Sustainable Solutions for SCM

relations with those suppliers, they taught them the TPS (JIT, KANBAN, TQM…), to be able to produce high-quality automobiles at low costs. Later on they established the Toyota Supplier Support Center in NUMMI for this purpose. They solved the lean projects which transformed the following in the centre: • Production works of the Toyota suppliers (the suppliers for NUMMI, but also the suppliers for assembly factories of the company Toyota built later on). • Production works of different companies from different industries for “lean production line”. Bringing the Japanese system of production to American culture This process meant permanent gradual adaptation to American culture. The process of employing education is tightly connected to this process. Employee education (building trust) Japanese management educated the American employees who had worked in the factory which GM closed from the beginning. They employed all fired employees from this former factory in 1984. Those employees had poor work habits which the management of Toyota had to change to be able to implement the TPS. In 1987-1988 GM permanently decreased orders for car production. Management of Toyota did not fire even one employee, they established kaizen teams to solve key tasks and step by step they built trust in their employees. [8] In Japan the management of Toyota carried out so-called “lifetime employment”. Actions of the UAV made such a concept harder in the USA. Thus, the cultural differences played a part, which the company management tried to overcome in a way to achieve bilateral satisfaction. Car production using the TPS Two models of Toyota (Toyota Corolla a Toyota Tacoma) and one model of GM Chevrolet Prizm were produced in NUMMI from 1984. Production was managed by the Japanese who applied the TPS. There were the lines for pressing main parts of a car (door, bonnet, splashboards…), lines for welding of such parts, lines for painting the cars and assembly lines in the factory. There were the manager processes which provided working of the TPS performed there as well, such as kaizen, JIT (tact time planning, pull system, quick changeover, integrated logistics, continuous flow, kanban), teamwork (cross-trained, common goals), continuous improvement (waste reduction, 5S), visual management, automatic line stop and solving defects directly at the source. Adoption of the TPS by GM and implementation of that system in other production companies The process of learning and subsequent implementation of the TPS in production and assembly operations of General Motors was continuous. GM made a copy of TPS called the General Motors System in their companies. The managers of particular GM factories took part in the trainings in NUMMI to understand the philosophy, principles and attitudes of the Japanese. Production in NUMMI was managed by Toyota which was successful from the beginning. Marketing was managed by GM. Later on, Toyota took marketing of

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