Toyota PaperEssay Preview: Toyota PaperReport this essayDescribe a major global corporation: (1) a leading manufacturer or (2) a major retail or restaurant business. Describe the type of business, market share, financials, size, and global presence.
Toyota Motor Corporation was founded in 1919 by the famous Japanese inventor, Saki chi Toyoda. Its primary business is manufacturing and selling automobiles. With operations in the U.S. for the past 50 years, Toyota is one of the most well known automobile manufacturers in the world. In fact, it is the largest automobile manufacturer in the world, producing over 7 million units in the last financial year. (Liker, 2008) During this time it reported a profit of over $5 billion dollars. It is a multinational corporation with its corporate office located in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. Toyota currently employs roughly 310,000 people around the world. (2010)
The Toyota Way and the Toyota Production system are what make up Toyotas DNA.The Toyota Way can be summarized two ways: continuous improvement and respect for people. (Liker & Hoseus, 2008) Continuous improvement is translated as Kaizen which is huge in the Toyota culture where this means challenge everything. (2008)
Toyota is also responsible for the invention of the term “lean production” sometimes called the Toyota Production System or TPS. (Liker, 2005, p. 115) This invention has triggered a global transformation in just about every industry to Toyotas manufacturing and supply chain philosophy and methods for over a decade. The company has won awards for being the best in class by both its peers and competitors throughout the world. Toyota automobiles have consistently been at the top of quality rankings by J.D. Power and Associates, Consumer Reports and many others for years. (2011)
For many years, Toyota was the top auto maker in Japan and a number 4 in the U.S. behind the Big 3 auto makers (Ford, GM, and Chrysler). For the first time in 2003 Toyota sold more vehicles than one its competitors (Chrysler). The Toyota Camry is now the top selling vehicle in the U.S. and the Toyota. Toyota has also become a leader in luxury car sales with the Lexus brand outselling BMW, Cadillac and Mercedes Benz for 3 years in a row (Liker, 2008)
Describe the companys production or operations management.During the 1950s Toyota laid the foundations for a new system of manufacturing vehicles. This was developed into the Toyota Production System often called (TPS) is an exceptionally efficient set of principles that has been used widely and adapted within the auto industry and beyond. The Toyota Production System (TPS) was established based on two concepts: The term “Jidoka” (which is loosely translated as “automation with a human touch”) this means that when a problem occurs, an alarm is sounded and the equipment stops immediately. This prevents the production of defective products and the computer tracks back to the issue. The second is the “Just-in-time” concept of in which each process produces only what is needed. This helps eliminate waste. Based on basic philosophies of Jidoka and Just-in-Time, the TPS can efficiently and quickly produce vehicles of sound quality, one at a time, that fully satisfy customer requirements. (Wren, 1998)
Toyota as an automobile manufacturer definitely has to have quality control, and it has to be objective, measured against an accepted standard. Toyotas way of measuring quality is continuous improvement or in Japanese terms, Kaizen. (2010) Toyota quality management is also tightly related to their Just-in-time system. (2010)
Describe and evaluate the companys use of teams in production and operations management.The company wide culture Toyota embodies is the key ingredient in its success as the global leader in operational excellence. With the Toyota Way culture, its employees who bring it all to life: coming together as a team to improve communication, find and resolve issues, and growing together as a team. Well the Toyota Way goes way beyond this. Using a very intricate design, it encourages, supports, and demands employee involvement in almost every process. Team work is key here. It is a culture at Toyota. (Liker and Hoseus, 2008) Management depends on the workers to reduce inventory, find problems, and fix them. The workers use teamwork and have a sense of purpose because if they dont fix the problem then there will be a problem down the line which will lead to an inventory shortage. Day in, day out, managers, machine workers, quality specialists, vendors, machine operators are all involved in continuous problem solving and improvement. (2008)
One tool that facilitates this teamwork is called 5S this stands for sort, stabilize, shine, standardize, and sustain. ( These activities are used to eliminate the wastes that contribute to injuries, mistakes, and defects. With these methods in place, especially, sustain, which is arguably the hardest and the one that keeps the first four Ss in place by emphasizing the necessary training, and rewards needed to encourage workers to properly maintain and continuously improve procedures in the workplace environment. Efforts like these require a combination of committed management, proper training, and a culture that makes sustaining improvement a learned behavior from the floor to top level management. (Liker, 2005)
Maintain
• In a traditional and highly-skilled job, the majority of people learn with mastery of their skill. This is done to an extent by setting up a training program, making sure everyone is in constant and timely communication, and improving those skills at the work place through repetition and regular meetings. (For more on this process, see A New Path to Recovery on this web page . Also check out this blog post, ” How to Make Your Job Safer and Happy .” )
• In most cases, it is difficult for a worker’s skills to carry the burden of training that required them the most. In some cases, such as in the hospital, training can help the employee deal with the challenges of managing other employees, in other cases, training is much more valuable. (We see a lot of workplace problems where training is simply not available, but it can serve as a starting level of training for other people)
• In most instances of a worker’s labor and the way she handles, they have a learning curve. When working in a new field and when new conditions come into place, that learning curve becomes much more acute (and probably has a more destructive impact on the ability to improve in that field), and they have the ability to cope against being cut off from their peers, peers, friends, and coworkers. (It is also important to recognize that, with these skills, a change can take place. If a change does happen, but isn’t in good alignment with those in the new organization, and the new worker moves on in the new work place, that is likely a good thing. If I’m the new management, I want to teach them new techniques or ideas, and I want to bring in new managers or new people to run the place, then I need that kind of management. But to my knowledge, I haven’t seen anyone run a new building, because that can be quite disruptive for a new person, especially if you have been around the organization for so long, and a new team with lots of new people, people who have similar skills, needs, wants, and desires can quickly shift and shift gears. In that case, if you have a new project that needs to be done, then it will be difficult for a new person to make a change and I may be making a mistake when I’m talking about this new design in regards to the workers that are already there. That said, I would suggest to the management at least go to the other side on the first floor of the building, with a staff member who has a learning curve, and that person can start teaching. (These are often the managers that we discuss in these discussions and are often very helpful!)
• Most people can get jobs in this manner, but if someone is not on top of their game quickly enough, then their understanding of the system and the problem becomes very hard to find
Analyze and evaluate the companys ability to adjust to a major economic, environmental, or natural crisis (such as the real estate crash, financial crisis, nuclear meltdown, hurricane, flood, oil spill, etc.) and communicate effectively with their employees and customers about issues caused by the crisis.
In 2009 Toyota