TOYOTA MOTOR NORTH AMERICA
Two supply chains, one vision: unification The history of Toyota in North America is a study in adaptation. Beginning in 1956 with a failed attempt to import Japanese vehicles that could not handle American highway speeds, the company spent the next 30 years building a robust distribution and dealer network. When the move to“ build where we sell” occurred in the mid-1980s, it necessitated the birth of a second, entirely separate supply chain for manufacturing.
As Chris Nielsen, Executive VP, Chief Supply Chain Officer & Chief Quality Officer, TMNA, explains:“ For a long period of time, we had two separate companies, one headquartered in the West Coast, one in the Midwest, one a sales and service organisation, one a manufacturing and engineering organisation.
“ So we had two supply chains operating. Even in many cases, we had the same supplier. We were interfacing with them differently and parts were flowing quite differently.”
The decision to unify these affiliates in 2014 was the catalyst for the current transformation. By bringing the organisations together in Plano, Texas, Chris and his team began to realise that unification offered more than just administrative efficiency; it offered the opportunity to serve the“ ultimate customer” – the consumer – through a single, cohesive vision.
He says:“ The old systems certainly had their strengths in terms of being very focused on the customers
“ We made the important decision back in 2014... to really unify those two affiliates together. That’ s how we ended up where we are today in Plano, Texas at our headquarters”
Chris Nielsen Executive VP, Chief Supply Chain Officer & Chief Quality Officer Toyota Motor North America
they were serving, yet I don’ t think they really served the ultimate customer, the consumer, as best they could.
“ So by coming together, I think it really allowed us to have one vision of what was really necessary to serve that ultimate customer.”
Kevin Austin, GVP of Supply Chain Strategy & Operations, expands on the issue:“ With any purchase, you want to be able to make this tradeoff between the price, the choice and then when you can get it.
“ So a customer wants to have the power to determine that trade-off themselves. To do that, that is really a supply chain answer. To present the consumer with that choice and be able to trade off,“ I want this vehicle with this spec, I can get it here,” requires such integration across the supply chain that we were not able to deliver when we had this fragmented world of two different supply chains.”
6 toyota. com