Narendra Modi needs to look beyond bullet trains on his Japan trip. During late seventies & eighties Japanese production system & technique was a rage in the world & in Tata Motors too. Kanban with JIT ( just in time) Kaizan & the famous TPS ( Toyota Production System) were followed in almost all major auto industries. What Really Happened to Toyota?Given the spate of recalls and quality problems, managers wonder whether Toyota’s difficulties throw its legendary manufacturing model into question.Toyota announced in 2009 that it was recalling 3.8 million U.S. vehicles. The recall was triggered by the report of a fiery crash in California, where the accelerator of a Lexus sedan got stuck, resulting in the driver’s death. After the Fukushima incident, Japan has slowed down its investment in and focus on nuclear energy for civilian use. But what is worthwhile to learn from Japan is how nuclear disasters can be handled as well as how will liabilities in the case of a disaster work. US companies have been lobbying hard to reduce the liabilities to civilian contractors in case of a disaster. In my opinion China has overtaken Japan in mass manufacturing catering to Apple, GM, & all leading auto brands. Every single US & Europe mfg company has a production base in China. South Korea too has gone ahead of Japan.
Posted on: Mon, 01 Sep 2014 06:27:07 +0000