Toyota Boshoku Kyushu – Factory Tour
Toyota Boshoku group operates around the globe and they are a major tier-one supplier to the Toyota Group. The Kyushu company has two plants; the Honsha (head) Plant in Kamizaki City in Saga Prefecture and the Miyata Plant located right by Toyota’s factory in Fukuoka Prefecture.
Corporate Information
- Company: Toyota Boshoku Kyushu Corporation
- Foundation: 1991
- Location: Headquartered in Saga Prefecutre
- Main Business: Manufacturing of automotive interior products, power-train components
Toyota Boshoku Kyushu – Lean Characteristics
TPS, Just-In-Time, Karakuri, Standard Work, Visual Management
Toyota Boshoku Kyushu is a major first-tier supplier to the Toyota Group and produces seats, door trims and engine components exclusively for Lexus models manufactured by Toyota Motor Kyushu.
At the Honsha Plant, a majority of the production area is spread over two floors of the same building where over 1000 employees are purely making seats. The key processes to produce the seats involve cloth cutting, sewing, foam production, seat track assembly, welding of the frame and final seat assembly.
Being a major supplier to Toyota, the key elements of the Toyota Production System are on display including JIT delivery, kanban and standard work.
As with many factories in Japan in recent years, Toyota Boshoku Kyushu have challenged their employees to consider the zero-energy approach of karakuri to improve efficiency, ergonomics and reduce maintenance costs.
The Honsha Plant tour will also showcase excellent examples of effective visual management tools used throughout the shop floor.
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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Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
It was great experiencing factories that have implemented simple and effective processes in the right manner. I enjoyed the stories from each sensei on their journey of kaizen and how they implemented it within their factories. Ben, Eri and Juan were incredible hosts, the whole tour was seamless and the content was really valuable. This…
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Singapore
The one week Lean Japan Tour not only validates ‘how lean can make business sense’ but also provides the opportunity to learn and share with professionals across different industries.
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Bethesda, Maryland, United States
Shinka Management organized an excellent tour. It was structured to capture professional development and cultural experience. The tour also provided me with experiences related not only to the local culture and food of Japan, but also to the culture and languages of fellow participants from all over the world. This tour has made a significant…
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Dubai, United Arab Emirates
It was a fasntastic tour from the beginning to the end. It was very well-organised and informative. Sessions were followed with practical training which concentrated more on the ideas that had been explained. The factories visited were chosen in a way that allowed the participants to see a live supply chain work. Big thanks to…
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Nelson, New Zealand
Amazing experience, exceptional learning. If you want to learn about Lean go on this tour!
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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
Interested in joining us in Japan? For additional information prior to registration please fill in the form provided or contact us.