Michael Suman, group vice president of marketing for the Michigan-based Johnson Controls, agrees that improvements can be made to leadtime systems. But the company, which pumps out supplies for some 22 million vehicles each year, also is realistic. But we can only go so fast. It takes so much time to do a car, with federal mandates regarding emission, fuel economy, crash. Still, Mordue says Toyota's streamlined leadtime is definitely an accomplishment.
Any small improvement can add up to major cost savings.
The kaizens, other than the logistics software, include improvements to Toyota's distribution system, reduced supply inventory, and increased pickup frequency at cross docks. It presently takes seven to 10 days to ship a finished vehicle to a customer. Mordue says these improvements will help Toyota's process. But I can't give the exact number of days this will save on leadtime. He also says Toyota fully expects the competition to take note of the system, even if it is not as dramatic as originally thought.