Toyota 2006 Annual Report Download - page 23

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21
trips to North America alone.
Further, Team Camry used the high-
speed communication of meeting
minutes to promote daily informa-
tion sharing. In fact, the meeting
minutes were sometimes handwritten
because Team Camry made a point of
rapidly conveying topics debated in
the global Obeya to bases around
the world. This swiftness enabled
global decision making and engen-
dered a sense of unity that under-
pinned the work of Team Camry.
Preparation of Master
Technical Drawings
For an international project, we gave
ourselves a very short period to real-
Simultaneous Worldwide
Start-Up II
ize high-quality vehicle manufac-
turing. The secret to meeting that
tough schedule was the team’s effort
to build a highly finished perfor-
mance confirmation vehicle (CV)
based on a set of master technical
drawings. Normally, the first step in
the development process is to build a
prototype vehicle using test compo-
nents. If any glitches come to light,
the design is changed. A CV is then
built using actual components. This
method extends the development
period and leads to complacency.
But, if from the outset a set of master
technical drawings can be established
that will not require subsequent
design changes, there is no need to
build a prototype vehicle. While this
type of development without proto-
type vehicles is not unusual at
The Key to Success in a Global Project
John Bell
Chief Engineer, Product Office, Toyota Motor Corporation Australia Ltd. (TMCA)
As the leader of the Camry project at the plant in Australia, I was heavily involved in coordination with
Toyota’s head office from the start of development, visiting Japan frequently. It was the first time that I
had played a part in a project to simultaneously develop one vehicle, the Camry, using an international
production platform. The project presented numerous challenges, including digital assembly* and produc-
tion preparation based on globally common technical drawings. Nevertheless, the project went smoothly
thanks to international teamwork and our shared commitment to the Toyota Way.
* Digital assembly refers to the use of digital engineering to conduct assembly trials using a virtual vehicle.
Members of the local Obeya at our
Australian plant
Constant contact with the development
hub at the global Obeya in Japan enabled
simultaneous development.
The express communication of meeting
minutes played a large part in the global
sharing of information. The left side of the
minutes outlines the content of meetings in
Japanese, with an English translation on
the right side. After meetings, the global
Obeya immediately distributed the minutes
to various production bases.
The Camry Challenge —Simultaneous Worldwide Start-Up—
Development System for the New Camry
Japan
Global
Obeya
(Development hub)
United States
Local Obeya
Asia (Thailand, China, and Taiwan)
Local Obeya
Australia
Local Obeya
Obeya system:
A task force system for the development
of new vehicles in which all of the man-
agers responsible for decision making in
related divisions gather in one place.