Toyota delivers vehicles on time with new production system

Revising repair process to reflect Japanese model cuts cycle time in half

Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. is finalizing the details for the national rollout of its production system that allows technicians to repair a vehicle and reduce cycle time by nearly 50 percent-without technicians actually working any faster.

Toyota has developed the On-Time Collision Repair System, which is designed to help shops increase productivity by streamlining their production systems. For example, the system recommends that technicians complete repairs as a team and that they wait until all parts are in before beginning a repair. "(Repairers] are not working faster," says Randy Profeta,Toyota's collision repair business expansion manager. "We're doing nothing more than efficient, lean production."

Essentially, the workflow is more organized because of thorough planning, which enables technicians to produce nearly twice as much as before. "The real secret is pre-managing the job," he says. "You need to evaluate the damage from the top to bottom, identify what you need to replace and make sure all the parts are on hand before you begin the repair process: This type of system takes a "whole new level of management to ensure a complete and accurate parts order" and to have all of the parts in the shop before repairs begin, says Roger Foss, Toyota's national dealer development manager.

The On-Time process is being tested at three Toyota Certified Collision Repair Center pilot locations. Fred Haas Toyota in Houston began as a pilot facility in October 1998. Maroone Toyota in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. began participating in July 1999, and Lancaster Toyota/LTM Collision Center in Lancaster, Pa. entered as a test shop in April.

If everything stays on track, Toyota plans to begin working with other certified dealers by Nov 1. When implemented nationwide, the On-Time program will be offered to Toyota Certified Collision Centers that have met baseline standards for equipment to become certified. For example, Toyota requires shops to have a downdraft spray booth that can be dedicated to the On-Time production team, and the booth must be in a drive-through configuration.

Under the pilot program only two technicians are dedicated to this system, and they are working in four to six stalls, including a spray booth. But Profeta says Toyota is confident that the production capability could be increased with the addition of a third technician, preferably an apprentice.

"Production will only be limited by the slowest single operation, which is the top coat application and the total processing time within the spray booth," he says. Most of the paint vendors Toyota has spoken with agree that the average in-booth time is about 80 minutes. Using this as the base, production will be limited to about six to seven vehicles per normal working day, Profeta says. At present, the pilot shops are producing four to five vehicles per day.

Larry Cummings, body shop manager of Maroone Toyota, says the facility's production has increased about 40 percent since it implemented the program. It has enabled the shop to repair nearly 1,000 vehicles with an average cycle time of 1.2 days per car. He says the shop absolutely "will not go back to business the way it was," and he believes the entire industry has to move in this direction. "(The industry) has to streamline the repair process to be competitive in today's market," he says. "It's ridiculous what we put some of our customers through."

The On-Time Collision System is based on the Japanese Toyota Production System (TPS) manufacturing principles, but it has been adapted to U.S. culture. For example, in Japan, it is common for repairers to work as a team on a vehicle, but in the United States, the shop environment tends to be more independent. The Toyota production system differs in that it follows a linear repair process in which multiple technicians play a role. Using a team approach helps to eliminate "muda," the Japanese word for waste.

"What we have done is look at the reasons for the delays within the typical repair shop and design a system to overcome these deficiencies," Profeta says. For example, he says, in the majority of shops, work is assigned to technicians as long as there are enough parts on hand to "start the job."The technician may work on a car for an hour or two before discovering that additional parts and/or labor will be needed to complete the repair. At this point, many shops ask the technician to write the supplement.

This introduces another problem. The vehicle now cannot be completed until the technician obtains more parts as well as any necessary authorizations from the customer and the insurer. Consequently, the shop owner, manager or technician may decide to move the vehicle out of the shop and bring another one in, which further lengthens the cycle time.

"It's not uncommon to have technicians working on a batch of six or seven cars at one time," Profeta says. "Cycle time for each one of the cars in this example then goes up considerably. At the end of the week, the technician may have produced a considerable number of labor hours, but [he or she) has not completed a single vehicle."

With the Toyota system, the start-andstop process is eliminated, and the technicians are taught to focus on one car at a time. They as well as the estimators, are taught that single-piece production is more productive and effective than batch processes. At Maroone Toyota, productivity has increased 31 percentage points.

Shop layout also plays a role in the program. At least three flat stalls are required to be in line with the spray booth and, ideally an additional cooldown stall is used immediately after a vehicle leaves the booth. "The production process is unidirectional and linear," Profeta says. "No vehicles move backwards or sideways:'

Tom Parker, an On-Time body technician at Lancaster Toyota/LTM Collision Center in Lancaster, Pa., says the system has improved his productivity because having all of the parts enables him to ` just do the job and get it out the door." He adds that the entire shop benefits from the increased efficiency and reduced cycle time that come as a result of the program. "If you have all the jobs lined up, you wouldn't need as big a shop," he says, "because you wouldn't need room for a car that would normally sit in a bay torn apart:'

Jan Jurell, body shop manager at Lancaster Toyota/LTM Collision Center, says this type of system is the wave of the future, and working to increase efficiency isn't exclusive to the collision repair industry. "Everyone is looking to streamline," Jurell says. "Toyota is on the cutting edge with this."

Long term, Toyota is looking to use its On-Time System to coordinate vehicle repairs with parts ordering and procurement and to have that tied together with delivery and communication with the customer, Foss says. The carmaker wants to automate the repair process so each stage is documented and so the customer is notified of progress with the repair. If the customer is kept informed, the technicians at each stage are obligated to begin work immediately, which eliminates lag time. "If you're not a lean producer today, you either will become one or be out of business," Profeta says. "If you can't go to a team system and produce cars in a reasonable amount of time, you won't be able to compete."