Assessing the Production System at Toyota
David Osborn
Ebenezer Ogoke
Lamar Pryor
Loretta Inoni
UMUC AMBA 640 9042- Dr. Wende Huehn-Brown

Table of Contents Exercise #1: 3 Exercise #2: 9 Exercise #3 14 Exercise #4 20 References 24

Exercise #1:
Executive Summary
Since the early 1950’s Toyota has been in the business of manufacturing automobiles as a family operated company. Much of Toyota’s success has come from their ability to adapt to an ever changing market place, in both good times and in bad, while honoring its commitment to product safety and quality. This commitment has allowed them to consistently produce cars that meet or exceed that of their competition, while taking into consideration the impact on our environment. Through the years many types of cars can be associated with the Toyota brand, but it is the introduction of the Lexus line of cars in 1989 that has helped to keep Toyota at the forefront of innovation and design.
Early in 2000 Toyota took on the daunting task of deciding where to manufacture the Lexus RX300. Through careful analysis it was decided that the Toyota Motor Manufacturing of Canada (TMMC) would get this task. How this decision was derived came from the efforts of an independent consulting firm called the Hawks. They utilized production analysis and concepts derived and refined out of Toyota’s Production System (TPS) from Andon to Yokoten, as well as, Grid Analysis and Decision tree to assess how best Toyota should expand its production capabilities. The decision on how and where to move the new production facility was made by the leaders of the Toyota Production System. Their goal was to understand and determine where best production could benefit Toyota strategically before making a decision of this magnitude. This thorough examination also helped to identify the many challenges the Toyota production team