Subaru – Factory Tour
Subaru Corporation (formerly known as Fuji Heavy Industries) is one of Japan’s globally renowned car manufacturers. Aside from the automotive manufacturing business, they also have an aerospace business and make aircraft and structural components which represents almost five percent of their revenue.
Corporate Information
- Company: Subaru Corporation
- Foundation: 1953
- Location: Headquartered in Tokyo
- Main Business: Automotive and aerospace manufacturing
Subaru Corporation – Lean Characteristics
Labor Effectiveness, One-Piece Flow Production
Subaru operates two final assembly plants very close to each other in Ota City in Gunma, Japan, and one in Indiana, USA. It produces over one million vehicles from these three facilities per annum with approximately 70% produced in Japan and 30% produced in the USA. Despite this, only 20 percent of their revenue was generated within Japan – meaning their export strategy is key to their success.
The tour will take us through the press, body (weld) and final assembly shops. This is an impressive plant for its labor effectiveness in final assembly (high value-add), its level of automation in the body shop, and the pure size of the press shop.
There is a one-day buffer of parts between the press shop and body shop due to the lot production method used in the press shop, but everything after that is one-piece flow production through the support of its network of component suppliers.
Kassel, Germany
My expectations for the tour were exceptionally high, but the Shinka Management team exceeded them all. The opportunity to engage with a sensei who possesses decades of experience in the Toyota Production System (TPS) was invaluable. The factory tours, coupled with discussions with managing directors and plant managers, offered profound insights into the organizational culture,…
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Irvine, California, United States
I attended Shinka Management’s Lean Japan Tour and it was an incredible experience. The content was highly informative and practical, offering deep insights into lean culture and principles and their real-world applications. The organisation of the program was excellent, ensuring a seamless and engaging learning experience. I’d highly recommend this tour to anyone looking to…
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Hamilton, Waikato, New Zealand
An outstanding experience. The opportunity to learn and build knowledge with experts in the principles of lean management was first class. The Japan context simply makes all the difference in putting that learning into context and allowed me to get “under the hood” of how it is really applied in practice through a variety of…
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Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
It was an exciting experience learning about Japan’s culture and industrial mentality. I had the honor of seeing and experiencing the industrial culture in Japan and exploring the reasons for its prosperity based on the principle of “kaizen”, as well as witnessing the work environment in a distinctive way embodied in the principle of 5S. It was…
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Bikfaya, Lebanon
Life changing experience. The tour was extremely well prepared: 1. In terms of logistics and schedule, everything was organized to provide enough time for full day efficiency without putting too much physical or cognitive strain. 2. In terms of quality of information, the senseis’ knowledge is world-class level and they were more than willing to…
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Rancagua, O'Higgins, Chile
The Lean Japan Tour allowed me to understand in a practical and conceptual way the real essence of just-in-time and operational efficiency. The dedication of the team and their attention to detail have made this an unforgettable experience.
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The Shinka Management Lean Japan Tour is a professional development program run several times annually. The program includes a mix of seminars on lean manufacturing, kaizen and Japanese business eqituette, together with hands-on lean training and visits to several benchmark lean companies. For further information and program dates, see the kaizen tour overview page.
Tour Inquiries
Interested in joining us in Japan? For additional information prior to registration please fill in the form provided or contact us.
The above form is for inquiries related to the Lean Japan Tour program, Shinka Management consulting and training services, and lean manufacturing software products. Shinka Management does not represent Subaru. For Subaru-related product and service inquiries, please contact Subaru directly.
Planning a Journey to Japan?
Prepare for your time in Japan with the Shinka Management Guide to Japanese Business Culture.