Continuing the legacy: the "lean manufacturing" torch still burns at Toyota

Automotive Industries, June, 2004 by Mike Hara

The following are excerpts of an interview with Kosuke Shiramizu, Toyota executive vice president in charge of manufacturing and quality management. Shiramizu, 64, is a protege of the late Taichi Ohno, the Toyota executive credited with inventing "lean production."

Q: of Toyota's roughly 35 worldwide body-welding lines, how many more must be converted to your "global body line" in 2004 and 2005 before you complete the conversion process? Is the conversion process on schedule to be finished in 2005 as previously stated?

A: We are ahead of schedule having installed 35 lines to date. In fact, as we look toward the future, the number has actually increased and now stands at 47.

Q: That means that 12 more are in the pipeline. When will they be installed?

A: We expect our China, Czech Republic and Mexican operations to be completed in 2005 or 2006.

Q: Will there be more after that?

A: Yes. As soon as one line has been completed or converted, a new line will be on the drawing board. So this total will never come down to zero. It's an endless process.

Q: Two years ago you indicated Toyota's target for large die production was 1.5 months, down from 3 months at the time, to be achieved in three years' time or by 2004. Are you on schedule, thus around 2 months?

A: We targeted 1.5 months and so far have achieved 1.7 months. We hope to achieve 1.5 months within this year. This is for large stamping dies and does not include the design and drawing stage, but from the point design has been finalized and frozen to when we start making the dies.

Q: What is the next step; will you try to shorten lead time further?

A: The next step will be to transfer the technology to our diemaking operations outside Japan (mainly to Toyota assembly plants in North America and Europe).

Q: How long will it take you to complete this transfer process--three years? A: I believe so.

Q: Related to this, are you making progress in prototype production for engines and completed cars?

A: (Over the past few years) we cut the number of engine prototypes in half. We still need several thousand units, however. Our target is to reduce that number to several hundred. Unfortunately, we can't eliminate prototypes. Otherwise we wouldn't be able to assure the machining tolerances.

Concerning lead time to engineer and manufacture a new engine, we have shortened the period to around 7.5 months, from 15 months before. For completed cars, we only need 6 months, down from 12.

Q: Concerning quality levels, you indicated in an interview two years ago that "in process" defects in die making had been reduced to .003 percent in Japan and 80 defects per die in China; your China target was 8 defects in three years' time or by 2005. What sort of progress have you made over the past two years?

A: Let me just say that results haven't gotten worse in Japan or overseas.

Q: Toyota president Cho recently commented that Toyota is facing increased quality problems as the company expands its manufacturing operations overseas and, in fact, Toyota's score in the 2003 J.D. Power initial quality study showed a noticeable decline compared to the previous year. How serious is this issue?

A: If we review J.D. Power results, all carmakers are getting better. The gap is narrowing. With respect to Mr. Cho's comments, overseas expansion has caused some problems and delays, but we have taken action to solve these problems (specifically with respect to problems involving the launch of the remodeled Camry at Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky and the all-new Sienna at Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Indiana).

Q: When will these be resolved?

A: Improving quality is a never-ending struggle. The company that thinks it has beaten the quality problem well eventually decline.

Q: In August, Toyota reorganized the final assembly operation at its Tsutsumi plant by dividing the line into two parts: a staging area for sorting components and building modules and an assembly area now free of line-side parts racks. What are your plans introducing this layout elsewhere?

A: Initially, we will install the new line in Japan, then overseas. To be frank, it will take us longer to introduce it overseas than the global body line because it is not merely a question of installing new machinery and jigs but training people, and training people always takes longer.

Q: In terms of a timetable, when do you expect to introduce the new operation at all overseas plants--in five or six years?

A: Longer.

Q: Why will you introduce it in Japan first?

A: Japan has the greatest need for this kind of operation because in no other country do we produce so many different models on a single line. Second, in no other country do we have such a high rate of model changes. And finally, the Japanese worker population is aging the fastest in the world. These are the specific circumstances of Japan.

Q: In the same vein, does Toyota have a similar concept for improving efficiency on the final assembly line?

A: First, we want to make a line that is suitable for the needs of elderly workers and, secondly, one that can produce a greater number of models white also reducing downtime during model changes. What we came up with (at the Tsutsumi plant) is a line that has no line-side parts racks. Essentially we've split the operation into two: actual assembly work and parts supply in a separate staging area off the main line.