The Toyota Production System

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The Toyota Production System Background Toyota Motor Corporation is an automotive company that sells vehicles. In addition, it designs, manufactures, and assembles its own products. Toyota works with 50 manufacturing companies around the world to produce its parts and vehicles (pg. 22) (Toyota Motor Corporation, 2011). In order to facilitate the processes that occur throughout the complex supply chain of Toyota, the company uses its own production system known as the Toyota Production System (also known as TPS). Toyota Production System Principles TPS serves as a lean manufacturing system built on two fundamental principles, Just-In-Time and Jidoka (Toyota Motor Corporation, 1995). Through the company’s years of experience in the automotive industry, Toyota has developed this system, which focuses on the elimination of waste and the ability to identify defects and halt production to make corrections while satisfying its customers with quality products and services. This efficiency also benefits the company in reducing costs and production time. Just-In-Time Toyota Motor Corporation’s founder, Kiichiro Toyoda, invented the Just-In Time concept, which allows the company to strategically schedule the arrival and use of products and materials when they are required (Toyota Motor Corporation, 1995). This method has proven to be successful at reducing total cost by eliminating excess in inventory and production. JIT also provides efficiency along the supply chain in terms of continuous communication so that finished products are properly manufactured and delivered to the end user as scheduled. Kaban System Within TPS is a product control process that minimizes waste by keeping track and ordering parts as they are used. This process entails the use of electronic tags (e-tags), which are attached to each part. Toyota employees remove these e-tags as the parts are

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