According to the official blog of Toyota GB, Toyota aims to revolutionize the development of Toyota vehicles by placing more emphasis on harmonizing planning and design to increase efficiency. Also a greater focus on standardized parts and components cum easier to develop and delivered more quickly and efficiently to customers.
It is clear that to achieve very low defects rates, careful attention should be paid to product design and the specification of key dimensions and other parameters (John Naylor, 2002). Why is it necessary to aim for such low defect rates? The answer to this question lies in the fact that most products have many parameters specified simultaneously. Such components can quickly show defects. We can see this in the area where chief engineers of Toyota try to reduce to the minimum number of different components.
Since Toyota is key to the lean approach. The lean approach aims to meet demand instantly, deliver perfect quality and eliminate waste in all its forms (James, 2011). In this dimension, Toyota built New-generation Factories and power compared to the Traditional factories that are large, heavy-duty structures, very expensive to build and expensive to light, heat, and power and must be working at 75% capacity before profit can be achieved.
Another area of revolution or change is New Production Equipment. This new production equipment is flexible or valuable in the sense that when the time arises to introduce new features into cars it accommodate it easier compared to the traditional way of the equipment which is being bolted to the floor but now mounted on rollers. Also, Laser Screw Welding was developed to replace traditional spot welding. The traditional spot welding takes between 2 and 2.5secs to complete while Laser Screw Welding takes between 0.3 & 1seconds. This reflects efficiency and time maximization also Laser Screw Welding can weld both aluminum and steel which will tantamount to cost reduction which is one of the aims of Lean approach.
In the area of production cost, Slush-moulded dashboards though was perceived to be of the highest quality but they are expensive to produce. The Toyota engineers were able to bring on board a brilliant innovation of ‘simple and slim’ compact machine that is 60% smaller, uses 30% less energy and reduces costs by 20%. In this scenario we can see that Toyota will be able to save 20% of the company expenditure from this aspect and re-invest it on another area that needs the attention of the company also the reduction in the size of the machine will give room for more equipment to be installed in the factory. Also, One-at-a-time bumper production molding machine was put in place to be able to meet up with order and customization.
The lean approach is an advocate of waste reduction in production. Toyota engineers redesigned paint booths. This design is just 6.5m and 149m long and uses a clever double-cyclone system to trap waste material, also the new booths will be cleaner, of quality and the environment-friendly.
In sum, we can see continuous improvement in all aspects of production in Toyota GB, which we can say or see as a revolution.
Quality is the totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs (John Naylor, 2002). While the strategy is the direction and scope of an organization over the long term: ideally, which matches its resources to its changing environment and in particular its markets, customers or clients so as to meet stakeholder expectations (James, 2011). Toyota GB Company gained a competitive advantage from supplying quality cars; the remarkable progress of Toyota is more solid evidence. According to Mitsuru Kawai (senior managing officer of Toyota Motor Corporation) as at 1966, Toyota was producing 300,000 vehicles annually, all produced in only two production plants but today Toyota makes around 10million vehicles thanks to Toyota New Global Architecture (TNGA).
Quality is a strategic factor that works through virtuous cycles to build market share and reduce costs (John Naylor, 2011). The quality improvement of Toyota cars is related to product improvement, making it more suited to consumers’ needs, and process improvements, ensuring better conformance to standards. Improved quality increases demand and enable the firm to charge higher prices for the value differentiation that it offers. Based on this explanation Toyota has become a household name in the globe. Toyota is now a tested, trusted and reliable in all the continents of the world.
The major changes are the following: Toyota’s system of appointing an effectively independent chief engineer to each new model project had led to a proliferation of models, platforms and engine derivatives (Official Blog of Toyota GB).
According to Kawai Toyota’s younger engineers needed to reconnect with the hands-on craft skills that were the foundation of the company’s global leadership in production technology. “Automation comes from human skills. We need to go back to basics and preserve those human skills”, Kawai said at Toyota’s Honsha plant. This preservation of human skills really push Toyota to the peak of the industry and that is why we have different brands of Toyota products across the globe.
REFERENCES
James, T. (2011). Operation Strategy. Bookboom.com
John Naylor (2002). Introduction to Operations Management (2nd Edition). Pitman Publishing, USA.
N.A. (2015). TNGA explained: engineering for the future. Official Blog of Toyota GB. Retrieved from: http://blog.toyota.co.uk/tnga-explained-engineering-for-the-future
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