Small Business Resources, Business Advice and Forms from AllBusiness.com
 

IT drives Toyota's lean improvement

HEADNOTE

Even Toyota, the birthplace of IT-free lean manufacturing, is now investing in shopfloor IT and analytics - and to great effect. Brian Tinham reports

gearing up for a 16% increase in car production from next

month, but with its press shop running at full capacity, Toyota Manufacturing UK at Burnaston, Derbyshire has bowed to the inevitable. It's harnessed IT in this case a new breed of system for shopfloor monitoring and performance analytics aimed at identifying and prioritising opportunities for improvement.

What's interesting about this story is twofold. First, Toyota is seeing the kind of success that demonstrates just how valuable the right systems at the factory level can be. Second, it's being done at a company widely acknowledged as the originator of lean manufacturing - not one renowned for looking to IT for solutions, particularly at the shopfloor level.

From a production management perspective Toyota is all about classic lean visual 'pull' signals and takt time manipulation on its assembly lines for demand management. That pulls material through from its press, weld and paint shops etc, as opposed to MRP-based 'push' scheduling, works orders and the rest.

In addition, make sure to read these articles:

  • mvi Posts Record Results and Claims Market No.1...
  • MIAMI -- mvi technology, leading provider of real-time performance management (RPM) solutions to the food and beverage sector, and market number-one for customer return-on-investment ......
  • Toyota Manufacturing UK Uses DELMIA to...
  • AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Dassault Systemes (NASDAQ:DASTY; Euronext Paris: No. 13065, DSY.PA), announced today that DELMIA digital manufacturing software is being deployed by Toyota ......
  • From the Chairman John Lucey
  • This is my first 'real' report following my election and I would like to start by paying tribute to Harry Downes. he has guided us ......
  • Toyota boots capacity
  • HEADNOTE Toyota Manufacturing UK has brought forward its planned investment and is expanding the Burnaston car plant Toyota Manufacturing UK is investing 50m in its ......
  • Derbyshire invited to Toyota for the day
  • HEADNOTE BRANCH EVENT Derbyshire branch members are invited to join a "Corollas and Kanban" factory tour of Toyota manufacturing facility in die county. It will ......
  • Gotta drink `em all! (Products & Equipment).
  • Calypso Soft Drinks has introduced a range of children's juice drinks featuring one of 14 Pokemon characters on the cartons. The 250ml drinks feature fruit ......
  • How to build up productivity growth
  • manufacturers have improved productivity immensely - in one case here by 54% - by collecting very simple data from their shop floors. Some have even ......
  • Calypso returns in cups. (Products & Equipments).
  • Calypso Soft Drinks has relaunched its single-serve cup drinks in response to customer demand. Calypso Cups have returned to their original pack format of 24 ......
  • ABF puts Burtons on sale block.
  • Associated British Foods, London, has put its Burtons Biscuits on the sale block. Burtons is primarily a manufacturer of biscuits (best known for Wagon Wheels, ......
  • ABF seals Mexico buy.
  • Associated British Foods has completed its acquisition of Unilever's food oil and fats brands in Mexico, which include Capullo bottled canola oil, the Mazola edible ......
  • Fred & Wilma calypso into all-star line-up.
  • The Flintstones are to star with a host of characters from Cartoon Network Classics in Calypso Soft Drinks range for 2002. Richard Cooke, the company's ......
  • Research and Markets: New, Comprehensive Report...
  • DUBLIN, Ireland -- Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c48017) has announced the addition of Associated British Foods plc 2006 Company Profile to their offering. This new company ......
  • Ease is key to e-procurement use
  • Many potentially successful e-procurement systems fail when they are deployed, delegates were told. Daniel Ball, marketing director of managed solutions provider Wax Digital said that ......
  • Allied grows on CAD software.
  • Standardising on Delcam PowerSHAPE hybrid modeling computer aided design (CAD) software has enabled Allied Glass to continue to grow its business in glass bottles for ......
  • ICM prizewinners - January 2003
  • PricewaterhouseCoopers Prize Practical Credit Management Paul Whitaker Paul has enjoyed 14 years in the factoring, invoice discounting and credit insurance sectors with International Factors, Euler ......