Why are Toyota cars so reliable?

Have you ever wondered why Toyota cars are so reliable and durable? The answer is Toyota's special management method, which we will discuss here.

In the late 19th century, a Japanese inventor named Sakichi Toyoda started a small textile company with several spinning machines. Toyoda was a very creative and intelligent entrepreneur; However, he certainly could not have imagined that the company founded by him would one day be among the largest industrial companies in the world and export its products to all continents, even Antarctica! The transformation of Toyota from a textile company to the largest car manufacturer in the world was very slow at first. Nevertheless, Japan's economic conditions after World War gradually smoothed the conditions for this company's big jump.

This company sells more cars than any other car manufacturer in the world (except for one company) and its products are present in all countries of the world. Toyota also has a network of 172 different distributors around the world, and its cars cover a wide range of classes, from economy hatchbacks to SUVs and beefy pickups. In particular, Toyota's Corolla series of cars are the best-selling cars of this company, and the Land Cruiser series are masters of deserts and off-road routes.

Toyota also produced only small and compact cars with low fuel consumption in the 70s and 80s; But in 1989, with the establishment of the Lexus brand, he decided to set foot on the path of producing luxury cars and launch premium and spacious cars on par with European products and even better.

Why are Toyota cars such reliable products?

One of the most important characteristics of all Toyota cars is their reliability and very low failure rate; So that the database is valid Consumer Reports In 2023, he placed Toyota and Lexus as the first two brands in the list of the most trusted automotive brands in the world!

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Why has Toyota always been among the world's leading automobile manufacturers?

Many of you may have heard about Toyota's legendary durability and reliability from the past, and maybe even some of you have some information about it. However, many of you probably do not know the main reasons for the high reliability of Toyota products. In the continuation of this text, we are going to check the ten main reasons for the very high durability of Toyota cars in Gadget News.

Dr. Edwards Deming

The era after the Second World War was considered an exceptional opportunity for car manufacturers to take advantage of the market vacuum and the strong need of customers for new cars and market their diverse products. Of course, the success in the car market at that time was not limited to responding to the needs of customers and several parameters were influential. At that time, a person named Dr. Edwards Deming, who was also a professor of statistics, claimed to have found a way to improve the quality and optimize the production process of cars and tried to sell his knowledge to several major American car companies. However, the dogma and package management system of American car manufacturers at that time did not allow new and creative ideas to enter this industry, and as a result, Dr. Edwards could not make much progress in America.

As a result of this incident, he traveled to Japan; where his ideas were highly welcomed by car manufacturers, especially Toyota. In 1950, at the same time as Deming's trip, Toyota was a not so powerful company that listened to his ideas. In the meetings that Dr. Deming held with Toyota officials, the heads of this company welcomed his ideas. Of course, his ideas were very broad and scattered; But their main focus was on coordinating and bringing together all the production elements of an assembly, including workers, parts suppliers, and management. He also believed that the workers of a company should be considered as colleagues by the higher ranks and managers should give importance to their opinions instead of looking at them as tools.

Deming's suggestions eventually turned Toyota into one of the trend-setting companies in the automotive world. Americans, of course, understood the value of Deming's suggestions in the 1980s and finally decided to hire him!

Toyota production system

The basis of the production line of all Toyota products is the production system of this company known as TPS. What ultimately led to Toyota's unique production system has its roots in the same textile company that Toyoda founded in the 19th century. Based on the same principles, this company has become one of the giants of the automobile industry in the world. This system is based on 13 pillars and Toyota's adherence to all 13 pillars is considered the reason for the historical success of this company.

Of course, most of these basic principles of Toyota are obvious ones that are not followed by other companies for various reasons. But in Toyota, all these principles are specially emphasized. Some of the most important items in these principles are as follows:

• Poka-Yoke means avoiding mistakes.
• Hansei means to learn from mistakes.
• Jidoka means integrating human intelligence with all automation processes. Therefore, humans must be present in all stages of production line automation.
• Heijunka ensures that there are enough and suitable parts to produce the final product, and Toyota simplifies the assembly process by observing the order in which these parts are used.
• Genchi Genbutsu states that the best way to solve a problem is to see it firsthand. This law encourages managers to always be present in the production line.
• Nemawashi mentions teamwork and emphasizes that collective decisions will make the system more coordinated.
• Genba represents the place where the real work is being done! This principle encourages managers to attend the workshop or the main workplace to get ideas from workers and engineers to improve performance.

Among these slogans, Kaizen should be considered the most important. This word, which is a combination of two Japanese words meaning “change” and “forward”, means that Toyota should always strive to improve and aim to optimize the production line, reduce waste production and communicate better with stakeholders. be

Toyota Quality Management System

Maybe Toyota's production system has made this company successful in recent years; But the quality management system (TQM) of this company has guaranteed its success! Of course, the basis of the quality management system is not specific to Toyota; But this Japanese company's use of TQM has caused so many achievements for it. The general structure of this method is based on identifying production cycle errors and reducing or eliminating them completely. This system is implemented in all stages of production and all the thirteen principles of TPS are true about it. The ultimate goal of TQM is to improve the final product while providing customer service and optimizing the product supply cycle; So that when needed, the best types of raw materials are available to the company.

