Toyota's Strategies for Expanding Total Production Control (TPS) Outside of Manufacturing Processes
In a groundbreaking move, Toyota, the renowned automobile manufacturer, has extended its core strength, the Toyota Production System (TPS), beyond its manufacturing areas to its office staff. This initiative aims to bolster Toyota's competitiveness and contribute to society by making use of TPS' advantages.
The TPS training program, launched in August 2020, has been rolled out across all groups and in-house companies. President Akio Toyoda delivered the first lecture, emphasising the importance of this unconventional approach.
The motto "After kaizen is the state of before kaizen" is a guiding principle at Toyota, underscoring the continuous nature of the kaizen (improvement) process. This philosophy is shared by Tomoyama and Onoue, who believe that kaizen is a never-ending journey.
In the office environment, TPS is aimed at getting all employees to do as much meaningful work as possible. Measures have been implemented for kaizen in various office processes, such as accounting and tax reporting. Notably, it was found that 10% of documents received were not being used, a significant reduction in unnecessary work.
One of the most impactful changes has been in the Accounting Division, where eliminating waste one at a time resulted in a 30% reduction in workload within a year. This was achieved by focusing on the ability to think through something when conducting kaizen, a crucial skill referred to by Tomoyama.
The training program also aimed to let office staff members realise that TPS is applicable anywhere. As a result, TPS activities have spread to cost planning, fund management, and renewing fire insurance contracts in many workplaces across the headquarters.
Office staff at Toyota have been devoting themselves wholeheartedly to their jobs, but sometimes lose sight of their true intentions when they continue something for a long time. TPS offers a solution, helping to set quality standards for every process and build quality, thus shortening lead time.
TPS will offer advantages even in the non-manufacturing process of software development. The development of software involves various processes, and TPS can help set quality standards for every process and build quality, thus shortening lead time.
Interestingly, those who adopt and promote TPS are often unconventional people. Toyota's competitive edge is due in part to having many such unconventional individuals within its ranks.
As of last summer, a company-wide TPS training program was underway for office staff at Toyota. Out of the 70,000 employees in Japan, around 25,000 are office staff, and 18,000 of them had not undergone TPS training.
The final VINs were allocated five months before production began, which was a waste of time doing unnecessary work. However, in a certain engineering department, the allocation of VINs began 15 months before the production of new cars, necessitating the re-allocation of VINs 15 times due to changes in plants or engine models. This practice has been minimised through the implementation of TPS principles.
In conclusion, Toyota's extension of TPS to its office staff signifies a significant step towards continuous improvement and streamlined processes. This initiative not only benefits Toyota but also contributes to society by demonstrating the applicability of TPS in various sectors.
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