Toyota Motor Manufacturing, U.S.A., Inc.

By now you’ve guessed that the Toyota Motor Manufacturing case is an introduction to the Toyota Production System. The unexpected twist is that it is set in Georgetown, Kentucky. This is actually worth reflecting on. Outsiders first examined how Japanese firms build automobiles only after these firms began to enjoy success outside of their home market. What they found was that the approach of Toyota and others was significantly different from those of western firms. Many initially pointed to particular features of Japanese culture as underlying the differences. It was consequently significant that Toyota and others have been successful in places like Georgetown, demonstrating the TPS rests on sound principles and not on features of a given nation or culture. The HBR article provides some assistance in understanding how and why the system works.

 

There are many aspects to just-in-time. On the one hand, JIT can be viewed as a way of organizing production. That is, it addresses issues such as how new work should be released to the factory floor, how much work in process inventory (WIP) should be maintained; how the sequencing of items on the production line should be set; and how work on sub-assemblies and parts should be initiated.

 

On the other hand, JIT can be viewed as a way of insuring and improving both the quality of the goods produced and the quality of the production process. In particular, JIT proponents advocate improving a process through continuous, gradual improvement. These ideas are frequently associated with the Total Quality Management (TQM) movement. Indeed, TQM and JIT are very closely related, and some of our discussion from this class will continue into the next on quality.

 

Lean production and striving for continuous improvement have obviously served Toyota very well over the past several decades. However, successful companies need to constantly re-evaluate their operations – the Industry Week & Information Week articles highlight this fact. The first article discusses some of the issues Toyota is considering moving forward, while the second raises some questions about JIT operations in the face of heightened security following the September 11 attacks.

 

Cases:

Toyota Motor Manufacturing, USA

Consider the following terms mentioned in the case, jidoka, just-in-time, heijunka, kanban, kaizen. What role does each of these concepts play in the Toyota production system, and how do these concepts support/enable each other?
Does Toyota respond just-in-time to customer orders? What does it do just-in-time?
We’ve talked a lot about inventory during the last two classes, particularly the factors affecting how much inventory we should hold. Lean production focuses on keeping inventory levels low. In light of what we have discussed about inventory (and queuing and process analysis, for that matter), what things are Toyota doing to make this possible.
As Doug Friesen, what would you do to address the seat program? Where would you focus your attention and solution efforts.
Where, if at all, does the current procedure for handling defective seats deviate from TPS principle?