Comments on: Is Lean Manufacturing to Blame for Toyota’s Woes? http://www.todaysmachiningworld.com/is-lean-manufacturing-to-blame-for-toyotas-woes/ The Magazine for the Precision Parts Industry Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:52:11 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Richard Boughtonhttp://www.todaysmachiningworld.com/is-lean-manufacturing-to-blame-for-toyotas-woes/comment-page-1/#comment-5920 Richard Boughton Fri, 05 Feb 2010 19:40:59 +0000 http://www.todaysmachiningworld.com/?p=2557#comment-5920 Did you know the cable that is the problem is manufactured in U.S. and the product that is not defective is made in the orient. Did you know the cable that is the problem is manufactured in U.S. and the product that is not defective is made in the orient.

]]> By: Greg Knoxhttp://www.todaysmachiningworld.com/is-lean-manufacturing-to-blame-for-toyotas-woes/comment-page-1/#comment-5907 Greg Knox Thu, 04 Feb 2010 18:03:36 +0000 http://www.todaysmachiningworld.com/?p=2557#comment-5907 Hey Lloyd – Greg “the bailout letter” Knox here… Saw your article on Toyotas woes… Was listening to “National Obama Radio” on the way into work this morning (NPR) and heard a bunch of 40 year veteran “experts” unemployed from CTS in Indiana being interviewed while they were diligently working to line up their next careers as to get off the dole (they were playing pool @ a bar in the middle of the day) They had tremendous industry insight (“It was Toyota’s fault”…”It wasn’t our bad parts, but their bad design”…Toyotas have always had acceleration problems”…of course we don’t need any empirical data to back this up…and then the local politician came on (to set things straight) and pointed out that “we only made the parts…remember that they were ASSEMBLED somewhere else”… I can’t figure out if the ineptitude and “blame-gaming” is bottom up, or top down…but really, in the end, it doesn’t matter – with the advent of true global competition thanks to these “experts” and their attitudes we are all losers… Wouldn’t it be amazing if once, JUST ONCE, we saw a leader, be he in the private sector or the government, step up to the plate and take accountability… As usual, I rant Here is an article I just read in The Examiner I thought you might find of interest Good luck in this “new economy” you have a great product and you should thrive <a href="http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/Gangster-government-targets-Toyota-83460857.html" rel="nofollow">"Gangster government targets Toyota."</a> Hey Lloyd – Greg “the bailout letter” Knox here…

Saw your article on Toyotas woes…

Was listening to “National Obama Radio” on the way into work this morning (NPR) and heard a bunch of 40 year veteran “experts” unemployed from CTS in Indiana being interviewed while they were diligently working to line up their next careers as to get off the dole (they were playing pool @ a bar in the middle of the day)

They had tremendous industry insight (“It was Toyota’s fault”…”It wasn’t our bad parts, but their bad design”…Toyotas have always had acceleration problems”…of course we don’t need any empirical data to back this up…and then the local politician came on (to set things straight) and pointed out that “we only made the parts…remember that they were ASSEMBLED somewhere else”…

I can’t figure out if the ineptitude and “blame-gaming” is bottom up, or top down…but really, in the end, it doesn’t matter – with the advent of true global competition thanks to these “experts” and their attitudes we are all losers…

Wouldn’t it be amazing if once, JUST ONCE, we saw a leader, be he in the private sector or the government, step up to the plate and take accountability…

As usual, I rant

Here is an article I just read in The Examiner I thought you might find of interest

Good luck in this “new economy” you have a great product and you should thrive

“Gangster government targets Toyota.”

]]> By: Steve Baranykhttp://www.todaysmachiningworld.com/is-lean-manufacturing-to-blame-for-toyotas-woes/comment-page-1/#comment-5901 Steve Baranyk Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:47:34 +0000 http://www.todaysmachiningworld.com/?p=2557#comment-5901 Lloyd, Lean Manufacturing itself had nothing to do with Toyota's problem. It was simply poor execution of their design and Q.A. systems. Lloyd,

Lean Manufacturing itself had nothing to do with Toyota’s problem.

It was simply poor execution of their design and Q.A. systems.

