Toyota Body Seiko – Factory Tour
Toyota Body Seiko is a subsidiary of Toyota Auto Body, an integrated automotive parts manufacturer that develops, designs and manufactures a variety of auto seat parts, frames and pressed components. The company is a first-tier supplier to the Toyota Group with five factories in Japan and two overseas.
Corporate Information
- Company: Toyota Body Seiko
- Parent Company: Toyota Auto Body
- Establishment: 1992
- Location: Headquartered in Aichi Prefecture
- Main Business: Automotive parts manufacturing
Toyota Body Seiko – Lean Characteristics
TPS, Just-In-Time, Kanban, Andon Board, Visual Management, Quality Assurance
Toyota Body Seiko Kakamigahara Factory is one of a regularly visited sites on our Lean Japan Tours. The factory manufactures automotive seat rails used for not only the Toyota HiAce, but for many other popular models such as the Rav4.
The shop floor tour will give a comprehensive operator-level look at factory operations and our tour participants will experience the Toyota Production System in action with excellent examples of Just-In-Time delivery, Kanban and Andon board systems at this Toyota Group first-tier supplier.
Other highlights of the factory shop floor visit include simple but effective visual management tools, automated guided vehicles (AGV) and specific examples of inexpensive improvement ideas that have had a considerable effect on productivity.
Quality assurance is a key challenge for this factory due to the structure of its workforce. Most workers are employed from labor hire firms on short-term contracts. However, you will see how this factory has managed this situation to achieve an impressively low defect rate.
The tour group will visit the product reception and delivery staging areas as well as welding and assembly operations, with the tour and discussion led by a former factory manager.
I enjoyed every aspect of this extremely well organised kaizen tour including: factory visits, translations by Paul and Ben, TPS training, sightseeing, accommodation, transportation, and meals. This tour is a must for anyone trying to understand / implement LEAN into their business or organisation. I hope the tour continues for many years to come as…
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One of the best weeks of my life. It has changed the way I see my production facility forever!
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If you have embarked on a lean journey The Lean Study Tour should be on your bucket list! It was inspiring to see the Toyota Production System in action as a management system, as well as the small improvements made day in and day out by dedicated and motivated teams all striving to continuously improve.…
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Paul and Ben from Shinka Management need to be commended for the tour that they ran in Japan. The experience has enlightened and energised me to intensify the lean efforts within our organisation. The tour was packed full of knowledge building as well as relationship building with other participants all whilst experiencing a cultural treat…
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I had several projects that I had been procrastinating on. They seemed too big, too complicated and I was actually struggling to know where to start. Without a word of a lie, after the first day I came back to my hotel room and wrote up the backbone of my strategy using the skills I…
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If I had to describe the Lean Japan Tour, I would describe it as a great “experience”. It was an experience in every sense – from being surrounded by a new culture, landscapes, food, people; and learning a successful and proven work philosophy with results that are maintained over time. We were able to learn…
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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.
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