ABSTRACT
Toyota is one of the top three companies as per the car sales and car manufactured. Calling Toyota, an innovative car manufacturer is a little bit odd. Its vehicles are being liked all over the world rather than loved. Toyota’s vehicles are famous for imitation rather than invention.
As per the traditional definition innovation means cool new products and breakthroughs. Many business giants defy innovation as creation of something new which adds value. But these definitions are now a day considered as very narrow. Toyota’s innovation has focused on process rather than products, on the factory floor rather than on showroom. That’s why Toyota’s innovations is very rare to see but it has not made them less powerful which can be seen from its best quality products.
Toyota’s product system is considered as benchmark for most of automobile companies .error free and flexible assembly lines shows how innovative
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Art of ingenuity
2. Pursuit of Perfection
3. Rhythm of fit
PROCESS INNOVATION AT TOYOTA
Toyota is often criticised for better at imitation than invention. As compare to its rivals Toyota focussed more on the factory floor rather than showroom i.e. process innovation rather than on product innovation.
A Toyota engineer Taiichi Ohno introduced a series of interrelated innovations in manufacturing. Between 1948 and the mid-1960s, Ohno initiated a virtual “revolution” that changed the way production managers viewed optimal inventory levels and many basic concepts of production management. Ohno actually came up with a system to get as much as possible out of every worker, every part and every machine based on simple principles as:
• fix problems as soon as they appear
• eliminate waste and
• ensuring supply and availability of parts when required.
Some of the innovations/changes carried out by Ohno are summarised in the table below:
YEAR CHANGE IN
Toyota is the leading motor vehicle manufacturer in the world today. The company is known particularly for manufacturing a wide range of high quality cars attracting a spirited competition from other globally established competitors like General Motor (GM), Ford, Hyundai, Volkswagen and Nissan.
Toyota is a leading company, and for over 70 years. It has been expanding business all over the world and
Toyota as the world 's third car manufacturing company and the first in Japan has introduced a new era in the vehicles history.
Toyota is one of the leading manufacturers of vehicles in the United States and across the globe. Toyota is ranked #55 in Forbes, World’s Biggest Public Companies, and capturing sales of 202.8 billion and a market cap of 137.8 billion as of March 2011
Yet, the public perceptions may be at odds with the objective measures. In Toyota’s case, there have been indications that the quality level of the company’s products had fallen off in a span of few years. There are changes that have taken place during a period when most of the company’s close competitors, such as Fords, were producing more cost-effective and efficient automobiles. In addition, the company’s unique production approach and the emphasis on continuous improvement and learning coupled with a matrix structure are key reasons for the company’s leadership in the cat manufacturing industry. Toyota’s Production Systems (TPS) was founded in the principles of “Just-in-time. This approach has less opportunity for slack resources and focuses of the benefits of efficiency on the part of employees and reduction on waste resources (Griffin and Gregory, 5). Further, Toyota Company enacts its production system with the assistance of its human resources strategies, culture, and organizational structure. Toyota’s Production System emphasizes on learning and modesty when it comes to assessing past success and differentiated them from
Both Ford and GM completely abide by NYSE corporate governance standards, as they are domestic US companies. Ford and GM are required to strictly follow NYSE corporate governance standards. Toyota is permitted to follow certain corporate governance practices complying with Japanese laws and regulations, the NYSE has ruled that Toyota is exempt from certain NYSE corporate governance requirements. A significant difference in Toyota’s corporate governance structure is that the company currently does not have any directors that can be deemed as independent directors. Another major difference is that unlike domestic US companies Toyota is not required to have shareholder approval of equity compensation plans,
Toyota Motor Corporation pursues design that resonates with customer sensitivities worldwide. It has therefore incorporated designers globally with diverse cultural backgrounds from bases in Japan, North America and Europe. This gives Toyota a truly global competitive edge over its American Auto rivals such as
Toyota is benchmarked as the best in class by all of its peers and competitors throughout the world for high quality, high productivity, manufacturing speed, and flexibility. Toyota automobiles have consistently been at the top of quality rankings.
Ford Motor Company was incorporated in Delaware in 1919. They acquired the business of a Michigan company, also known as Ford Motor Company, which had been incorporated in 1903 to produce and sell automobiles designed and engineered by Henry Ford. They are one of the world’s largest producers of cars and trucks. They and their subsidiaries also engage in other businesses, including financing vehicles.
Differentiation – Toyota is the largest auto maker in the world and the key reason for the companies success is as a result of their differentiation strategy this includes introduction of a highly efficient manufacturing model to increase the performance of its vechiles and offer offer their customers with increased value. Another differentiation strategy is the fact that the company was able to produce vehicles for many different market segment and price
However, the process of innovation is closely linked to the understanding of innovation – whether it is an act of bringing changes or consequence of an action which represents changes. It is easily understandable that any particular action does not ensure the same outcome but may bring changes, and all changes are not considered innovation. So, it is imperative to develop a clear understanding of the concept for proposing a generalized process of innovation.
Founded in 1937, Toyota Motor Corporation is a Japanese company that engages in the design, manufacture, assembly, and sale of passenger cars, minivans, commercial vehicles, and related parts and accessories primarily in Japan, North America, Europe and Asia. Toyota has become one of the largest auto producers in the world and it is still evolving and penetrating different national markets all over the world. The company is famous for its high quality vehicles and innovative technologies (Toyota Global, 2015).
In 2012, Suzuki faced the question of whether or not to continue selling automobiles in the
The product that Toyota was introducing to the consumer was not ground breaking and did not set itself apart from any other product on the market, not only did it not set itself apart it was producing vehicles that closely resembled the competition. Toyota was losing their competitive edge of reliability because other companies were able to replicate their efficient production and reliability and have the same success they Toyota previously held. The customer base for Toyota was not growing and more of a following due to loyalty to their past performance. The company had also lost its innovative edge and with this was losing its market share. I see due to Toyota’s lack of initiative by not moving more manufacturing to the US and innovation as an opportunity to enter the small car market that was previously dominated by the Japanese manufactures. With all this said Toyota still had a great reputation for producing a very reliable product, with this reputation Toyota could be one change away from becoming a major player