CCIT To Host Two Site Visits At Toyota

    IRVINE, Calif.--Jan. 23, 2001--Center for Continuous Improvement Technologies (CCIT) has announced that it will host two Site Visits at Toyota.
    Center for Continuous Improvement Technologies is a unique benchmarking membership cooperative which provides powerful, targeted and cost-effective Best Practice site visits and case studies to professionals interested in continuous improvement and quality issues. CCIT is the only benchmarking organization available which works with the California Quality and Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award programs to provide Best Practice site visits and case studies of award-winning companies.
    Today businesses are focusing on new ways to enhance manufacturing efficiency and quality. But these now-familiar business terms are more than just buzzwords -- they are key components of a revolutionary production process sweeping across the world. A process invented by Toyota Motor Corporation more than 40 years ago -- the Toyota Production System (TPS).
    Since Toyota began vehicle manufacturing in the U.S. in 1984, hundreds of suppliers and outside companies have visited their plants to study the Toyota Production System (TPS). Based on the growing interest in TPS among U.S.-based companies, Toyota established the Toyota Supplier Support Center (TSSC) in 1992. TSSC's mission is to work with manufacturers who want to strengthen their competitiveness by implementing their own version of TPS on their shop floor. In addition to supporting Toyota North American plants, TSSC has worked with 88 companies in the U.S. and Canada to transfer understanding about TPS. These companies vary from areas of both automotive and non-automotive manufacturing: ranging from airbags and bumpers to toys and luggage.
    There is no single step or "magic bullet" that allows a company to reduce costs while improving product quality. However, TPS is based on a systemic approach to production that is actually remarkably simple to operate once a strong commitment is made by the manufacturer. The Toyota production system is best summed up in one sentence: Each step in the factory works in lockstep, and no part of the factory does any work unless it's necessary. It calls for minimal inventories, easy-to-read signals that tell operators when to send more work in progress, and a war on scrap and waste of any kind: material, motion or money.
    TSSC is proud to play an important role in the sharing of the Toyota Production System with other companies. It has been established as a resource for companies who want to become more competitive by working to completely rethink the way their business is run and the way they manufacture.
    Companies practicing TPS increase quality and productivity and thus gain higher sales results from all of their customers. Raising quality throughout industry increases competition, resulting in better products for consumers.
    Increased quality and competition also help create a better local supply base. This is already apparent in the automotive industry, where stronger suppliers are a key factor in Toyota's efforts to increase global procurement of auto parts and materials.
    Current results from an ongoing representative TPS implementation project include 47 percent inventory reduction, 70 percent lead time reduction and 60 percent productivity increase.
    TABC Inc., located in Long Beach, Calif., was the first U.S. manufacturing facility owned and operated by an import automaker. TABC began producing Toyota truck beds as Atlas Fabricators Inc. in 1972. When Toyota purchased Atlas Fabricators in 1974, the facility was renamed TABC. The manufacturer now employs more than 450 people, 68 of which are Long Beach residents.
    TABC experienced tremendous growth over the last 10 years, and has capacity to annually produce 160,000 Toyota truck beds, 2,700,000 catalytic substrates, 900,000 catalytic converters and 150,000 steering columns.
    McKechnie Vehicle Components of Troy, Mich., enlisted Toyota's Supplier Support Center to increase efficiency at its Nicholasville, Ky., injection-molding plant.
    Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America Inc. was invited to analyze McKechnie Vehicle Components and to help introduce new manufacturing methods. Work cells were set up and workers were trained to make ongoing kaizen improvements in the production process, creating a way to track manufacturing changes and ensure they didn't create problems elsewhere.
    Now with 10-minute tool changes, rather than the hour-long line stops of the past, fast switches in the paint shop, and swift material handling in small batches, the plant can alternate among dozens of different wheel covering designs and ship each batch as it is made.