The chairman of Chubu International Airport, slated to open next year in Toyota's home prefecture of Aichi in central Japan, is a former Toyota executive.

So is the vice-chairman of Japan Post.

The new bank that the Tokyo authorities are planning to launch next year will also have an ex-Toyota man at its helm.

[martin_fierro]

Just bought a Tundra. Am lovin' it.

[goldstategop]

Toyota's first full size pick up truck.

[Welsh Rabbit]

After a having a string of crappy cars, I bought a Camry in 1998 and haven't had one single problem with it. I recently considered getting another, and decided there is no need; it still runs like it did when I bought it.

[LibKill]

Bought my brother's S-10 pickup when he moved overseas. It is now 10 years old. It's good and strong. I will drive it until it can't be economically repaired.

One of my other brothers is driving the Ford pickup he bought in 1982.

Those pickup trucks tend to last a great long while.

[lelio]

Japan Post, an entity formed with the aim of privatising postal services by 2007, saw TPS as the remedy that the agency needed in order to become competitive.

I go into a PO once a week to mail a package and I'm amazed at the number of keystrokes it takes on the screen and keyboard to mail a package. Type in zip code on handpad. Type on something on the screen. Hit a button on the lower left. Then one on upper right. Its all so repeative.

[ikka]

Toyota Echo, the cheapest Toyota. Cheaper than the far crappier offerings from Ford (Focus), and others.

I have driven it about 7500 miles so far, at speeds up to 80mph continuous, and the worst MPG I got was 34mpg.

[Welsh Rabbit]

My truck at work is an S- 10. I'm not sure what year it is, but it's definately over ten years old. It is isn't the smoothest running truck, it's taken a lot of beatens over the years, but it's reliable and runs plenty good enough for work purposes.

[Will_Zurmacht]

I must admit, I still own an ancient toyota as a back up car. it's a 1986 toyota...hehe.
I couldn't get anything on trade in, and i couldn't sell it for squat. So i kept it around....for years it sat on a relatives farm.

2 years ago my relatively new jeep broke down and needed numerous expensive repairs, this of course happened during winter.
So, we jumped the toyota, filled her up with gas, and took off. I drove the thing for four months, and then put it back on the farm......hehe

If anyone ever needs a winter beater car, a spare grocery getter, etc, I always recommend an old toyota. Ya just can't kill 'em, and believe me I tried.

[Indrid Cold]

Incredible. No mention of W. Edwards Deming, the AMERICAN who went over to Japan after WWII and taught them all these techniques in the first place.

[aimhigh]

Toyota - for those who think before they buy. It's all a matter of quality. I love my 2004 4Runner.

[Welsh Rabbit]

I plan on getting a truck sometime in the next couple of years, and it will be definately be a Tacoma or some other Toyo.

[Felis_irritable]

Ditto. 12,360 mi on my Tundra and it hasn't missed a beat, unlike the last F-150 money pit I owned... I'll never go back.

[The KG9 Kid]

Had mine since 1999. One of the first buyers. Great truck.

[LizardQueen]

Just bought a Toyota Matrix (basically a Corolla wagon) in December. So far it's been great, but it's still really young.

LQ

[John Will]

Don't they also have more american parts than fords?(Irony is strong).

[Calamari]

Good point!

And the rediscovered statistical process control (SPC).

TPS is not a panacea. It does not fit all situations. Leverage over supplier firms is a major component of keeping lean parts on hand inventories.

[Carry_Okie]

Agreed; it's a travesty. Well at least you said it, so that I didn't have to.

Deming went to Japan because American companies wouldn't listen to him. The few who understood statistical quality systems (such as Du Pont and Olin), weren't talking. As a former product creator and project engineer, I have to say that I have very little respect for American management. They're all out for themselves and don't give a damn about the companies for whom they work, much less the livelihood of the people for whom they are responsible.

[Will_Zurmacht]

A friend and I were talking about new cars, and he made the comment that most "American" trucks today are actually Canadian/Mexican/Asian.

I don't know if this is true but the point he was making was that Japaneese models sold in the US are predominately manufactured in the US by non-union American workers, as opposed to "American Auto Company" stuff actually made in NAFTA countries or assembled in the US by union workers from Canadian/Mexican/Asian made parts.

Not sure if thats fully true, but seemed to explain a lot.