Toyota Marks 25 Years of Knowledge Sharing with North American Small Business and Non-Profits by Engaging New Sectors

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For 25 years, Toyota Motor North America, through its Toyota Production System Support Center (TSSC), has shared the "Toyota Production System," (TPS) the same operational philosophy and practices the company follows in its own factories to make automobiles.

The company started sharing its know-how with small to mid-sized manufacturers, later expanding and applying the system beyond manufacturing to government entities, non-profits involved in disaster recovery and hunger relief, and, more recently, healthcare organizations.

Today, Toyota announced that its knowledge sharing efforts will now be extended to sectors including retail and construction, among other sectors in North America.

"Our years of manufacturing experience have taught us that small improvements in a process can make a big difference — and we've learned that this approach can help other organizations outside of manufacturing, too," said Terry Horinouchi, president of TSSC. "Through our collaborations over the years, our partners have acquired the knowledge to feed more clients, build more homes, improve quality of care, gain more business, and preserve or even create jobs in North America."

The goal of TSSC is to equip non-Toyota organizations with the tools to solve operational problems, maximize available resources, and preserve or even create jobs.  

Through philosophies of TPS, ACE Metals Crafts reduced their production lead time by 38 percent, retained their largest client and added more jobs; Harbor-UCLA Medical Center reduced the time from check-in to discharge by half for their patients and increasing the number of new patients seen each day; and SBP reduced the amount of time takes to rebuild a home after a natural disaster from an average of 116 days to 60 days (48 percent improvement).

"Toyota engages other organizations with our know-how so that they can build a culture of continuous improvement," said Chris Nielsen, executive vice president of product support and chief quality officer of Toyota Motor North America. "We see strong opportunity in organizations in sectors other than automotive or manufacturing, and are excited to see how TSSC can collaborate with them to help improve processes, maximize operations, build more resilient communities, and serve more people."

To commemorate the 25^th anniversary, TSSC held an event with various partners across sectors to share experiences and academia to discuss TPS and how it is applied to various organizations. Panels included, "Made in America: TPS in manufacturing and much more" and "TPS in Healthcare: Opportunities and Challenges Ahead."

About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in the U.S. and North America for 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands. During that time, Toyota has created a tremendous value chain as our teams have contributed to world-class design, engineering, and assembly of more than 33 million cars and trucks in North America, where we operate 14 manufacturing plants (10 in the U.S.) and directly employ more than 46,000 people (more than 36,000 in the U.S.).  Our 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly 1,500 in the U.S.) sold almost 2.7 million cars and trucks (2.45 million in the U.S.) in 2016 – and about 85 percent of all Toyota vehicles sold over the past 15 years are still on the road today.  

Toyota partners with community, civic, academic, and governmental organizations to address our society's most pressing mobility challenges. We share company resources and extensive know-how to support non-profits to help expand their ability to assist more people move more places. For more information about Toyota, visit www.toyotanewsroom.com.

Media Contact:
Aaron Fowles
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(469) 292-1097

SOURCE Toyota Motor North America

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