]]> By: Marcihttp://www.todaysmachiningworld.com/is-lean-manufacturing-to-blame-for-toyotas-woes/comment-page-1/#comment-5899 Marci Wed, 03 Feb 2010 13:52:42 +0000 http://www.todaysmachiningworld.com/?p=2557#comment-5899 I have an 8-year-old Toyota Solara (not in the recall), which I love, BUT...Lean manufacturing to blame (read that "cheaping out")? Yes. But more importantly, Toyota failed to address this problem long ago when only a few insiders knew it was a problem. Ignoring problems seldom makes them go away. Toyota rightly deserves to be in the mess it's currently having to dig itself out of. I have this timeless quote from philosopher John Ruskin posted at the counter where we wait on customers: “There is hardly anything in the world that someone cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and people who consider price alone are that person’s lawful prey. “It’s unwise to pay too much, but it’s unwise to pay too little, too. When you pay too much, you lose a little money, that is all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing you bought it to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot. It can’t be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that, you will have enough to pay for something better.” You get what you pay for and Toyota is getting theirs. I have an 8-year-old Toyota Solara (not in the recall), which I love, BUT…Lean manufacturing to blame (read that “cheaping out”)? Yes. But more importantly, Toyota failed to address this problem long ago when only a few insiders knew it was a problem. Ignoring problems seldom makes them go away. Toyota rightly deserves to be in the mess it’s currently having to dig itself out of. I have this timeless quote from philosopher John Ruskin posted at the counter where we wait on customers:
“There is hardly anything in the world that someone cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and people who consider price alone are that person’s lawful prey.
“It’s unwise to pay too much, but it’s unwise to pay too little, too. When you pay too much, you lose a little money, that is all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing you bought it to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot. It can’t be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that, you will have enough to pay for something better.”
You get what you pay for and Toyota is getting theirs.

]]> By: Brian "Snooty" Hoffhttp://www.todaysmachiningworld.com/is-lean-manufacturing-to-blame-for-toyotas-woes/comment-page-1/#comment-5894 Brian "Snooty" Hoff Tue, 02 Feb 2010 21:07:05 +0000 http://www.todaysmachiningworld.com/?p=2557#comment-5894 Something tells me that when Lloyd says "Lean" it's a different enitity than that which so many of us strive for each day. People playing accounting tricks is not lean. Lean is not a lack of redundancy, it actually calls for some "planned" redundancy to absorb quality issues & market variations. Lean is not about "good enough" for it requires continuous improvement. If Lean is practiced by hacks that think they can shortcut the principles then they will never get the true benefits of Lean. Human's make bad choices even under the best intentions. Someone failing to follow Lean systems doesn't mean Lean is the failure. I look forward to your future article in TMW. Something tells me that when Lloyd says “Lean” it’s a different enitity than that which so many of us strive for each day. People playing accounting tricks is not lean. Lean is not a lack of redundancy, it actually calls for some “planned” redundancy to absorb quality issues & market variations. Lean is not about “good enough” for it requires continuous improvement. If Lean is practiced by hacks that think they can shortcut the principles then they will never get the true benefits of Lean. Human’s make bad choices even under the best intentions. Someone failing to follow Lean systems doesn’t mean Lean is the failure. I look forward to your future article in TMW.

]]> By: Lloydhttp://www.todaysmachiningworld.com/is-lean-manufacturing-to-blame-for-toyotas-woes/comment-page-1/#comment-5892 Lloyd Tue, 02 Feb 2010 20:46:40 +0000 http://www.todaysmachiningworld.com/?p=2557#comment-5892 The lean issue in this instance is the quest for efficiency by Toyota to use the same accelerator over many platforms, Had they not had so much uniformity of components they would not have a huge 4.2 million car recall. The lean issue in this instance is the quest for efficiency by Toyota to use the same accelerator over many platforms, Had they not had so much uniformity of components they would not have a huge 4.2 million car recall.

]]> By: Dan Vermeeschhttp://www.todaysmachiningworld.com/is-lean-manufacturing-to-blame-for-toyotas-woes/comment-page-1/#comment-5893 Dan Vermeesch Tue, 02 Feb 2010 20:46:40 +0000 http://www.todaysmachiningworld.com/?p=2557#comment-5893 Are you kidding me? The dark side of lean? Are you suggesting that using non-standard parts throughout their lineup would be more advantageous than common components? I wonder about your understanding of how many billions have been saved, and quality issues avoided over the years by EVERY car manufacturer (and many other industries) by standardizing components? I wonder about your understanding as to how much easier it is to find problems with common components? It's easy to play armchair quarterback and say, "if they had a different gas pedal in each model then only one model would be recalled". It's difficult to be the worldwide leader who created the best manufacturing business system currently known to man and look in the mirror and acknowledge the fact that it can sometimes fail in an epic manner. I can't imagine how the defect was missed, but I'm pretty sure because of their lean systems that Toyota will figure it out and fix it. As a matter of fact, I'm proud to mention that a company right here in Grand Rapids, GR Spring & Stamping is supplying the fix. http://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/index.ssf/2010/02/grand_rapids_spring_stamping_s.html By the way, when Micron started on our lean journey, this is the company that we visited first because they are also best in their class. Lean systems avoid problems, catch problems and fix problems, but, alas, there are always problems. May those manufacturers who have not had a major quality issue throw the first stone, er... the second stone, Mr. Graff threw the first. Are you kidding me? The dark side of lean? Are you suggesting that using non-standard parts throughout their lineup would be more advantageous than common components? I wonder about your understanding of how many billions have been saved, and quality issues avoided over the years by EVERY car manufacturer (and many other industries) by standardizing components? I wonder about your understanding as to how much easier it is to find problems with common components? It’s easy to play armchair quarterback and say, “if they had a different gas pedal in each model then only one model would be recalled”. It’s difficult to be the worldwide leader who created the best manufacturing business system currently known to man and look in the mirror and acknowledge the fact that it can sometimes fail in an epic manner.

