[PROJECT] TOYOTA PLANT TOUR

In preparation for my MBA international graduate seminar in Europe this spring, I have been doing a fair share of research into possible project ideas.  One of the main criteria for this project is that it connects a U.S. company with one we will visit while in Linz, Austria or Prague, Czech Republic.  Skoda is a subsidiary of Volkswagen and one of the companies we will visit while in the Czech Republic.  I decided to use this company as the basis for my report since I have some experience in the automotive industry as a past co-op engineer for BMW.  I also decided to tie that company to a domestic one for a cross-culture perspective.  Toyota has its largest North American manufacturing plant just a short distance south of Cincinnati in Georgetown, KY.  With such a close proximity, I thought this would be a prime choice for the second company in the pair used for my project.  After doing some research of Toyota online and submitting a “contact” petition to one of their representatives, I took the prerogative of scheduling a plant tour to see what the American auto manufacturing scene was like.

Front Entrance of TMMK

Today I went down to Georgetown with a fellow engineering classmate for a 2pm plant tour.  The tour lasted about two hours and gave us a great view of the company and its manufacturing processes.  On our way to Gate 2 where the visitor center was located, we were able to see the sprawling size of the plant surrounding us.  Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky (TMMK) takes up 1300 acres of land and employs over 7,490 people.  They produce the Camry four door sedan, Avalon sedan, Sienna minivan four-cylinder and V6 engines, and other Toyota auto parts.  Their production capacity is nearly 500,000 vehicles per year (roughly 2000 cars per working day).

TMMK Plant

The sheer size of the operation became even clearer once we entered their visitor center.  I know of few companies who have such an elaborate and professional visitor center.  The plant’s latest model cars were on display in the lobby, along with some of their engines on stands.  Brochures were also available explaining everything from the cars produced to Toyota’s environmental protection initiatives.  A separate part of the center was dedicated solely towards explaining the Toyota Production System (TPS).  Just before we began the plant tour, we watched a short eight minute video on the plant’s history and current state.  It began with the story of its groundbreaking in 1985 when the Japanese auto producer decided to take an investment risk by creating the Kentucky plant.  The investment has since paid off, and TMMK now boasts numerous awards for its success and achievements.  Many of the employees present for that first year of production are still working on the Toyota team.

After having geared up with safety eyewear and wireless headsets, we entered the plant floor and were immediately faced with the bustle of an industrious work group.  Robots carrying racks of parts down aisles scooted along without any humans operating them.  Conveyor lines that stacked two or three levels high were carrying vehicle parts from one work space to the next.  The scene reminded me of a busy anthill.  Each worker knew exactly what he/she was supposed to do, and they all were set on tasks at hand.     

The tour was conducted from a golf-cart like shuttle with passenger carts linked in a train configuration.  The guide gave commentary from the front car as we sped down the inter-factory interstate.  As we moved, workers on tricycles with trailers (maintenance workers) and forklift operators passed by.  My most immediate observation outside of the visual described earlier was the sound surrounding me.  A sort of mechanical rhythm filled the air as presses stamped and welds were set.  Despite so much busyness, the plant was very clean and little clutter was seen outside of the workspaces.  Natural light came through narrow sunroof windows above, and the ventilation system kept the air clean.  Overhead, giant industrial fans kept the air moving.  Throughout all parts of the plant, signs indicating safety requirements and potential dangers were posted.  The cleanliness of the plant may be attributed to the responsibility each worker seemed to take in maintaining that state of things.  Our tour was ending as the workday ended, and as the production lines slowed to a halt, many of the workers immediately set out with brooms to sweep and cloths to wipe down dirty machines.  Nobody appeared above the task. 

Our tour of the production process began by the shipping docks where giant rolls of domestically produced steel were brought into the plant directly off the backs of semi trailers.  100% of all steel supplied to TMMK comes from North American sources.  From this point on, the steel is unrolled, flattened, and treated to prevent rust.  In that same line, the strips are stamped and cut into car body panels and components.  These parts are all produced only on demand.  Toyota operates under a “pull” methodology where cars are produced only when/if ordered by a customer.  Toyota never produces a set quota of cars base on predictions and they do not keep large inventories.  This is a cost saving strategy that has worked very well for Toyota and has since been adopted by many other auto manufacturers as a key production strategy. 

