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Analysis and EditorialTPS Masters in Short Supply in Toyota's North American Manufacturing Plants, Reports WSJ
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Auto on Info August 2004 TPS Masters in Short Supply in Toyota's North American Manufacturing Plants, Reports WSJ The Wall Street Journal reports1 that there is a rather severe shortage of Toyota Production System masters in North America and that the rapid global growth in demand for Toyota products precludes dispatch of additional masters to North America. The TPS masters are the cadre of Japanese midlevel managers who are steeped in Kaizen (continuous improvement), loyalty, dedication to task, and attention to detail. They are the personnel who prowl Japanese plants to offer direction and suggestions to employees and to uncover and test new ideas and methods for improving quality, increasing production, and reducing waste. The Journal article notes that when Toyota Motor Corporation could lavish attention on its Georgetown, Kentucky facility, it routinely ranked among the best of North American plants per the J.D. Power & Associates' initial quality surveys, but from 2001 to 2002 it went from second place to twenty-sixth place. Although J.D. Power & Associates' early ownership complaint surveys, both the 3-month and the 3-year, may be, generally, safely and prudently tossed to the wind, a dramatic decline in place at least puts a prospective consumer on notice that there may be increased problems other than trivial complaints. The article further notes that the president of the Georgetown plant has recruited a retired TPS master to help reinstate the values of the TPS masters among its midlevel management. It also notes that Toyota Motor Corporation has established a Global Production Center in Toyota City, Japan to train midlevel managers for overseas production. How successful these steps may prove to be is hard to predict; loyalty, dedication to task, and attention to detail seem to be rather rare commodities in the U.S., while they likely remain part of the ethos of Japan. It may be that the only safe statement on the matter is that one with made-in-Japan product experiences should best stick with made-in-Japan products. 1 "As Toyota Closes In on GM, Quality Concerns Grow," Wall Street Journal, August 4, 2004, page A1 |
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