The Open Secret of Success

Summary:

The Open Secret Of Success, James Surowiecki, The New Yorker, May 12, 2008. For around seventy year, General Motors (G.M.) has sold more cars than any other company in the world. However, Toyota is likely to become the industry’s sale leader this year. This is due to the fact that Toyota has long been the most profitable and innovative firm in the industry. In the first three month, Toyota sold a hundred and sixty thousand more cars than General Motors. Even though the company’s innovation focuses on process rather than on product, and on the factory floor than on the showroom, it does not make them any less powerful. The core of the company’s success is The Toyota Production System which enabled it to build cars faster and with less labor than American companies. This kind of system focuses on how things get made which allow a free and easier flow of parts and products. For example, kanban – a card system that allows workers to signal when new parts are needed or an andon cord, which any worker can pull to stop the assembly line if he notices a problem. Moreover, the way Toyota approaches also distinct with other company even though their system has been widely copied over the years. Its goal is try to make things better on a daily basis, but not to make big and sudden leaps. This is because the company had gone through a series of quality problem in 2006. They found out that incremental innovation cannot be suited with business driver by large technological leaps. That is why Toyota currently is the leader in the industry: they understand the system and they follow the procedure correctly.

Andon cord cycle system

Opinion:

In my opinion, Toyota company is growing their market strongly and globally. One of the factors is that they learned and understood from their failure in the past and adapted themselves to follow their procedure correctly. For that reason, by increasing local production and creating what people need, its sale has surpassed G.M company which was the leading company for more than 70 years. Another thing that make this company stands out of the crowd is that they aim on developing and improving their process. One example is that they invented an andon cord which allowed the workers to stop the assembly and fix any issue if they found during their manufacturer. This helps them to reduce issues that might arise when they delivered their products to the clients. Moreover, the company is able to determine any steps that was wrongful conduct in the past and adapt in the future, making them success even though their business model is being used widely around the world.

Toyota Production System (TPS) is now widely used in other company.

Questions:

1. Do you plan to buy Toyota car as your new car in the future ? If not, which brand are you going to buy ?

2.If you bought a Toyota car before, why did you choose Toyota instead of other brand ?

References:

The Open Secret of Success. 2008, May 12. The New Yorker. Retrieved from

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/05/12/the-open-secret-of-success

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