Quality control and improvement in Toyota production systems

Toyota Total Quality Management.

The CEO of Toyota

Re: Quality control and improvement

According to management guru Jim Collins, author of the book Good to Great, "before vision, before strategy, before tactics, before organizational structure, before technology" a great company is founded upon the idea of starting with the right people (Collins 2001: 45). Collins defines the highest Level 5 managerial style with the words: "I don't know where we should take this company, but I do know that if I start with the right people, ask them the right questions, and engage them in vigorous debate, we will find a way to make this company great" (Collins 2001: 45). Toyota has been plagued with recalls recently and focusing on its people is the key to returning to its former, unparalleled reputation for quality.

It is essential for the all of the directors of my department to refocus Toyota's leadership and touch base with what made the company great: providing affordable, safe, environmentally-friendly cars to the public in a manner which suits the public's needs. The leaders must be flexible enough to admit when the company has erred in the past and be willing to embrace out-of -- the box thinking. They must also have an eye for analyzing metrics in an effective fashion. Above all, a change in Toyota requires good people. "The good-to-great companies understood a simple truth: The right people will do the right things and deliver the best results they're capable of, regardless of the incentive system" (Collins 2001: 50). Throwing money at the problem is not sufficient. Toyota must have the right people in the right positions and also cultivate the proper relationship with them: a participatory management system in which qualified workers offer suggestions for improvement.

Toyota was famous for pioneering JIT (just-in-time manufacturing) and putting TQM (total quality management) into practice. These systems are underlined by a 'lean' focus and a stress upon continuous improvement. Toyota is also founded upon a system of values, namely "ethics, integrity and trust. It fosters openness, fairness and sincerity and allows involvement by everyone" (Padhi 2010). Thus, one of the critical qualities demanded of our division in line with TQM principles is a willingness to commit to these organizational values. A leader can put the company's wider interests above that of their personal interests and is motivated by doing a good job, not simply concrete incentives like pay. This means, for example, that rather than simply focusing on the short-term value of cutting costs, the long-term value of producing a quality product must be at the forefront of Toyota's collective leadership consciousness. Reducing the number of recalls, ideally to zero, is essential. "Automakers that were once lauded for their quality have been afflicted by recalls in the past decade. Toyota has led the nation in recalls in 4 of the past 5 years" (Duffer 2014).

The need for recalls indicates a lack of concern for quality and putting speed to market over a high-quality product. As the president of Toyota has said: "we need to assert a renewed commitment to 'customer first' in reviewing all our work processes from a customer perspective….Let this gathering today be our first step. Let us share first-person insights and hold constructive debate. Let us make the most of this invaluable opportunity" (Nakata 2010). In the short-term, Toyota must demonstrate to its customers a commitment to quality with a thorough top-to-bottom audit of its work processes to understand why defects and compromises in quality are occurring. Then, it can target these processes and reform them accordingly.

In the language of TQM, Toyota is currently facing high external failure costs which occur "when the defect is discovered after it has reached the customer. This is the most expensive category of quality costs. Examples include product returns, repairs, warranty claims, lost reputation, and lost business" (McCubbrey 2009: 169). The TQM philosophy is on "customer focus, continuous improvement, employee empowerment, quality tools, product design, process management, and supplier quality" (McCubbrey 2009: 169). To touch base with these elements, Toyota must convincingly reassure its customers it is doing all it can to reduce defects, rather than making excuses and covering up the fact it has had problems. Working with the advertising and PR departments, we must communicate to the world that Toyota is going 'back to its roots.'

This must be matched by creating feasible benchmarks to reduce recalls and even more importantly reduce the likelihood any defects occur in the first place. Employees must be better trained to spot problems and provide input on how to fix them: they cannot be regarded as automatons. To reduce external failure costs may require widespread organizational retraining and coordination with HR to ensure such training is conducted in a comprehensive manner. Once again, this also requires hiring the right people who are motivated by a desire to do good work. They must feel as if the company embraces and actively seeks out their input, even when it is not entirely positive.