Kaizen in the automotive industry Six years ago, South Africa’s Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) agreed to a joint study on (inter alia) the automotive industry to increase and diversify trade between the two countries. This followed the need for increased competitiveness in the automotive industry to ensure greater productivity and profit. As a result, JICA has been working with DTI’s Automotive Industry Development Centre (AIDC) in Rosslyn, Gauteng, to strengthen automotive supplier capability. Two AIDC-hosted JICA experts with vast experience on the Toyota Production System (TPS), introduced Kaizen to suppliers, resulting in them becoming more productive and competitive, with a substantial reduction in time and cost. Baires Plastics in Roodepoort, Gauteng, is one of the suppliers benefitting from this Kaizen training, which has resulted in an improved Material and Information Flow Diagram (MIFD) for the production line or “shop-floor”. Baires Plastics manufactures plastic automotive components such as moulds and grilles. Outcomes observed by Baires Plastics include an accessible planning and monitoring board to reduce overproduction, an improved operation instruction sheet for the moulding line to reduce stagnation, a revised operation standard for the double-check method for customers, and improved inspection reducing back-logs. Baires Plastics plans on improving the quality-check step through training of both the production and champion operators to ensure that quality is integrated into the entire production process. Messrs Michiharu Suzuki and Kazunori Hayashi, JICA Experts hosted by AIDC, observes a demonstration by their trainee, Baatseba Motubatsa from Baires Plastics, along with Mr Martin Keller, Managing Director. Toyota Production Swiftly & Smartly System (TPS) TPS, essentially “making things”, has globally been exploring the systems of “lean manufacturing” or “Just-in-Time (JIT)”. Aimed at making vehicles ordered by customers in the quickest and most efficient way, this production control system was established as a result of many years of Kaizen. Taiichi Ohno and Eiji Toyoda, Japanese industrial engineers, developed the system between 1948 and 1975. Originally called “Just-in-Time Production”, it builds on the approach created by Toyota’s Founder, Sakichi Toyoda, his son Kiichiro Toyoda, and Taiichi Ohno. TPS originated from the concepts of "Jidoka" (automation with a human touch) and JIT. Considering the basic philosophies of these two concepts, TPS can quickly and efficiently produce vehicles of sound quality, one at a time, that fully satisfy customers’ requirements. .