Operations Management of the Toyota Company †Free Samples

Question: Discuss about the Operations Management of the Toyota Company. Answer: Introduction The assignment focuses on the operations management of the Toyota Company. Toyota Corporation is one of the biggest Japanese multinational automotive producers, headquartered in Japan. This company is the biggest listed corporation as accounted by market capitalization and revenue. This company is known as the most profitable automaker in the world due to its radical system for service procedure, reduction of waste and improvement in quality. This study covers the scope, nature and responsibilities of administering operations that includes- quality management, inventory, supply chains and so on (Gunasekaran Ngai, 2012). The KPI has been justified for the perspectives of Balanced Scorecard (BSC) that aligns with Toyotas operational performance. The seven dimensions of quality as proposed by David A Gravin and its importance for Toyota is also discussed in this paper. The study also elucidates on how Toyota applies Kaizen and total quality management (TQM) for achieving improvement in business operations. Explaining KPI for the perspectives of BSC aligning with Toyotas operational performance The BSC relates to the performance management tool that is supported by automation tools and design methods that is used by the managers of organizations for keeping track of execution of business activities and monitoring the outcome occurring from these activities. This concept provides a view on the companys strategy from four different perspectives, which includes- Financial perspective- It focuses on the companys financial performance measures including net income, return on investment, revenue, profit and so on. This perspective is critical for the managers for keeping track of financial performance. Internal procedure perspective- This perspective focuses on the internal operational targets and also covers objectives relating to these processes that is necessary for delivering customer objectives. Customer perspective-This focuses on the performance goal relating to target customers. It mainly covers growth of customers, branding objectives and service targets. Learning and progress perspective- This focuses on different components or intangible drivers including- information capital, human capital and companys capital. KPI ( Key performance indicators) refers to the performance metrics that analyzes how well the enterprise achieve their targets. This metrics allows managers of company to focus on administering vital activities, strategies and business risk. The two KPI recommended for each perspective of BSC for aligning Toyotas operational performance are given below: Financial perspective- The two KPI recommended for this perspective are profit margin and sales growth (Marr, 2012). Toyotas operational performance can be measured with the help of their profit margin and growth in sales. Customer perspective- The two KPI suggested for this perspective in order to align with Toyotas operational performance are customer satisfaction and customer retention. Both these KPI will help the company measure their customer loyalty and operation management. Internal procedure perspective- The two KPI recommended for this perspective are quality cost and capacity utilization. This will help Toyota to increase the efficiency and quality of internal operations. Learning and progress perspective- The two KPI recommended for this perspective are employees engagement and their skills assessment. Thus, this will help Toyota to understand the amount to be invested for improving their staffs skills. Seven dimensions of quality proposed by David A Gravin and its significance for Toyota David A Gravin is an expert in quality control area who opines that quality can be utilized by a company in strategic manner for competing effectively with other rivalries. Proper quality strategy takes into account different dimensions of quality, which are given below: Performance- It involves different operating features of product and other measurable attributes such as brands ranked objectively etc. Reliability-It relates to the extent of dependability of benefit of commodity for long time frame. Durability- It estimates time length that the commodity performs before its replacement. Characteristics- This relates to additional features that increases appeal of product to the customer. Conformance- It indicates the extent to which product conforms to the pre- established condition. The quality goods are usually expected to meet set standard Aesthetics-This signifies subjective dimension that indicates type of response a customer gives for a product. It usually represents customers personal preference. Serviceability- This indicates promptness, proficiency and courtesy when the commodity breaks down in marketplace. These seven dimensions of quality has huge importance for Toyota as they adopts unique approach to producing product that is lean production. This kind of manufacturing involves five part procedure that involves defining value for customer, defining the stream value, striving for excellence and pulling from consumer back. They mainly concentrate on making flow of product through their value- added procedure without any interruption. In addition, as this company has been operating in the global market, they face several challenges from their competitors in terms of price and quality of product. However, this dimension has huge significance for Toyota as it helps them to maintain consistency in producing quality product and sustain in vulnerable competition (Brown et al., 2013). Moreover, much of this company success basically comes from their astounding reputation in quality. Kaizen and Total Quality Management Total quality management refers to the procedure by which the management as well as employees of the company becomes involved in improving the quality of goods and services to their customers. It is the continuous effort made by the organization for ensuring loyalty of their customer and their satisfaction level (Abdallah, 2013). It also ensures that each worker are working towards improvement of business culture, systems, processes and attain long tern success in the business. Most of the organizations use this approach for improving their internal operations, increasing productivity, reducing waste and eliminating inventories. Continuous improvement mainly depends on the Japanese concept termed as Kazien. This philosophy refers to the different methods used by the organizations for improving their operations. It generally involves identification of best practices benchmarks and instilling sense of workers ownership of procedure (Knechtges Decker, 2016). It focuses mainly on decreasing the time length required for the specific procedure, problems with suppliers as well as customers etc. This is mainly the long- term approach in work, which methodically seeks to attain small changes in the procedure for improving efficiency as well as quality. Toyota applying Kaizen and TQM for achieving continuous improvement Both Kazien as well as TQM is the hub of the production system of Toyota. Like every mass manufacturing system, this company process need that every mechanical as well as human task be defined precisely and standardized for ensuring high quality, increasing efficiency and eliminating waste. As the members of the this corporation have the responsibility to follow standardized guildlines in their work and seek continuous improvement, they adopts both these TQM and Kazien (Yang Yang, 2013). In addition, the day to day improvement which the team members as well as leaders makes in their operation practices as well as equipment are basically known as Kazien. Furthermore, implementing these two approaches also helps the company to strive improvement in each sphere of their activities that ranges from basic production procedure to serving quality product o their customer. Conclusion From the above report, it can be concluded that strategic operation management is necessary for every organization to operate in the global market. Furthermore, implementation of TQM and Kazien also helps the company to innovate product with best quality and improve their quality of work at every level of operations. The above case study reflects that Toyota has applied TPS ( Toyota production System) in manufacturing product, which is the basis of lean production movement that dominates their production trends over the last few years. References Abdallah, A. B. (2013). The influence of soft and hard total quality management (TQM) practices on total productive maintenance (TPM) in Jordanian manufacturing companies.International Journal of Business and Management,8(21), 1. Brown, S., Blackmon, K., Cousins, P., Maylor, H. (2013).Operations management: policy, practice and performance improvement. Routledge. Gunasekaran, A., Ngai, E. W. (2012). The future of operations management: an outlook and analysis.International Journal of Production Economics,135(2), 687-701. Heizer, J. (2016).Operations Management, 11/e. Pearson Education India. Hitt, M. A., Xu, K., Carnes, C. M. (2016). Resource based theory in operations management research.Journal of Operations Management,41, 77-94. 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