ThosL Posted October 28, 2021 Share Posted October 28, 2021 A friend was telling me about how an American business professional was largely responsible for how Japanese car manufacturing got better and better: https://www.wyohistory.org/encyclopedia/w-edwards-deming#:~:text=Edwards Deming%2C taught Japan's manufacturers,such as Toyota Motor Corp.&text=Asia eventually became a manufacturing giant. Hondas, Toyotas, Subarus and Nissans, etc. seemed to excel over American counterparts. Longevity, reliability, and the limited number of lemons seemed to stand out as features of their manufacturing in the 80s on. Deming recommended that quality control be done at every phase of manufacturing, not just at end phases. Suggestions by employees were also taken seriously and encouraged. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted October 28, 2021 Share Posted October 28, 2021 His approaches were slow to be received by State side corporations but Japanese corporations listened, elevated, and quickly implemented. Engineering programs often encounter his history and work in Universities across the US. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThosL Posted October 30, 2021 Author Share Posted October 30, 2021 Our family had Toyotas back in the 1970s that were constantly breaking down. Later we got a Datsun 710 I think it was, with the six cylinder engine, just a phenomenal car and engine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted October 31, 2021 Share Posted October 31, 2021 2 hours ago, ThosL said: Our family had Toyotas back in the 1970s that were constantly breaking down. Later we got a Datsun 710 I think it was, with the six cylinder engine, just a phenomenal car and engine. That doesn’t surprise me. Think about it - it would be weird if Toyota instantaneously created a great, dominating product in a sector of business with an enormous capital investment bar to entry. It would be impossible for them to get to where they were in the 90s in 2 years. It takes time. It would make more sense for it to grow into that. My off the cuff (but I think reasonable) guess is Toyota was improving component manufacturing but struggling on full assembly. Engines and trans improved but all the smaller supporting items and systems snd third party and business logistics supply side of automotive assembly for a final product took longer. In the 70s people were requesting Japanese (Toyota I think) transmissions and Ford was scratching their head. It’s not advantageous for their supply line to have more demand for one part supplier making the same part. They want demand on a vehicle model, not specific part within a model - it’s so half sell and half sit (I’m exaggerating that of course). On the street, with consumers, they were widely known as better. Ford Higher ups scratched their heads because all of their specs to any trans builder were identical. In the end they found the Japanese manufacturers had tighter tolerances/less variations which resulted in fewer issues. They went from “This spec works” to “what failure modes are happening and how can better processes and specs address them”? Welcome to Toyota 2021 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stelcom66 Posted October 31, 2021 Share Posted October 31, 2021 I recall of friend of mine's family got a Toyota Corona back in I believe 1974. At that time of course, an unusual car to see in the driveway, especially next to their Oldsmobile 88. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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