"Kiichiro Toyoda and the Birth of the Japanese Automobile Industry: Reconsideration of Toyoda-Platt Agreement"

In discussion of the birth of the Japanese automobile industry, most researchers and journalists obviously talk about the Toyota Motor Corporation and the Toyoda-Platt Agreement. It has been widely asserted that the one million yen that was received as a result of the Agreement provided Kiichiro Toyoda with the means to begin doing research on the automobile. But the historical evidence does not support this legendary story, and in many ways contradicts it. This paper aims to set the historical record straight.

Progress in Material Handling Research: 2016

Table of contents

A Method for Monitoring Operating Equipment Effectiveness With The Internet Of Things And Big Data

The purpose of this paper was to use the Overall Equipment Effectiveness productivity formula in plant manufacturing and convert it to measuring productivity for forklifts. Productivity for a forklift was defined as being available and picking up and moving containers at port locations in Seattle and Alaska. This research uses performance measures in plant manufacturing and applies them to mobile equipment in order to establish the most effective means of analyzing reliability and productivity. Using the Internet of Things to collect data on fifteen forklift trucks in three different locations, this data was then analyzed over a six-month period to rank the forklifts’ productivity from 1 – 15 using the Operating Equipment Effectiveness formula (OPEE). This ranking was compared to the industry standard for utilization to demonstrate how this approach would yield a better performance analysis and provide a more accurate tool for operations managers to manage their fleets of equipment than current methods. This analysis was shared with a fleet operations manager, and his feedback indicated there would be considerable value to analyzing his operations using this process. The results of this research identified key areas for improvement in equipment reliability and the need for additional operator training on the proper use of machines and provided insights into equipment operations in remote locations to managers who had not visited or evaluated those locations on-site

Materials Handling in Production Systems: Design and Performance of Kit Preparation

This thesis focuses on processes for kit preparation, which are applied with the materials supply principle of kitting in production systems for mixed-model assembly. With kitting, assembly processes are supplied with portions of pre-sorted components, and each portion makes up a kit that holds the components needed for one assembly object at one or several assembly processes. When kitting is applied, picking activities, which are otherwise performed at assembly processes, are instead carried out in a process for kit preparation. Kit preparation involves collecting components designated for a particular assembly object into a single unit load that is delivered to assembly.Kitting is widely seen as beneficial for quality and flexibility in assembly processes when there are a large variety of components. Performance effects in assembly processes normally associated with kitting largely depend on the performance of kit preparation. Previous research indicates that a picking system’s design greatly impacts its performance. While research that has dealt with kit preparation points out several design aspects that can affect its performance, the available knowledge is far from exhaustive. The purpose of this thesis is to contribute to the knowledge of how kit preparation design aspects govern kit preparation performance.Case research, experiments, and modelling have been used to study how flexibility, kit quality and man-hour efficiency are affected by kit preparation design aspects related to work organisation, layout, policies, packaging, equipment, picking information, automation and control. Two case research studies respectively address kit preparation flexibility and kit quality, identifying how kit preparation design aspects can be configured to support these two performance areas. Two experiments focus on how picking information systems and confirmation methods affect kit preparation man-hour efficiency. One modelling study focuses on how collaborative robots can support man-hour efficient kit preparation. Through involvement in three research projects and an extensive review of the literature, this research has been guided by the needs of industry and by previously established knowledge.This thesis contributes to theory and to practice in the form of knowledge about relationships between kit preparation design aspects and the performance areas flexibility, kit quality and manhour efficiency. The theoretical contribution consists of building upon and underpinning the limitedknowledge about the topic that has been previously available, while also adding new knowledge. This includes, for example, glasses with integrated computer displays, RFID-scanning wristbands, and collaborative robots, and how they are linked to kit preparation performance. The practical contribution consists of concise yet holistic descriptions of relationships between kit preparation design and performance, which industry can readily adopt with some consideration to the situation’s characteristics

International Logistics

In this study guide the essence, the basic conceptions and the role of international logistics in economic development, the international and organizational aspects of procurement logistics, international warehousing, conceptual foundations of distribution logistics and inernational transport logistics are examined. This study guide is intended for students of specialty “International Economic Relations”

The Mexican Auto Industry: From Crisis to Greater Region-centric Influence

With mounting pressures from consumers and stricter fuel efficiency and emissions regulations, as the financial crisis proceeded and bailed-out U.S. firms were joined in hardship by other automaker icons, questions about the future of the main producers soared. One of them relates to the product policy firms will deploy to overcome the crisis. This essay addresses this question, focusing on product and market strategies firms working in Mexico have put in place in recent years. Drawing on productive models theory, the author shows that most corporations, particularly U.S. firms,are putting forward strategies that reaffirm Mexico as a strategic asset in the North American region.En un contexto de presiones crecientes por parte de los consumidores, y de regulaciones más estrictas sobre eficiencia energética y emisiones, y en tanto la crisis financiera continuaba y a las firmas estadunidenses ya rescatadas se les unían otros íconos automotrices, se dispararon las preguntas sobre el futuro de los productores principales. Una de ellas se relaciona con qué políticas de producto utilizarán las firmas para superar la crisis. Este artículo aborda dicha cuestión, enfocándose en las estrategias de producto y de mercado que han instrumentado en años recientes las compañías que trabajan en México. Utilizando la teoría de los modelos productivos, el autor muestra cómo la mayoría de las corporaciones, particularmente las estadunidenses, proponen estrategias que reafirman a México como un recurso estratégico en la región de Norteamérica

Improvement in planning and resource management for an automotive company’s parts feeding system

The increasing sophistication of the automotive market and the constant change in customer requirements increases companies’ concern to ensure efficient internal logistic flows in line with Just-In-Time philosophy and Lean principles, to deal with wastes and variability. Variability arises from the growing differentiation of products, from the adoption of multi and mixed model assembly lines, and from the uncertainty in customer demand resulting from the worldwide outbreak of COVID-19. Considering the automotive supplier company as research subject, several problems were found to be compromising the efficiency of one of its in-plant parts’ feeding systems, the most critical problem being the lack of planning and management of resources (human and material) needed to perform the logistic service. Through Action-Research methodology stages, the actions taken culminated in the development of a simulation and decision-support tool for the component supply system resource management and efficiency improvement. The simulations made revealed reliable and adjusted results of workload and workforce to face the variations in customer demand and the existing product mix. After the tool creation, resource planning and balancing was no longer based on managers experience and empirical knowledge only but based on scientific knowledge: concise and reliable data from information systems, measurements, study of times, and literature review on in-plant milk run systems, lean, just-in-time and continuous improvement techniques.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Applications of the Standardized Nordic Questionnaire: A Review

Sustainability seeks to provide economically viable products in an environmentally friendly way while respecting worker rights. Physical wellbeing forms part of these rights. Musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) diminish productivity, cause absence from work, impose costs on the public health system and can cast doubt on the sustainability of a company or a product. The objective of the present work is to review the literature on the application of the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ) on a worldwide level. In this work, the use of the NMQ has been classified by categories of knowledge, countries and years. The search was made using “Web of Science-Core Collection”. In total, 259 articles were chosen from scientific journals and conferences related, according to the title and or abstract, to the practical application of the questionnaire. In conclusion, the NMQ has been applied mainly in three sectors: “activities related to treating human health and social issues”, “manufacturing industries”, and “agriculture, livestock, fishing, and forestry”. The NMQ is an indirect method commonly used individually or complemented with other methods for evaluating the MSD and possible associated psychosocial and labour risks. The use of NMQ can help in the evaluation of the sustainability of a company