I can’t imagine how the defect was missed, but I’m pretty sure because of their lean systems that Toyota will figure it out and fix it. As a matter of fact, I’m proud to mention that a company right here in Grand Rapids, GR Spring & Stamping is supplying the fix. http://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/index.ssf/2010/02/grand_rapids_spring_stamping_s.html By the way, when Micron started on our lean journey, this is the company that we visited first because they are also best in their class. Lean systems avoid problems, catch problems and fix problems, but, alas, there are always problems. May those manufacturers who have not had a major quality issue throw the first stone, er… the second stone, Mr. Graff threw the first.

]]> By: Noah Graffhttp://www.todaysmachiningworld.com/is-lean-manufacturing-to-blame-for-toyotas-woes/comment-page-1/#comment-5891 Noah Graff Tue, 02 Feb 2010 20:46:13 +0000 http://www.todaysmachiningworld.com/?p=2557#comment-5891 In the end doesn't it all come down to, "Guns don't kill people, people kill people." :) It's not Lean's fault that Toyota royally screwed up. It's Toyota's. BUT: Perhaps Lean can get a finger pointed to it, if Toyota was trying to be too lean on its quality control staff. Perhaps they needed more people being vigilant on the situation. Maybe its the people that caused the problem, not the process. In the end doesn’t it all come down to, “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.” :) It’s not Lean’s fault that Toyota royally screwed up. It’s Toyota’s.

BUT: Perhaps Lean can get a finger pointed to it, if Toyota was trying to be too lean on its quality control staff. Perhaps they needed more people being vigilant on the situation. Maybe its the people that caused the problem, not the process.

]]> By: Raymond T. Frattonehttp://www.todaysmachiningworld.com/is-lean-manufacturing-to-blame-for-toyotas-woes/comment-page-1/#comment-5890 Raymond T. Frattone Tue, 02 Feb 2010 20:39:28 +0000 http://www.todaysmachiningworld.com/?p=2557#comment-5890 If Toyota designed the mechanism and CTS made it to specifications, Toyota is at fault, lean or not. If Toyota designed the mechanism and the supplier failed to produce it to specifications, Toyota is at fault, lean or not. If Toyota purchased the mechanism design from CTS, and accepted it, Toyota is at fault, lean or not. For these reasons, I believe being lean is a non issue in this case. If Toyota designed the mechanism and CTS made it to specifications, Toyota is at fault, lean or not.
If Toyota designed the mechanism and the supplier failed to produce it to specifications, Toyota is at fault, lean or not.
If Toyota purchased the mechanism design from CTS, and accepted it, Toyota is at fault, lean or not.
For these reasons, I believe being lean is a non issue in this case.

]]> By: Archibald, Johnhttp://www.todaysmachiningworld.com/is-lean-manufacturing-to-blame-for-toyotas-woes/comment-page-1/#comment-5887 Archibald, John Tue, 02 Feb 2010 19:49:17 +0000 http://www.todaysmachiningworld.com/?p=2557#comment-5887 Is the specific problem and solution known yet? I heard something about "friction" being the culprit on the TV the other night. I'd really like to know the details of why the thing sticks. I have a sneaking suspicion that it is the infamous "Sticking Bureau Drawer" problem yet again raising its ugly head. Please let me know if you find out definitively what the problem was. Is the specific problem and solution known yet? I heard something about “friction” being the culprit on the TV the other night.

I’d really like to know the details of why the thing sticks. I have a sneaking suspicion that it is the infamous “Sticking Bureau Drawer” problem yet again raising its ugly head.

Please let me know if you find out definitively what the problem was.

]]>