FOR over a decade, JD Powers and other research firms have rated Toyotas among the top vehicles for quality, reliability, and durability. But in 2006, a series of problems with the cars threatened to sully the company’s reputation. Also, the rapid expansion to meet demand and the struggle to keep pace with new technology have challenged the grand ambitions of the Toyota Way.
       In a series of interviews with the Harvard Business Review, Toyota’s president, Katsuaki Watanabe admitted that
 the firm may be overstretched: “We must make this issue visible. Hidden problems are the ones that become serious threats eventually. If the problems are revealed for everybody to see, I will feel reassured. Because once problems have been visualised, even if our people didn’t notice them earlier, they will rack their brains to find solutions to them.”
       When a Toyota worker on the shop floor notices a problem, he has the freedom to pull the andon cord immediately, stop the line, and ensure that the problem is fixed before restarting production.
       Watanabe says: “The same principle applies to management, too, and it’s my job to pull the andon cord.” Soon after he became president, there were several quality-related problems. To prevent more problems, he suggested the extension of deadlines for several projects by six months even if it meant delays in new launches.
       In another paper “Decoding the DNA of the Toyota Production System”, the authors found that the Toyota production system is a paradox: “On the one hand, every activity, connection, and production flow in a Toyota factory is rigidly scripted, yet at the same time, Toyota’s operations are enormously flexible and responsive to customer demand.”
       The rigidity of the operations made the flexibility possible. The firm’s operations can be seen as a continuous series of controlled experiments. Whenever Toyota defines a specification, it is establishing a hypothesis that is then tested through action. This scientific method is ingrained in the workforce.
       A news reports said that Toyota will idle its plants in Japan for 11 days in February and March 2009 in an unprecedented move for a car giant that is having problems with declining sales. This shows that even with the best quality, car manufacturers cannot escape from the global downturn.
       This book gives an insight into how Toyota maintains quality at its production facilities. It is useful for those who are dealing with quality control in their workplace.

-- Tan Chee Teik