Hey oh y’all,
So Sumi and I just finished our trip to Nabana no Sato – I’m
sure she can tell you all about it.
Last night we watched a weird/funny Japanese variety show
(no – Japanese TV shows are not always weird, but they are almost invariably
funny). The show was called Bikkuri Kamera (Surprise/Candid Camera). Basically
they put people into odd situations to “see how they will react.” Scenarios
include setting trap doors for people who are bilingual to see which language
they scream in, trying to get a person to “punk/scare” his/her boss, telling a
crowd to flat out ignore a stand-up comedian (this one was kind of mean), and
of course send a large stampede of people against a the guy is walking down the
street. But there was also a section for – how to shock and surprise a comedian
who makes his living doing “WILD” things – using wasabi for toothpaste, walking
through a car wash…they ended up settling on making him take a bath, then
pretending the hot springs had actually hit oil and exploding the oil. I
actually enjoyed it a lot – though I’m not sure the psychological significance
of doing surprising things only to find out that they do in fact surprise
people.
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| I hope I'm not infringing on copyright here... Loosely translated - Being scrubbed! What are you doing?! |
Ok – on to more important business.
So after Mie-ken (Mie Prefecture – state equivalent), we
took a side trip to Aichi-ken and the Toyota Factory and Museum. You get to
tour their museum located next to headquarters and go take a quick tour of one
of their factories – they have information in both English and Japanese, which
is very nice. Plus admission and the tour are free (advanced reservation
required).
About an hour from Nagoya, Toyota City was a pretty cool
place. And yes, Toyota basically owns its own city. They said that they have 10
factories all within 30 minutes drive of each other and their main
headquarters. And they have access to basically their own parts suppliers who
are mostly located within 1.5 hours drive. And of course most of their workers
live in the “city limits.” You want organization? Toyota has organization.
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| Honk honk! Outta my way! |
Basically Toyota-shi/Toyota City is an example of Toyota
efficiency and the Toyota Production System (TPS) – a worldwide standard in
factory management, quality control, and improvement. As you can learn if you
visit the factory and museum, Toyota prides itself on being a leader in
production. Toyota basically tries to make as many new, high-quality products
as efficiently possible. This means cutting production times as much as
possible and being able to easily adapt procedures to make them more efficient.
Thus, having plants and suppliers close to the main headquarters would help.
Toyota has three prime complementing philosophies –the
“just-in-time” management theory, “jidouka,” and “kaizen.”
Just-in-time means, as the Toyota guide explained,
“producing what is needed, when it is needed, and in the amount that is needed”
– tips include maintaining a small, diverse, organized inventory that is easily
replaceable (and easily accounted for using a computerized inventory check);
having a clear “recipe sheet” for workers to follow; pre-sorting parts into
1-car bundles (“set parts supply”); and creating a good work environment (ex.
Bright lights).
Jidouka means “harmony between man and machine” or human
automation. Sakichi Toyoda got his start by inventing an automatic loom that
both sped up work and allowed the weaver to be able to more easily fix mistakes
in the linen. From a moving shuttle to the conveyer belt system, Toyota has
relied on automated processes for efficient work. For the first 2 stages of a
car (metal work and painting), almost 90% of the work is automated. But Toyota
also recognizes the importance of people – almost all of the installation and
product testing requires human interaction. Jidouka also includes the concept
that “quality must be built in by each process.” People are trained to be both
builders and inspectors. The idea is that problems cannot be passed on. If a
problem is noted and is not solved before the “time limit” – the worker calls
for the line to be stopped so that the supervisor can confer and solve the
problem. Toyota uses a simple wire and board system to alert team leaders of
problems in a particular area and quickly restart the process once the problem
is solved.
Lastly “kaizen” – which is loosely self-improvement. All
members of the team should be looking for ways to improve the product, improve
the production, or improve the team. Often the best suggestions come from the
front-line team members. For example, several work tools and training devices
were invented by factory workers – such as a tool that can quickly pick up
single screws or a chair that can swing into a car body. However, this requires
a work culture and an environment that allows workers to voice their
suggestions regularly and comfortably.
These three concepts are often standards by which companies
test themselves to improve design and management. Although Toyota did take a
quality/trust hit with the US pedal issue in 2009, the fact that they remain a
leader in world car sales and a business standard for factory production stands
as a testament to their efficiency and quality (or good marketing/business
strategy but hey that’s kind of one in the same).
I definitely learned a lot from the tour: like kids may like
cars and trucks, but it is businessmen in suits that like car factories (there
were lots of kids dozing off but a lot of businessmen actively taking notes). But,
seriously, if you can spare a day trip out to visit the Toyota complex, I
encourage you to do so. I’m sure you’ve run into Toyota products at some point
in your life so it’s cool to learn about those products and the business
strategies behind them.
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| Sumi's learning about the steps to build a car. |
And – as a bonus – you can eat in Nagoya on your way home,
famous for unique noodles, katsu, and eel (and also look for the home of SKE48
– Sakae, Nagoya’s branch AKB group…didn’t get to see them though)!
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| Hello Nagoya! |
And so concludes our spring break adventure – see you next
quarter!
DC
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