8/13/2019 Eiji Toyoda_ Bard of Assembly Line@ET

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9/21/13 Eiji Toyoda: Bard of Assembly Line

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Publication: The Economic Times Delhi;Date: Sep 20, 2013;Section: World View;Page: 13

Eiji Toyoda: Bard of Assembly Line

MARYANN KELLER

Eiji Toyoda died on Tuesday at the age of 100, almost 30 years after retiring from active management of Toyota Motor. LikeAlfred Sloan and Henry Ford before him, Toyoda was an engineer whose vis ion dominated the company in its formative yearsand beyond. He transformed Toyota into a global powerhouse with management and manufacturing processes that transcendedthe auto industry. Where would we be without kanban, kaizen, muda, and keiretsu, as well as acronyms like JIT (just in time),TQC (total quality control), ZD (zero defects), and TPS (Toyota Production System)? Although Taiichi Ohno is known as thefather of the Toyota Production System, Toyoda probably deserves more credit for its development. He encouraged his team tolearn from W Edwards Deming, to study the Ford production system, and to use data to refine manufacturing processes.Toyoda was known as a good listener and someone who wanted to hear the suggestions and opinions of the very capable teamhe built around him. He understood that international success would come with affordable and durable cars, and under hisdirection, Toyota developed the Corolla, a name Toyoda personally selected, and the Camry. Later he pushed Toyota into theluxury-car sector. At Toyodas insistence, the company took its first, hesitant s teps to produce cars outside Japan. Toyotadidnt know if its production system could be replicated overseas, and it was cautious to commit, even after Honda Motor andNissan were building cars in the US Toyodas answer was a joint venture with General Motors, a decision that was not

enthusiastically embraced within Toyota, but once his mind was made up, there was no changing it. Toyoda challenged hismanagement team to forge the agreement with GM and to accept GMs closed Fremont, California, assembly plant. Fremontwas notorious for inferior quality and poor labour relations, which Toyoda saw as an opportunity. If they could succeed there,they could succeed on their own anywhere, he told executives. Even without automation, Toyota was able to build cars in fewerperson-hours than GM, and with quality comparable to Japan. In reaching decisions, the only things that mattered to Toyodawere genbaproduction site or factoryand genbutsuproducts. He took great pleasure in visiting Toyota assembly plantsand those of the competition. He could stand in the middle of a plant and listen by the sound alone, he could judge how well itwas operating.

Bloomberg BusinessWeek

(Far Left) Eiji Toyoda (Left) Eiji Toyoda, left, & GM Chairman Roger B Smith at the United Motor Manufacturing plant inCalifornia, that was Toyotas first step into manufacturing outside Japan