Advanced Manufacturing magazine continues the focus on Toyota with a cover article, What Makes Toyota Tick? [the broken link was removed] by Vanessa Chris
“Toyota has been coined ‘the most feared automaker in the industry.'” Just a few days ago I posted on: Fear Remains a Toyota Motivator. No matter what Toyota continues to be the focus of attention.
In the two-and-a-half years the plant has been in operation, team members have worked diligently to shave nine seconds of takt time off the assembly process without increasing manpower – mainly by focusing on little changes, like putting all fluids in before the final line, and ensuring carpet and seats are installed at the very end to avoid stains or damage.
Lean so lean it doesn’t stand out
In this plant, there are no new lean cells that are “under construction.” There are no pre-lean horror stories and no wide-eyed employees excited about their newly-organized work area. The lean philosophy is so deeply embedded here it’s as if it requires almost no effort at all, emphasizing the differences between first generation lean and, well, a pioneer like Toyota. “It’s tough to adapt a whole system to another system that’s already in place,” says Gerry Malloy, the editor of Canadian Auto Dealer magazine, and a respected automotive industry journalist. “It’s how (Toyota’s) been doing business from the beginning and it’s difficult for other people to catch up.”
People might get tired of reading about Toyota but when you read articles like this you see that a principle reason for there being so much focus on Toyota is that they really are doing great things.
The editor’s note, Life lessons from a car company? [the broken link was removed] is also worth reading:
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