Production Planning & Control

INDUSTRIAL VISIT REPORT 2013

Toyota Kirloskar Auto Parts

Introduction

INTRODUCTION

Submitted by:

(12112) SULGADLE MANJUNATH

Submitted To:

Prof. S. N Prasad

Date: 27/11/2013

A day visit was arranged to understand the production planning & control at Toyota Kirloskar Auto Parts (TKAP), an auto parts manufacturing company based at Bidadi near Bangalore, India, established in 2002 is a joint venture amongst Toyota Motor Corporation, Japan (64%), Toyota Industries Corporation, Japan (26%) & Kirloskar Systems Limited, India (10%). It has an excellent, disciplined, planned and effective work culture. It is an institution itself. It is ISO 14001 certified export oriented company. It has safety instructions & measures adopted & written everywhere in plant. This plant is at same level with other Toyota major units across world like Bangkok & Malaysia. Its current M.D. is Mr. Yujo Hirojika.

TKAP’s mission is to enrich the lives of all stake holders with safe & eco-friendly products. Its vision is to become no.1 unit manufacturer in Asia pacific in Quality, cost & customer satisfaction. TKAP, as an established manufacturer of transmission and engines, is now well set to become one of India's leading auto component companies. TKAP is committed to achieve global quality at competitive cost, utilizing the Indian supply base optimally. With the expanding Indian Automobile market, TKAP is poised to play a significant role as a key auto parts manufacturer.

PRODUCT PROFILE

TKAP manufactures Front Axle, Rear Axle & Propeller Shaft (called as “3 Units”) for Toyota Innova. It also produces R-type ((India, Thailand, Argentina) for Toyota Hilux & Toyota Fortuner along with C-type manual transmissions (India, Brazil, Indonesia) for Toyota Etios & Etios Liva catering to export markets in Asia-Pacific & Latin America and also for domestic market. It also assembles TKAP assembles NR Gasoline Engines of 1.2 L and 1.5 L capacity for Toyota Etio

Financial Position

As it is a parts supplier unit to its parent company Toyota, it doesn’t generate revenue as such.

Plant Layout

There were three units in TKAP mainly as 3-Unit Parts Plant, Transmissions & Engines plant which has products exclusively to be exported for about 90% of the production. Economies of scale is achieved during production.

Supply Chain Process

The process is PULL strategy used in kanban process which involves production as per the current demand by customer. This leads better planning & low waste. Single line is used to produce a product part as in lean manufacturing called as single piece system. It employs just in time manufacturing system.

HR Practices

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Toyota believes in respect for people. It has a philosophy which says good thinking leads to better product. It doesn’t bother much about the profit/loss calculation but focusses on quality products. It respects the local culture & adopts community development. It learns through doing & preaches the same.

World class manufacturing processes and practices

The Toyota Production System (TPS), originally a means of achieving mass-production efficiency with a small production volume, has become a sought after best practice for achieving highly efficient ‘lean manufacturing’ for manufacturing industries worldwide. Just-in-time (JIT) production and in-process quality assurance are hallmarks of the TPS. Also, Toyota’s world class research and development coupled with IT systems has made possible technological advancements in quality manufacturing, safety, efficiency and environment preservation, all of which contribute to enhancing customer satisfaction.

OBSERVATIONS OF THE VISIT

Time Management at TKAP was the most noticed fact. They were so keen and precise about time and their plan accordingly. They actually were aware of how to successfully execute procedures with time. Work culture was yet another significant factor, they executed their target in a well-planned shot span of time. Discipline was one-of-its kind at TKAP which was truly unique.

Putting the human element in automation was first started by Totota way back in Japan which is called as Jidoka. TPS is the most famous production system worldwide. It is often called as the machine which changed the world. Jidoka system employs highest quality product with lowest cost delivered at shortest lead time.

3M system (reducing Mura-unevenness, Muri-Overburden, Muda-Waste), Kaizen (continuous improvement), JIT & Jidoka are four pillars are Toyota production system. Toyota believes in reducing the element which doesn’t add any value to finished product. Under Muda, there are three categories namely non value, value & incidental Muda. Muda in every activity is analyzed on these three categories.

Toyota philosophy depends on 3’P’s namely people, process & problem solving. Respect for people is most important element in every activity Toyota employee does. Seventy years of experience has taught Toyota the philosophy & thinking it imbibes which can’t be emulated by other competitors. It focusses on people & encourages them to create a rule of self.

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