Get used to sitting in the back seat, Toyota! Link:

http://web.camaross.com/forums/showt...hreadid=265477

ALL HAIL the mighty Toyota juggernaut!

 

Wasn't the six sigma program and lean manufacturing developed by motorolla or General Electric?

 

Yep. Like many technical innovations, it all began here in the good old USA:

http://www.ecommerce-now.com/images/...w/sixsigma.htm

 

You are correct... it began here, in the good ol' USA... in a house that FORD built in 1903!

SPC came later, but mass-production is credited for inception in Dearborn Michigan about 1903. Later, much to-do was made about quality and manufacturing techniques, especially during WW-II. The US was cranking out as many planes, ships, trucks, dozers, guns, artillery, and everything else as they could. Most universities initiated programs to optimize the domestic output. Professors and Engineers were studying new assembly methods and even designing parts for faster manufacture and assembly.

A young man named Edward Demming was a statistician who was able to marry the statistical process with manufacturing. By tracking the process, he was able to expose bottlenecks, areas of difficulty, and sources of problems in the process. This made it easier to identify the problems, and correspondingly fix them. He developed his system through the war, and was largely responsible for the US production levels that helped us be victorious. The thought was 0-defects, no waste, and accountability. What was observed from those edicts was that regardless of intended cost, if you build the unit correctly, it will have inherent quality, and the costs will be reduced as an unintended benefit due to reduced waste as much as anything.

After the war, we - the US - agreed to help rebuild Japan. It was part of the agreement in the Japanese surrender. Well, here at home, we were still fighting the European theater, and even after the war we had such a strong economy churning, that nobody thought we could do any wrong. In short, nobody cared about Demming's process of statistical control. So he took it to Japan. We have been regreting it ever since. They not only listened, but employed his theories with earnest. In rebuilding their industry, they integrated such processes, and became the economic powerhouse of the 70's and 80's. They clobbered US companies with quality and low costs on every front. It was not until the 80's that most US companies began to take Statistical Process Control (SPC) seriously, because Toyota, Datsun, and Honda were clobbering the domestic car market. Not only that, but the US small shops that support the big companies didn't know SPC either, so they were unable to supply Toyota and the like with "0% defective" parts.

The first shops in the US to supply foreign makers with parts had to be qualified and trained by Toyota or Honda. They actually had folks from the small shop trained in Toyota's method of tracking and measurement towards quality. The shop was then inspected, and audited on occasion to maintain certification. (This concept of SPC tracking and training is the foundation for the ISO-certification process which is wholly different, but the same basic process and done for the same reasons - quality-assurance). Also, Toyota has continued to maintain their training program to this day. They have made that area alone into a substantial venture, doing training for all areas of manufacturing and business - we send our folks there as I stated earlier.

NO - I never said Toyota "invented" all the SPC processes or manufacturing processes - leave that to Demming, Ohno, Monden, and the like. But Toyota has exemplified the application - i.e. they have "shown the world how to use it". And they are developing their own variations and systems too as they take "theory from paper" into "practice in reality". "Lean Manufacturing" is one such example, and it it wholly credited to Toyota.

And rest assured, GE and Motorola aren't the only one's spending big bucks on these programs. There's a TON of data on it. You can search it out yourself. Like Toyota and others, they too are modifying it to suit their needs, but not "creating" anything revolutionary, IMO. They certainly aren't promoting their stuff for free though, nor have they mastered it to the point of teaching others as Toyota has - see below.

Check out this website...
Here's a LINK to Toyota's own website dedicated to the Toyota Production System (TPS). I linked you into the "welcome" page - feel free to browse - it is VERY educational. For example...
Quote - "Ohno felt as though he had learned much from the U. S. Auto Industry and from other American organizations including the Super Markets and the distribution of food on the N. A. continent. Because of this he felt as though he owed the U. S. a debt of gratitude and, again, as I understand it, it was for that reason that the TSSC was established."

The "TSSC" is the Toyota Supplier Support Center in Kentucky. This is the program I briefly described to you above, in which Toyota trains it's own staff as well as it's chosen suppliers. They will train anybody from any company in the US...
Quote - "In any event, given certain reasonable conditions, the TSSC will assist any company in its effort to transition to the Toyota Production System. For this assistance, the TSSC charges no fee and requests only that their expenses be reimbursed. "

IMO, this is an INCREDIBLE thing to do. Most companies try their best to keep their info private and confidential, but here we have a company trying to teach anyone that wants it, how to be lean and efficient. Even GM, Ford, and DCX personnel. And if you don't think there are any GM or Ford guys at this school, your sick in the head... I'll get you some names and phone numbers of engineers and managers from Ford and GM who were there at the same time.

Just because a company gets a headline that says "We won the most efficient assembly plant award" doesn't mean they created the technology that got them there. If you read in that article a little, you'll see the technology has reached supermarkets and service sectors as well as assembly lines. Hence, my little line about Toyota in my sig for the last 18 months or so.

In closing, I ask that you guys just remember, I don't write about this sh1+ for hobby and fun, I live it EVERY DAY. I am the one in the classes, designing the equipment, and installing it in industry. What saddens me is that this is truely a case of "they beat us at our own game with our own technology". The US companies need to get back to creative solutions and revolutionary thinking, and stop relying on someone else to solve all the problems for them IMO. We're on the right track, but we have a long way to go still.