For this discussion, review the case study Toyota Motor Manufacturing, U.S.A., Inc. (1995) by Mishina and the article "What Really Happened to Toyota?" by Cole (2011). Then, respond to the following questions: * If you were Doug Friesen, manager of assembly at the company's Georgetown, Kentucky, plant, what would you do to address the seat problem? Where would you focus your attention and solution efforts?
As Doug Friesen, my first instinct would be to question the quality control of the plant. Quality control knew it had to meet certain safety standards to pass crash performance, they also knew the feel had to be met to customer standards without any standards to follow. Final assembly identified the seats as soft and prone to damage but also bulky. Being that the seat is the most expensive part, there should be standards in all areas, including how the seats feel. AS Doug Friesen, I would also take responsibility for not being aware of the problem until I return from Japan. I would focus my attention and solution efforts on changing the existing process for inspecting the seats and being sure to implement standards in all areas of verifying the seats quality. I would also want to focus on how many cars were in overflow, in order to turn the problem around as quickly as possible. * What options exist? What would you recommend? Why?
When considering the options for the seat problem I would recommend doing the following; First option would be to increase the quality control standards. Good quality controls help to prevent problems before they happen or stop them before they become unfixable. Problems should not be left to the final assembly to detect. This option also helps establish an origin for the problem. A second option would be to consider using another supplier. I would recommend this to eliminate the problem of product proliferation. Despite KFS’s