Comparative analysis of the implementation of Toyota Production System between a tier-one and tier-two supplier

Abstract

The Toyota Production systems (TPS) is a methodology that is widely used in the manufacturing automotive industry. The Toyota pyramid model consists of four levels which can be dissected into the first level of philosophy, the second level named process, the third pillar of people and partners, and lastly the problem-solving level. These are also characterised by 14 principles of the model. However, many suppliers face challenges in implementing these principles from the Toyota pyramid model due to lack of knowledge, understanding or available framework for easy implementation and guidance. This study aims to conduct a comparative analysis of the level of implementation of the 14 principles of the Toyota pyramid model by a tier-one and tiertwo supplier. This study also identified areas of strengths and weakness and made provisions for continuous improvement initiatives at each supplier for future work. A quantitative research methodology with a questionnaire as the research instrument, was adopted for this study. A 5-point Likert type scale was used to elicit responses from 25 research participants from the tier-one and tier-two suppliers. Data analysis was conducted through descriptive values of the means, skewness and kurtosis, and an independent sample t-test was used as an inferential tool to establish the relationship between the tier-one and tier-two supplier. Value stream mapping was also deployed to identify the current production processes and kaizen bursts that characterized the two organisations. The results from the comparative analysis of the level of implementation of the Toyota pyramid model revealed that tier-one supplier was demonstrating better performance than tier-two supplier in the implementation of the 14 principles. In addition, the results demonstrated that principle 1, from the philosophy level had a higher mean or was stronger for each supplier. On the hand, principle 8 and principle 12 were found to be weaker in each supplier respectively. The areas of improvement which were highlighted in the kaizen bursts on the value stream map were addressed and kaizen implementation was undertaken. These improvement initiatives included rebalancing a seat-cover assembly line and deployment of an andon management system at the tier-one supplier to improve line efficiency and line management. A framework was also proposed for the tier-two supplier to bridge the gap in its practice for implementation of the Toyota pyramid model principles. Additional principles were added to this framework to ensure an easier and understandable methodology and framework to be referred to for suppliers and companies to improve.