Toyota Says Quality Circles Still Paying Dividends
Byron Pope Ward's AutoWorld, Jun 1, 2008 12:00 PM

Toyota Motor Engineering & Mfg. North America Inc. wants to see a little more competitive spirit in its workforce.

About 37% of the auto maker's assemblers participate in Toyota's global “Quality Circles” competition that pits worker against worker in a friendly competition to develop more efficient manufacturing methods.

By year's end, Toyota North America wants to see 40% of its personnel take up the challenge toward a 2010 goal of 50% and an ultimate target of 100%, long term, says Pat D'Eramo, Toyota vice president-manufacturing.

Quality Circles help Toyota maintain an edge over its competition, as technology becomes less of a differentiator among auto makers, D'Eramo says.

“Technology is necessary to continue to improve quality and consistency,” he adds. “But the proliferation of technology is accelerating, so that the technology advantage diminishes with time.

“In other words, the person who has it first doesn't have that edge for long. The real advantage is developing a workforce that can learn, execute, and most importantly, improve on the investment you've made.”

Twice a year, Toyota holds a competition to identify the best ideas. A Silver Circle award is presented for the best idea from one of every four quality circles. One of every four Silver Circles wins a Golden Circle award.

The winners of the Golden Circle then face off against each other in the Global Quality Circle competition, often held in Japan, D'Eramo says.

“There they participate with the rest of the world,” he says. “It's very high pride for team members to participate, especially at the platinum level.”

Toyota has long touted its kaizen strategy of continuous improvement. In place since 1990, it encourages employees on the factory floor to submit new ideas to improve the manufacturing process.

Often, those ideas result in cost reductions, D'Eramo says. Describing the program at the Global Automotive Conference, he cites Albert Einstein: “The world of science is nothing more than the refinement of everyday thinking.”