Warning: The original language in which this blog is written is either French or English. The automated translation may be imperfect. Readers are invited to refer to the original version of each post.
Japan’s Toyota became the world’s largest automaker in the first quarter of 2006, overtaking its struggling American rival General Motors in terms of sales and production. Toyota announced Tuesday that it sold 2.348 million vehicles worldwide from January to March. At the same time, it produced 2.367 million. All analysts expected Toyota, which is going from strength to strength in North America where local manufacturers are struggling, to take the crown of global leader in 2007. “It was almost certain that Toyota would become number a world this year in terms of unit sales In terms of profits and cash flow, Toyota has already been the strongest manufacturer in the world for a very long time,” Tatsuya Mizuno, analyst at Fitch Ratings in Tokyo, told AFP. Toyota announced at the end of December that it planned to produce 9.42 million vehicles in 2007, which will probably allow it to maintain its new title of world number one for a long time against its American rival. On May 9, it is expected to announce a fifth record net profit for the 2006-2007 financial year ending at the end of March. Its operating profit should be more than 2,000 billion yen (12.5 billion euros), a first for a Japanese company in all sectors combined. (La Libre 04/24/2007)
This news is notable because Toyota is not only the inventor of “just-in-time”, but a company representative of management inspired by the spirit of community. We have observed that Western companies which have tried to limit their stock levels, like Toyota, have often failed, due to a lack of understanding of the principles on which its production management method was based. Among other things, there is the emphasis placed on the long term (even to the detriment of short-term financial advantages), the development of personnel and partners (suppliers and subcontractors) following a stable integrated philosophy, decisions implemented all the more quickly as they had been taken consensually by devoting the necessary time to them, a permanent questioning in order to achieve the elimination of waste, recognized or not, harmful to the production process. Principles associated directly or indirectly with the spirit of community, and far removed from the bureaucratic and authoritarian patterns that reign in certain European countries.
This news is notable because Toyota is not only the inventor of “just-in-time”, but a company representative of management inspired by the spirit of community. We have observed that Western companies which have tried to limit their stock levels, like Toyota, have often failed, due to a lack of understanding of the principles on which its production management method was based. Among other things, there is the emphasis placed on the long term (even to the detriment of short-term financial advantages), the development of personnel and partners (suppliers and subcontractors) following a stable integrated philosophy, decisions implemented all the more quickly as they had been taken consensually by devoting the necessary time to them, a permanent questioning in order to achieve the elimination of waste, recognized or not, harmful to the production process. Principles associated directly or indirectly with the spirit of community, and far removed from the bureaucratic and authoritarian patterns that reign in certain European countries.
