Whilst you could describe Nissan as friendly, supportive and almost ‘homely’ enterprise, Honda was an engineering led company. Toyota was smart and slick and their employees likewise.
To be frank, Toyota was on a different planet to the other Japanese vehicle OEMs. Toyota had grown the fastest, overtaking Nissan as market leader in Japan. Many of the Japanese ‘Lean Manufacturing’ philosophies and techniques had originated within Toyota. There were many books on the Toyota Production System and many written by industry researchers, top management schools and universities. Some had been produced by Toyota itself, notably by Shigio Shingo of Toyota Consulting, grandfather of the Toyota Production System. I had the privilege of meeting him when he came to London.
The essence of TPS was philosophical.
One Toyota executive explained it to me…
You can achieve competitive advantage by three routes:
1. Excellence in design. However your competitors soon copy.
2. Excellence on process equipment. Your competitors will go to the suppliers of such equipment or examine the product to determine clues to the processes used.
Or
3. Achieve productivity in such a way that if a competitor stood in the centre of one of our factories, he would see nothing!
The result of this was the Toyota Production System.
Goals: highest quality, lowest cost, shortest lead-time.Philosophy: Just-in-time, high quality, Jidohka (automation with a human touch), Heijunka (sequencing or smoothing of production), standardized work, and Kaizen (continuous improvement).
And supporting tools such as Kanban (visual ‘pull’ system of production which controls inventory), cellular manufacture, Poki Yoki (mistake proofing).
Effectively, TPS sets out to achieve ‘The mass production of a batch of one’.
In 1989, Toyota announced they would build their UK plant at Burnaston, Derby, again on an ex-airfield. At Rearsby we had been trying to establish early contact with Toyota in the expectation they would come to the UK. We got nowhere. In 1990, Toyota announced they would hold a supplier conference in a theatre in Derby, to announce their plans and expectations from potential local suppliers. We were there. The Toyota world-wide Sourcing Director gave a presentation.
At the morning break, as everyone filed out of the auditorium, I said to the Sales Manager Stephen Bryan “Quick up on the stage” we climbed up and I approached the top man. He was surrounded by a crowd of Toyota managers/PR people protecting him. Presenting my business card formally in the Japanese manner, I apologised for such an intrusion, but said we had been trying to establish contact with respect to becoming a supplier unsuccessfully.
I had two questions, Rearsby already supplied Nissan and Honda with pedal boxes, handbrakes, gearshifts and suspension links.
1. Was this good or bad news?
2. Who should we contact if the former?
He smiled and said “That is good news and this is the man, here right next to me!” I replied, “Domo Arigato Gozaimasu” (thank you very much).
Another risk, but it paid off. Rearsby won every product we sought on the Carina E and began supply in 1992.
We had achieved three out of three of our customer goals; Nissan, Honda and Toyota.
Next target VW-Audi!