In 2008, Toyota Motor Corp. recalled more than 10 million vehicles to repair accelerator pedals. This was a massive blow to the company's reputation for quality control. Workers and managers looked inward.... what went wrong? The answer proved to be an over-reliance on robotic machines. What to do? Toyota executives looked back at the origin of the company when Taiichi Ohno founded the Toyota Production System in 1970. Ohno's innovative assembly lines were the envy of the automotive industry for their efficiency and quality.
Two principles guided Ohno's vision. The first was "kaizen" or continuous improvement. The second was "monozukuri" - the art of making things. Toyota's President, Akio Toyoda, called on Mitsura Kuwai, a veteran of the Ohno era, to restore that successful business model. Kuwai began by replacing some machines with workers so they could develop new skills and figure out ways to improve production lines. In one plant, for example, workers making crankshafts by hand reduced the amount of scrap and shortened the assembly time. Other factories had similar successes. Kuwai knew that learning how to make car parts from scratch gives younger workers insights they couldn't get by simply pushing a button on a machine. Mr. Kuwai argued: "We cannot simply depend on the machines that only repeat the same task over and over again. To be the master of the machine, you have to have the knowledge and the skills to teach the machine".
Reflecting on the embarrassing vehicle recalls, President Toyoda ordered a 3 year freeze on new car plants. He realized that the company had grown too fast and lost sight of its core competencies: the principles of "kaizen" and 'monozukuri". He knew Toyota was infected by "big-company disease" and was too busy getting product out. Now he has put his trust in the pioneers of the Taiichi Ohno era to restore the corporate reputation. When you've got a winning formula, why change it?
"If there is ever a technology that's flawless and could always make perfect products, then we will be ready and willing to install that machine. But there's no machine that is eternally stable."
Mitsura Kawai, 2014
(Today, Toyota announced a recall of 6.4 million vehicles in Japan, North America, and Europe. It appears the return to basic philosophy is very timely)
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