Scapegoating Toyota? Toyota fears U.S. backlash over gains

I tend to fall on the side of those who think the "Detroit Three" are indeed scapegoating Toyota and that Detroit's past and present horrible management mistakes are to blame, more so than any supposedly currency manipulation by "Japan Inc."

At the risk of opening up a muda-filled debate, what do you think?

Toyota Motor Corp. is bracing for possible political and consumer backlash caused by its rapid U.S. growth, according to an internal report obtained by the Free Press.

Is Zero Defects Possible?.

Sonu asks:

"Is zero defects possible? If so, what are the steps. We are dealing with around 300 parameters each having minimum 25 to 30 parameters to be met. We find it difficult to maintain zero defect for all parameters. Any thoughts???"

The first thing I would do is go to gemba. What does the machine, material, method and manpower (4M) for these processes look like? Then I would observe the process until a defect was created. It is always easier to catch the criminal in the act of committing the crime, rather than through detective work later. This in a nutshell is genchi genbutsu.

I would ask experienced people in the organization to share with me what they know about the problem, previous efforts to fix the problem, whether these were effective, and what is being tried currently to reduce defects. Their collective wisdom will inform and frame the issues.

These things would provide me with an intuitive sense of the products and processes.

The next step would be to review several types of Pareto charts of the types of defects, by part, parameter, by frequency and possibly other factors. The top items on the Pareto chart would be studied in further depth in terms of the 4Ms above, on the gemba, using a cause & effect diagram a.k.a. fishbone diagram.

At this point the combination of observed facts, intuition (what looks or sounds wrong, based on experience) and the data lead to the next steps. The next steps would most likely be a combination of things as simple as basic 5S (throwing out unnecessary items, putting all necessary items in the proper place for quick retrieval, and thoroughly cleaning to identify sources of contamination and filth), standardizing methods and procedures, checking whether our gages and measurement systems were capable, and possibly some design of experiment (DOE) type activity to see which parameters and conditions mattered the most.

I will leave the in-depth answer to this question of achieving zero defects to our friends Ron Pereira at the Lean Six Sigma Academy blog, Mike Wroblewski at Got Boondoggle?, and Rob Thompson at Quality Hero, each of whose Six Sigma chops far exceed my own.

Is zero defects possible? What is your experience? If you have sustained a zero defects process, what steps did you follow?

The BBC on Lean Production BBC NEWS | Business | The triumph of lean production

The BBC highlights lean practices and provides a stunning contrast between Toyota and Ford:

On the assembly line at Toyota's giant plant, Laura Wilshire is not happy.

There is something wrong with a seatbelt fitting on the Camry she is working on.

Laura pulls a cord, stopping the production line - and prompting her five fellow workers on trim line three to crowd round.

They soon see why it is not screwed in properly and fix the problem.

"I don't like to let something like that go," she says. "That's really important for people who buy our cars."

Workers at the Toyota plant in Georgetown, Kentucky, pull the cord 2,000 times a week - and their care is what makes Toyota one of the most reliable, and most desired, brands in the US.

In contrast, workers at Ford's brand-new truck plant in Dearborn, Michigan, pull the cord only twice a week - the legacy of generations of mistrust between shop-floor workers and managers.

Toyota also has a close relationship between the dealers who sell its cars and its plants.

The production run is adjusted at the Georgetown plant, and extra Saturday working is added, only when computerised orders from the dealer network show it is needed.

And individual buyers can alter what they want in their car - changing the paint colour or specifications - right on the production line, by notifying their dealers.

"I hope they make it - but I am not optimistic they all will be able to," says James Womack, an expert who has advised many global companies, from Tesco to Boeing, on the advantages of lean production.

Mr Womack says it has to be something that is inculcated in all the company's workers, from the bosses to those on the factory floor.

"This is not Japanese companies vs American companies, it is smart Japanese companies vs smart American companies," he says.

"GM has caught up on assembly plants, but Toyota is still ahead on suppliers, product development and a problem-solving approach to issues.

"For too long, managers at US car companies were in denial about their problems."