"A History of Body Buffer Management at Toyota - Interview with Mr. Kaneyoshi Kusunoki, Chairman of Hino Motors, Ltd."(in Japanese)

Takahiro Fujimoto and Takashi Matsuo
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Takahiro Fujimoto: Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo.

No 97-J-1, CIRJE J-Series from CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo

Abstract: This note is based on an interview with Mr. Kaneyoshi Kusunoki, who worked closely with Mr. Taiichi Ohno, the creator of so-called Toyota Production System. An interview with him was conducted on April 17, 1996 by the authors. First, there was a brief interview on Mr. Kusunoki's involvement in the evolution of Toyota Production System. The interview then focused on how body buffer management between Toyota's assembly, point, body and press shops changed over time. For example, it was revealed that the main functions of painted body storage (PBS) between assembly and paint shops changed as the company automated upstream processes (e.g., welding) in the 1960s and then expanded exports in the 1970s. It is obvious from this interview that Toyota did have certain minimum levels of buffers between its production processes, and that the function of the buffers changed as the situations and the firm's capabilities changed historically.

Pages: 55 pages
Date: 1997-01
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