Toyota Lean Techniques Essay

Introduction

The lean technique entails discovering ways to rationalize processes to eliminate waste in terms and increase efficiency when it comes to the production of products (Jacobs, Chase & Lummus, 2014). Manufacturing companies usually identify steps in that are wasted in their production and eliminate these steps thereby improving the value they give to their customer because of better production. In both service delivery and manufacturing businesses, these techniques are used to disregard process that does not add value to the production process, optimizing value and improving customer value and productivity. One of the best companies to utilize lean technologies is Toyota Motor Corporation that has made it establish itself as a leading automotive company in the world. This paper will evaluate how Toyota has excellently used lean technologies, how it can make improvements using lean techniques and finally apply the techniques it has used to other businesses.

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Toyota Lean Strategies

Japan is a country well known for its philosophy of respecting all people and eliminating waste. Toyota which is based in Japan follows this philosophy in its production process and uses several lean manufacturing processes to increase productivity and better its products (Ford et al.., 2012). When Fujio Cho was the head of Toyota, he introduced lean manufacturing techniques by recognizing various types waste that could be eliminated from the supply chain among them "production defect, motion, processing, transportation, and overproduction" (Fullerton, Kennedy & Widener, 2014). Toyota then introduced "The Toyota Production System (TPS)" that had two major concepts; "Just-in-Time" and "jidoka" (Sundar, Balaji & Kumar, 2014). The "Just-in-Time" concept entailed producing only the products that are necessary for the other process to happen while the "jidoka" concept which means "automation with human touch" was all about appreciating every process in the entire production meaning when one part of production has a problem, production process will stop so as not to produce faulty products (Sundar, Balaji & Kumar, 2014). These two concepts have ensured that Toyota produces vehicles that are of top quality and one that makes their customer more satisfied.

Toyota values each and every employee in every department and this is another lean strategy that has enabled it to reduce waste and increase production. Toyota ensures that there is a good relationship between the management and the employees and even invents ways to encourage the employees by giving them bonuses when they perform well (Sundar, Balaji & Kumar, 2014). This ensures that the company retains the best employees and eliminate the need to continuously look for new and skilled workers. Additionally, Toyota lean strategies ensure that customer value is considered in each step of production and supply chain meaning that each product they have meets the needs of a customer (Jacobs, Chase & Lummus, 2014).

Improvements on Toyota Lean Strategies

Toyota has been successful when it comes to lean manufacturing mainly because of focusing on its employees and its efficient production system leading to employee loyalty and greater productivity. Some of the changes it could make are to have partnering dealership so as to reduce its in-stock inventory. In its quest to satisfy its customer's needs, Toyota ends up producing many vehicles and supplying them to their dealers. Toyota has a large number of vehicles in the dealership which is not always sold on time and usually leads to a loss of value and having limited cash flow. Reduction in the value of the vehicles means that the company does not attain its estimated revenue forcing the company to have less cash flow to support development and research. The company should find ways to improve its sales so that it can concentrate on developing more excellent cars that the customers continue to demand.

Toyota's Lean Strategies Used in another Business

In the current business, I am involved in, most of the thing is done manually, in person, and there is much use of hard copy. This has led to higher cost of running the business from every part of production and service delivery. To counter this problem, it is important to incorporate lean techniques like the ones used by Toyota. To eliminate waste of time in our business, it is important to have an updated and modern software system allowing us to serve our customers in a more efficient manner. This software will also enable the business to eliminate any cost involved in the service delivery increasing our revenue enabling us to concentrate on how we can expand the business to other regions. Furthermore, an updated software will enable the business to reach more customers and increase sales by utilizing fully many of the online platforms. The software also led to more customer satisfaction since it will enable swift communication allowing us to retain the majority of the customers we interact with. Moreover, incorporating various lean techniques in every aspect of our business as Toyota does will certainly enable our business to attain our goals of giving our customer the best services.

Conclusion

Lean techniques are key for any business to increase its production and attain its goals. Lean manufacturing is all about reducing waste in the production or provision of service and it ensures that a company will produce products are more appealing to the customer and in a much-reduced cost. Moreover, the consumer of the products benefits in that they receive products which are full of quality and at a more affordable price. Toyota Motor Corporation is an excellent company when it comes to implementation of various lean techniques and the various strategies it utilizes can and should be applied in much other business.

References

Ford, A. L., Williams, J. A., Spencer, M., McCammon, C., Khoury, N., Sampson, T. R., ... & Lee, J. M. (2012). Reducing door-to-needle times using Toyota's lean manufacturing principles and value stream analysis. Stroke, STROKEAHA-112.

Fullerton, R. R., Kennedy, F. A., & Widener, S. K. (2014). Lean manufacturing and firm performance: The incremental contribution of lean management accounting practices. Journal of Operations Management, 32(7-8), 414-428.

Jacobs, F. R., Chase, R. B., & Lummus, R. R. (2014). Operations and supply chain management (pp. 533-535). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Sundar, R., Balaji, A. N., & Kumar, R. S. (2014). A review on lean manufacturing implementation techniques. Procedia Engineering, 97, 1875-1885.