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Toyota retires robots in favor of humans to improve automaking process

Mitsuru Kawai is overseeing a return to the old ways at Toyota factories throughout Japan. Having spent 50 years at the Japanese automaker, Kawai remembers when manual skills were prized at the company and "experienced masters used to be called gods, and they could make anything." Company CEO Akio Toyoda personally chose Kawai to develop programs to teach workers metalcraft such as how to forge a crankshaft from scratch, and 100 workstations that formerly housed machines have been set aside for human training.
The idea is that when employees personally understand the fabrication of components, they will understand how to make better machines. Said Kawai, "To be the master of the machine, you have to have the knowledge and the skills to teach the machine." Lessons learned by the newly skilled workers have led to shorter production lines - in one case, 96percent shorter - improved parts production and less scrap.
Taking time to give workers the knowledge to solve problems instead of merely having them "feed parts into a machine and call somebody for help when it breaks down," Kawai's initiative is akin to that of Toyota's Operations Management Consulting Division, where new managers are given a length of time to finish a project but not given any help - they have to learn on their own. It's not a step back from Toyota's quest to build more than ten million cars a year; it's an effort to make sure that this time they don't sacrifice quality while making the effort. Said Kawai, "We need to become more solid and get back to basics."

10% of Toyota China dealers may drop due to losses

News about the auto industry in China is usually positive thanks to booming sales and an ever-increasing number of factories across the country. But in some cases, it appears that the dealers with the job of actually selling all of those vehicles are having trouble finding buyers. The result is cars piling up on lots and showrooms resisting against automakers. Japanese automakers already face a tough road to success in China, but the FAW-Toyota joint venture is especially struggling this year. According to Bloomberg, as many as 10 percent of the dealers might have to close or stop selling the brand because they just can't make money selling the vehicles on their lots. Also, 95 percent of the showrooms are reportedly losing money. The issue facing FAW-Toyota sellers is mostly a case of supply and demand. Automakers in China mandate the number and types of vehicles that dealers sell. However, the inventory from all makes is at its highest level since August 2013, according to Bloomberg. The situation leaves dealers with packed lots, and cars often require discounts to move. Making matters harder is that showrooms have annual sales targets, which are linked to bonuses. This money can account for over half of the sellers' annual profits, according to Bloomberg. The FAW-Toyota dealers are pushing back by asking Toyota for 2.2 billion yuan ($355 million) to pay for costs associated with the extra inventory. It also lowered sales targets by six percent earlier this year and has requested no increase in the numbers for 2015. News Source: BloombergImage Credit: Nelson Ching / Bloomberg via Getty Images Earnings/Financials Toyota Car Buying Car Dealers

Toyota to axe Venza by June 2015

After years of wallowing about the market as a slow-selling alternative to its own RAV4 and Highlander (among over CUVs), Toyota is putting the Venza out to pasture, the company confirmed. Production will officially cease by June of this year, although Toyota will continue to screw together the car for export markets until September of 2017. No jobs will be affected at the Toyota Motor Manufacturing factory in Kentucky. TMMK already builds the Avalon, Camry and their hybrid variants. To make up for the loss of the Venza, Toyota has already upped production of the RAV4, and is planning on increasing supplies of its Highlander at its Princeton, IN factory. Venza sales have been, in a word, abysmal. According to CarsDirect, Toyota sold just 2,100 Venzas in January of 2015, while sales of the RAV4 and Highlander hit nearly 20,000 units for the former and exceeded 11,000 for the latter. Considering that, freeing up the showroom space occupied by the Venza sounds like a smart move.