OL 324 Managing Quality
2-2 Milestone One
La Shaun Hilliard
Southern New Hampshire University
Toyota motor company is a Japanese manufacturing company that was established in
1937 and its main business activities are the production of motor vehicles and sales. The
company was founded by Sakichi Toyoda whose vision, mission, and principles were geared
towards providing and producing a happy, conscious, positive work environment. He wanted to
provide an affordable, yet quality product to consumers.
Toyoda's had five main principles that he held himself and his employees by:
: being faithful to your duties and contributing to the company
Be studious, creative, and innovative
Be practical and avoid frivolousness
Promoting a work culture that was homelike, warm, welcoming, and friendly
: To respect spiritual matters and be grateful at all times
Toyota was known for having one of the best production systems in the world; it was studied
worldwide, it was known for having the "jidoka-automation with a human touch, it's designed to
shut down the equipment if a problem arises. Knowing this, it is very surprising that the 2010
debacle could not be avoided.
2010 changed how Toyota vehicles were viewed, they were no longer safe, high-quality vehicles.
they were now known for having issues with their braking, accelerating pedal, and faulty floor
mats that resulted in several deaths. With millions of cars being recalled, Toyota sales decline
due to a tarnished reputation with consumers, although sales had declined, the company still
reported a profit. In the end, Toyota was ordered to pay $16.4 million in fines alone.
Toyota's quality issues arose in the 2000s when they decided to use the same parts across the
line for the majority of their vehicles; this choice reduced the quality of the cars causing
customer complaints to rise.
The quality of Toyota vehicles was being challenged and it resulted in 2.3 million of its
vehicles being recalled due to defects in the acceleration and braking system. It was found that
some Toyota vehicles had a sticky acceleration pedal, and/or a defective braking pedal resulting
in death for some of their customers. Toyota tried to downplay the issues and their PR stunt
didn't go over well. Management failed to act on an identifiable problem and vehicles continue
to roll off the lot to consumers whose lives were at risk due to these defects.
Growing up, my family has always driven some type of model of a Toyota vehicle, and this
tradition was passed on to the children. When the children were looking at purchasing a car, we
were told to get a Toyota, when asked why, they are dependable, high-quality cars that will last
you a long time and they have great warranties, so we did as such. The 2010 disaster was a big
concern for me and my family as we owned Toyotas at that time, and safety was our priority, for
this reason, I am choosing Toyota for my final project. I am looking forward to finding more out
about wh