Steel Rolls

As hoods, floor pans, and other panels are stamped out and stacked on racks, robots carts will carry loaded racks to places on the production line were the cars are being assembled.  The first assembly stage is welding, where the stamped and cut panels are placed on jigs and welded by automated robotic arms.  It was exhilarating to see just how quickly the robots put together the body-in-white.  In this same line, a production worker would pull a body off the line and check each spot weld with a punch and hammer.  He would go through thousands of these spot welds each day to ensure that no robot was in error when placing the critical welds on the car body.  Similarly, in other parts of the production line, quality checks were very routine.  In the gas tank division, multiple tanks are cut open daily to ensure the insides of the tank are leak free and clean.  Toyota places a very large emphasis on quality, and this was evident in the philosophy of their production process.

The Toyota Production System (TPS) is very well known by all manufacturers worldwide and is often brought up in core engineering classes at many accredited schools.  The idea involves concepts such as “Just in Time” manufacturing and the “Pull System” for manufacturing parts.  Japanese terms accompany many components of this production process.  One key component of the TPS is the concept of “Jidoka” which is the ability for each line worker to ensure product quality.  Along the entire production line is what is known as an “Andon” cord.  If any worker notices a serious quality issue or error, they can simply pull this cord to stop the entire assembly line.  This empowers each employee to take immediate action on production issues without needing to consult a supervisor first.  Also helpful is the ability of workers to communicate needs to one another.  A light board (the key component of the Andon system) is located in the aisle-way of all production lines and contains a grid indicating various status points of a line.  Line workers can simply indicate if they are low on parts or in need of assistance by signaling with a light on the board. 

Light Board System

Each production line team, headed by a team leader/supervisor, works as an independent “producer” for the next “customer” in the assembly process.  Those who work in dashboard assembly are therefore customers of the dashboard manufacturing line.  Quality is then ensured by focusing on producing quality products for the in-house consumers on the production line.

Another big part of the TPS is the concept of “Kaizen” which means bringing about continuous improvement.  This hinges on employees rather than specialists.  When employees see problems or areas for improvements, they can communicate these thoughts to their supervisors at team meetings.  Many of these ideas then make their way to Japan for adoption at the main headquarters.  Nearly 95% of ideas sent from production line workers are adopted, empowering many employees to take ownership of their jobs.  Toyota knows that the people who can identify problems the quickest are the ones actually working on the floor.  The neat part was seeing the system working effectively.  As we drove through the plant, we saw many modules where plant teams would frequently meet and discuss goals and company initiatives.  White boards and bulletin boards were also found in these modules so that ideas could be shared and communicated within each work group.  It was also fun to see many of these modules had nearby break rooms or recreation spaces filled with foosball and pool tables.  This “fun” environment communicated that many employees enjoy their job and that Toyota understands the needs of its employees.  Most line workers work an eight hour day by working four independent two-hour shifts.  Each shift is on a different job so as to cut down on the monotony of a particular task.  The morning and afternoon shifts are split with 15 minutes breaks.  A 45 minute lunch break is provided for all plant employees.  Only two eight hour production line shifts work throughout the day.  Maintenance workers are present twenty four hours a day.

The most impressive part of the tour experience was seeing just how efficiently a car could be produced from start to finish.  Stamping, body weld, paint, plastics, power train, car assembly, and final inspection are all completed within one 20 hour cycle.  Toyota takes giant coils of raw steel and forms them into a polished Camry within a single day.  That to me is astounding.  And in spite of this production speed, quality is actively controlled and monitored by a production system which is ranked one of the highest in the industry.  Each employee seemed to have a vested interest in the production of quality products too.  Even as our tour caravan moved between production lines within this giant factory “city”, line workers would smile and wave to us as we passed by.  It was very obvious that they had a lot of pride in the work they were doing. 

We left the plant tour thoroughly impressed and certainly with a much clearer idea of how an American auto manufacturing plant operates.  What might have been unique about this experience was that the American plant was owned by a Japanese company and ran under Japanese production concepts.  It would be very interesting now to see how an American car company’s manufacturing plant would differ.  In any case, I will have the opportunity to see how a Germany car company operates a plant in the Czech Republic in just a few short weeks.  I will also be in Munich for two days prior to the graduate seminar starting.  While in Munich, I will be taking a plant tour of BMW’s manufacturing facility with some fellow MBA students.  I also look forward to seeing how that plant’s operations are similar/different than the other two.