Back to Basics for Toyotaは、今日ウォールスリートジャーナルに掲載された豊田章男社長の投稿である。(念のために全文コピーも下記に貼付けておく)これだけの英語が書けるなら、明日の公聴会も冒頭挨拶だけでなく、質疑応答も英語で出来るのではないかと思う。(シニカルな冗談です、念の為)
社長自ら、全社を挙げて、上から下まで、設計から製造まで、厳重な品質管理を行うと宣言している。
素晴らしいメーッセージではあるが、製造と購買の現場には、悪い影響が出ると思う。
トヨタ、サプライヤーの現場は、硬直して行くと思う。工程変更など、トヨタの改善活動のの中心であった事が出来難くなるだろう。一度確立された工程や材料の変更は、変化を嫌って厳しくなるだろう。これまでも 4M(Man, Machine, Material, Method) の変化点での品質問題発生は知られているので、工程変更は、事実上不可能になるのではないかと思う。一番大きいのは、トヨタの技術者のチャレンジ精神がより一層減衰する事だと思う。
サプライヤーに対しても製造現場では硬直化が進むが、昨年30%コスト削減を打ち出したばかりなので、品質改善との折り合いをどのように進めて行くのであろう。
今回のアクセルペダルの問題(電子制御は別問題)の遠因は、10年程前にトヨタ調達が打ち出した と CCCP 21 いうコスト削減プロジェクトにあるのではないかと思っている。 CCCP 21 の正式名称は忘れたが、21世紀に向けてのコスト削減プロジェクトであった。(前渡辺社長が調達の専務の時に打ち出して、その成功で社長になったと言う噂を聞いた事がある)当時、韓国車が復活の兆しを見せており、韓国車部品に比べてコスト競争力がないという危機感が強く、その時も30%のコスト削減要求をサプライヤーにしている。折しも、ニッサンが経営危機があり、ゴーンのサバイバルプランを打ち出し、成果が出始めた時期でもあり、サプライヤーに無理強いすれば出来る雰囲気もあった。トヨタは、もう少しお上品ではあったが、ある種のショック療法でもあった。設計的にも冒険していたし、サプライヤーベースの拡大も積極的であった。ここ数年、散発的に増えてきたトヨタの品質問題は、設計の余裕のなさ(その前に比べてという意味で)やコスト削減で余裕のないサプライヤーの製造現場での、本当にちょっとした事が原因になってきているのである。
トヨタはサプライヤーに対しても当然の様に、より一層の品質改善を強要すると思うが、その分は払う気があるのだろうか?資金が豊富なトヨタは自分の所はトコトンやるだろうが、サプライヤーに只でやれというのだろうか?それもサプライヤーの自由度を奪った上で。
サプライヤーとしては、トヨタはそれでも儲けさせてくれる有り難い OEM であった。ただグローバル展開が急速だっただけに、付いて来れない系列サプライヤーも出てきている。系列サプライヤーが大きくなり過ぎた事で、トヨタとしても濃淡を受けざる事情もある。海外では現調化の必要もあり、経営哲学が違う独立系のサプライヤーもいる。厳しい経済状況での危機であるので尚更、トヨタが今感じている恐怖感をサプライヤーに伝染させてはならないのである。悪い影響を出してはならないのである。
豊田社長のメッセージが、全トヨタサプライヤーにどのように届くか、届かす為にどのような戦術、戦略を行うのが注目される。それは絶対に日本的であってはならないと思う。兵站が延び切っていたにもかかわらず危機感がなかったトヨタにとって、目の前にある危機は、真のグローバル企業になる為の最大のチャンスでもあるのだ。
追記 (2/28/10): CCCP 21: Construction of Cost Competitiveness in the 21st Century
"Back to Basics for Toyota" By AKIO TOYODA WSJ February 23, 2010
The past several months have been humbling for all of us at Toyota. We are taking this experience to heart, making fundamental changes in the way our company does business. I can assure you that our response will be comprehensive.
The first step is taking care of vehicles on the road today. But it also means making even safer vehicles in the future―and being more open and transparent about any safety issues that arise.
Since last June, when I took over as president of the company, I have personally placed the highest priority on improving quality, not quantity. All Toyota vehicles bear my name. When cars are damaged, it is as though I am as well. I love cars, and I take the utmost pleasure in offering vehicles that our customers love. I, more than anyone, want Toyota's cars to be safe, and for our customers to feel safe when they drive our vehicles.
When my grandfather brought Toyota into the auto business in 1937, he created a set of principles that has always guided how we operate. We call it the Toyota Way, and its pillars are "respect for people" and "continuous improvement." I believe in these core principles. And I am convinced that the only way for Toyota to emerge stronger from this experience is to adhere more closely to them.
Toyota continues to produce many of the best vehicles in the world. Many of the customers who are bringing their vehicles to our dealers for repair continue to tell us how much they love our cars, and I deeply appreciate their loyalty.
Yet it is clear to me that in recent years we didn't listen as carefully as we should―or respond as quickly as we must―to our customers' concerns. While we investigated malfunctions in good faith, we focused too narrowly on technical issues without taking full account of how our customers use our vehicles.
Since we began selling cars in the United States more than 50 years ago, Toyota has done many things right. We've built a strong organization with nearly 200,000 dedicated team members at our plants, dealers and suppliers. Over the past two decades, we have won more than 700 top quality awards from various independent experts, among the highest of any auto maker. We've also led the industry in the development of hybrids, and we are investing billions in the development of next generation environmentally friendly vehicles.
Still, I recognize that we must do better―much better―in responding to safety issues.
This is why I am taking the company back to basics. Across Toyota, we are putting our customers, and the values on which our company was founded, front and center.
We have already taken a number of concrete steps. Our dealers and team members across America and around the world are making extraordinary efforts to deal with recalled vehicles quickly and conveniently. Toyota engineers have rigorously tested our solutions. And to further validate the safety of our vehicles, we've asked Exponent, a world-class engineering and scientific consulting firm, to conduct a comprehensive, independent analysis of our electronic throttle control system that we will make public when completed.
We are listening more closely to our customers' concerns, gathering information faster, and responding more effectively when there's an issue. In the U.S., we are expanding our field monitoring team and increasing our use of onboard vehicle diagnosis technology. Our commitment to move rapidly is underscored by the speed at which we recently launched recalls to address customer concerns about the Prius and Lexus HS250 antilock brake systems, which we are well on the way to completing.
More broadly, I am personally leading a company-wide effort to institute more stringent quality control. We've begun a top-to-bottom review of our quality control processes from design to production, sales and service. And we are assembling a group of distinguished independent safety experts to confirm that the enhanced quality controls we're putting in place conform to best industry practices.
As an added customer confidence measure, we also will be one of the first full-line vehicle manufacturers to make advanced brake-override systems standard on all of our new models world-wide, and we will include this new feature on an expanded range of existing models as well. This advanced "Smart Pedal" braking system will automatically cut engine power when the brake pedal and the accelerator pedal are pushed simultaneously.
In short, I pledge that Toyota will set a new standard for transparency and speed of response on safety issues. We also will strive to lead on advanced safety and environmental technologies. And I will continue to personally visit our sales and manufacturing workplaces to reaffirm the Toyota commitment to excellent quality.
President Obama has urged all auto makers to act quickly and decisively when problems are identified. I look forward to speaking directly to Congress and the American people tomorrow about the decisive actions Toyota is taking to make things right for our customers by building the safest vehicles in the world.
Mr. Toyoda is the president of Toyota Motor Corporation.