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Business Title: 'Smoking gun' memo reveals Toyota workers' safety fears Toyota was forced today to turn over to United States congressional investigators a “smoking gun” memo produced by its own factory workers that warned management as far back as 2006 of systemic threats to car safety. The two-page memo, which was drafted by a group of long-term Toyota employees and sent directly to Katsuaki Watanabe, the president of the company in 2006, condemns “safety sacrifices” made by the company in pursuit of profit. The memo highlights the inadequate development times for new vehicles and the general decline of craftsmanship at Japan’s most famous manufacturing business. It concludes that vital processes were now in the hands of “amateurs”. The document also offered a chilling foretaste of the calamity that was to come, warning that Toyota’s management policies would ultimately threaten the company’s survival. The world’s largest carmaker remains in crisis mode after a global recall of nearly nine million vehicles, a growing barrage of litigation and allegations that accelerator faults caused the death of dozens of people on American roads. The memo warned that an increasing number of problems that led to vehicle recalls were arising not at the manufacturing level, but in the planning stages. Despite the strenuous efforts of Toyota’s management to convince motorists and congressional investigators that it has now solved the problems that afflict its accelerators and brakes, the company has still not entirely rid itself of the suspicion that there are fundamental flaws in its planning systems. The company grudgingly acknowledged last month that it had expanded too fast, leaving it with a shortage of necessary specialists. The memo warned of that phenomenon in 2006, blaming the company for sidelining highly experienced workers in its pursuit of growth and profit. The principal author of the 2006 memo, Tadao Wakatsuki, has worked on the floor of one of Toyota’s largest Japanese factories for 45 years. In concert with several other employees of Toyota and its subsidiaries, he set up a breakaway labour union in an effort to improve working conditions throughout the group. His decision to form the All Toyota Labour Union, he told The Times, was based on what he saw as the acquiescence of the official Toyota union, a body that rarely challenged management. As well as dwelling on numerous shortcomings of Toyota’s management practices, the memo made seven requests. One of them demanded a review of cost reduction measures “so that the company can guarantee the manufacturing of safe cars”. Toyota acknowledged today that senior management had seen the original memo, but deemed it appropriate to respond to only one of its requests — a polite suggestion that management look into ways of reducing the total number of hours worked by employees each year. The memo was dated October 3, 2006, and was sent by Tadao Wakatsuki, chairman of the All Toyota Labour Union, to Katsuaki Watanabe, president of Toyota Motor. Written in Japanese, here are translated highlights: — Between 2000 to 2005 Toyota was forced to recall more than million cars, a higher proportion of total vehicle recalls than other carmakers. — Toyota faces a serious problem that could threaten the survival of the company if it is not more thorough in identifying problems and their origins. — The company is threatened by: combining vehicle platforms, the sharing of parts between models, the outsourcing of planning, a shortage of experimental data on prototypes because of shortened development time, a shortage of experienced specialists and an increase in working hours for employees. — We are worried about the processes that are vital for manufacturing safe cars, but that ultimately may be ignored … in the name of competition. — Requests: a priority on safety, a review of cost-reduction measures, better training for contract workers, a return to craftsmanship.
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#1. To: reaganisright (#0)
Idiots. They had it made until they let the accountants take over.
So why do you bother soiling this site with your vacuous and inane commentary? ... yukon haha lots of laughing out loud
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