Taikoh Transportation – Factory Tour
Taikoh Transportation is a Toyota Group logistics company that delivers products to Toyota as well as other automakers such as Subaru, Suzuki and Yamaha. The company is the first company that established a procurement logistics system based on the Toyota Production System in Japan.

Corporate Information
- Company: Taikoh Transportation Co., Ltd.
- Foundation: 1943
- Location: Headquartered in Aichi Prefecture
- Main Business: Procurement transportation and logistics

Taikoh Transportation – Lean Characteristics
TPS-based Logistics
Taikoh Transportation is a logistics company that delivers products to Toyota, Subaru, Suzuki, Yamaha and many other customers’ final assembly operations. They cover Japan across 20 locations, but 13 of those are concentrated in the area of Aichi Prefecture. Their parent company is Toyota Industries Corporation – the original Toyota company that started in the textiles industry well before the automotive company was born.
In the Toyota Group, Taikoh Transportation and around four other logistics companies act as a staging mid-point between all of Toyota’s first-tier suppliers and their final assembly plants. The concept of the staging base was introduced in an effort to increase the frequency of deliveries to Toyota from their first-tier suppliers and thus decrease the inventory levels within each of the Toyota final assembly plants. This is part of Toyota’s kaizen approach spreading outside of production and into their logistics operations in an evolutionary step that still fully incorporates the Toyota Production System – including their kanban pull system of material and information flow.
A visit to Taikoh Transportation site showcases TPS applications at work in the field of transportation and logistics.



Taipei, Taiwan
Shinka Management staff were professional from interpretation, to detailed trip arrangements, to leading the factory tour and catalyzing the thinking and discussion.
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Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
The Shinka Lean Management Tour was a great experience, with group members from across the globe. A combination of classroom, hands-on and site visit learning provided good insight into lean principles. The tour was very well organised, ran smoothly and was a pleasure to be a part of.
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Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
I recently had the privilege of attending the Lean Japan Tour organized by Shinka Management, and I can say it was an unforgettable experience! From start to finish, the tour was exceptionally well-managed, and I came away with a wealth of new knowledge and insights into lean manufacturing. I want to express my gratitude to…
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Valmiera, Latvia
The Lean Japan Tour program organised by Shinka Management is a fantastic experience for those involved in business and production. It inspires people to make changes for the better and to more effectively organize production regardless of the industry they represent.
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Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
The Lean Japan tour is an experience that has to be lived, because words are not enough to describe it. With excellent logistics and shared experiences, the Lean Japan Tour allowed us to experience the Toyota Production System beyond just the industrial realm. Thanks to the entire Shinka Management team for making this great experience…
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Melville, Hamilton, New Zealand
What a journey into lean! A week jam-packed with learning the true essence of lean from a Sensei, then being critiqued on your practical application of the skills. Followed up by site tours of what world class lean manufacturing looks like. Highly Recommended.
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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 lean and kaizen seminars, hands-on lean training and visits to several benchmark lean companies. For further information and program dates, see the lean tour overview page.
Tour Inquiries
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