Genchi-Genbutsu and creating the Toyota 4Runner - On Cars

Automotive Design & Production, Oct, 2002 by Gary S. Vasilash

With the proliferation of SUVs on the market right now, the folks at Toyota knew that there was a big challenge in developing the new 4Runner. So Toyota engineers applied a methodology that got them thinking about what really needed to get done.

From Millimeters to Kilometers

As anybody who has even been in the same room as a copy of The Machine That Changed the World knows, Japan-based vehicle manufacturers are masters at continuous improvement. These are typically the sorts of improvements that are incremental--millimeter by millimeter, they get better and better. Pretty soon they're centimeter sized improvements. And the aggregate then becomes meter sized. And pretty soon they are, comparatively speaking, kilometers ahead of their competitors. But this whole incremental thing is only part of what companies like Toyota do.

Because another clear strategy is to make thorough-going, fundamental improvements to their products, not just the kaizen baby steps. They create new versions of existing products. There may be some carryover, but by and large, these are large changes. In the case of the 4Runner SUV, the first one was introduced in 1985. The fourth-generation is being launched now. This mid-sized SUV is different right down to the chassis compared with the model that it replaces. The improvement has, yes, been continuous. But it's also been substantial.

Or, as the chief engineer for the 4Runner, Junichi Furuyama, puts it, "One of the benefits of this project was that our team was allowed to start from scratch."

Sure, there are incremental improvements. And then there are the starting-from-scratch projects like the 4Runner.

How Do You Know What To Do?

Furuyama on creating a better SUV (or a better anything else, for that matter):

"There is a phrase that is often used by vehicle development engineers at Toyota to explain the foundation of our engineering strategy. The phrase is genchi-genbutsu. As a direct translation, genchi means 'local' or 'on-site.' Genbutsu means 'real thing' or 'actual materials.'

"More loosely translated as a philosophy, it means: Go, see, and confirm.

"The phrase is a reminder that we cannot assume to know everything. And that it is counter-productive to assume that we do. More importantly--and especially for those of us who think we have all the answers-- the phrase is a philosophical caveat."

So, in the case of the 4Runner, Toyota engineers based in Toyota City came to the U.S., the most important market for the 4Runner (Go). They worked with the people at the Toyota Technical Center in Ann Arbor and Toyota Motor Sales (Torrance, CA) in order determine how people use their vehicles and what the market is like (See). And they subsequently made modifications to their initial plans for what a 4Runner should be (Confirm).

Furuyama: "Where we began the development of the 4Runner was far from where we ended up. In fact, it was about the distance between Japan and the U.S."

Genchi-genbutsu can make a whole lot of difference. Not only is it about being there, but it is, perhaps more importantly, about being able to accept that there are differences that may cause you to have to rethink your original suppositions.

Once You've Figured All That Out

Once they know what they need to do, then the Toyota engineers set to it via the implementation of simultaneous engineering. Furuyama says, "All aspects of development are now brought into the project at the beginning--at the drawing stage." Of course the "drawing" is now being done on computer screens. There was the extensive use of digital engineering tools in developing all of the components. Furuyama notes that almost all of the parts that are used in the vehicle were not only digitally designed, but were tested and used in simulated assembly routines. Furuyama notes, "Through digital parts design, changes can be made quickly at a fraction of the cost of building prototype parts. It is also the main reason why we can now build fewer pre-production prototype vehicles."

In addition to which: "Streamlining the production process, making the vehicle easier to build, is the final piece of the development puzzle. The logic is simple. A vehicle that is easier, safer and more enjoyable to build will be higher in quality and ultimately less expensive to produce."

The 4Runners are built in two facilities in Japan: the Toyota Tahara plant and the Hino plant in Hamura.

Leveraging Additional Resources

One clever bit of engineering deployed on the 4Runner is actually a development of Yamaha. Toyota engineers have worked with Yamaha engineers on other occasions. For example, the all-aluminum 1.8-liter, 180-hp four-cylinder engine that's used in both the Celica GT-S and the Matrix XRS was developed by Yamaha. And the California walnut wood trim that's featured in the Lexus LS 430 is actually woodworking done by the people who craft the Yamaha pianos. The work between Toyota and Yamaha actually goes back to 1967, with the Toyota 2000 GT, which was equipped with a DOHC, 1988-cc, 150-hp engine that was developed by engineers from both Toyota and Yamaha.