One of the most important parts of the Toyota production system is just-in-time manufacturing, which Toyota is the founder of. Based on this concept, the amount of materials and raw materials needed in a company's warehouse should be exactly enough for the production cycle to flow and not more than that! In addition, Toyota also adjusts the final quality of its products based on customer expectations and applies the necessary controls to achieve this quality level at all stages of production. This company also encourages its employees to comment on their products and details in order to improve and maintain the quality level, and respects their opinions regardless of their rank in the company.

Toyota has also equipped its production line with “endon string” so that workers can stop the process at any stage of production and while notifying the authorities, prevent the production from moving forward. In this regard, American companies have been far from respecting workers for years and do not give much importance to their opinions. As a result of this issue, many American car manufacturers stand behind Toyota today.

Toyota product development system

Long before the chassis of a Toyota vehicle is assembled or the cylinder is installed in place, Toyota's detailed design process models every step. In addition to the final product, Toyota's constant quality is also seen in the product development systems and processes; So that before production, managers should be convinced that they are able to produce the best components for the final product and can keep the final quality of the product within the customer's expectations. TPDS also has 13 general rules that are classified into three categories: “processes”, “people” and “tools and technology”.

The ultimate goal of the processes department is to determine the products that should be offered to customers based on their tastes. In this section, all available options are reviewed and standardizations are applied in different stages of the work to reach the final conclusion. In addition, placing the right people in different positions related to product development is another factor that can have a significant effect on the success of the development process. have Hiring skilled and experienced people is an important step in this stage; Because their experience can bring the development process to new stages. On the other hand, bringing the suppliers of tools and parts into specialized and expert discussions can also increase the efficiency of the development process and optimize the production line, and also institutionalize the culture of respecting the opinions of others in the company and give more order to the overall performance of the structure.

One of the reasons why Toyota cars are so reliable is to pay attention to these issues. This company provides a clear road map to its personnel, allowing them to define the process they want. The problem prevention process (Japanese: mizen boushi) at Toyota is not only in the final products; Rather, it is also applied in the micro dimensions of product development so that the final product reaches the maximum possible reliability.

Exemplary engineering

The precise and amazing Japanese engineering is one of the main reasons that make Toyota cars so reliable. In the past years, Toyota has always hired the best engineers and provided them with all the necessary tools and equipment to make safe and durable products. As a result, Toyota has reached this level of success and glory today. To better understand how Toyota uses engineering to achieve this level of quality, let's look at two of the company's best and most popular engines.

When Toyota established the luxury brand Lexus, it aimed to compete with the famous European car manufacturers. At that time, the managers of Toyota knew that in order to succeed against their famous competitors, they needed to provide a more powerful engine than them, and for this reason, they considered V8 engines for the first Lexus products. The Lexus 1UZ-FE V8 engine is one of the most reliable Lexus engines that offers unique features. To create this engine, Toyota produced 900 different V8 engines without any constraints on the budget, in order to finally achieve the ideal product that was not only powerful, but also extremely smooth.

At the same time, Toyota was also working on the legendary Supra, which uses inline six-cylinder engines. In particular, the MK4 Supra model used a twin turbo and produced 320 horsepower. At the same time, the internal components of the engine and its various parts were designed in such a way that they were able to withstand the power of at least 800 horsepower. Therefore, those interested in sports cars and tuning these cars were able to increase the output power to more than 1000 horsepower with a little manipulation of the engine and turn the Supra into one of the most memorable sports cars in history.

What was said were only two examples of Toyota engines. However, from these two examples, we can conclude how Toyota engineering was able to create cars that are much more reliable and well-made than expected.

Toyota sales policy

Many of you may not understand the relationship between the reliability of Toyota cars and the sales strategies of this company! At the same time, you should pay attention that Toyota's general policy of customer orientation and optimal management is visible in all parts of the production and supply cycle of this company's products, and sales is considered one of the most important parts of this cycle. Toyota's strategy for selling its products is that if you intend to make and sell a product according to the wishes of your customers, how to promote, introduce, offer and sell it is very important.

Among the factors that Toyota pays a lot of attention to in its policies, attention to global markets can be mentioned. This Japanese company is directly active in 170 countries and offers a wide variety of products, from vans and pickups to sedans and hatchbacks in these countries. In addition, all these years, Toyota has been known as a brand whose cars have a very high purchase value. Toyota's general policy is to build cars that provide excellent performance at a reasonable price. In the meantime, of course, the situation is different for the Lexus brand; Because this brand basically targets a different category of buyers!

In addition to the many features that Toyota cars have, the high durability of these products makes many car buyers of this brand decide to buy Toyota cars again. In this way, a large part of the drivers who give up their Toyota car, buy a Toyota again, and this issue guarantees the permanent sale of this company's products.

Perfect supply chain

It is no secret that Toyota factories are able to launch perfect and reliable cars around the clock. Most of this achievement is due to the primary materials and parts available to this company. Toyota understands very well the importance of interaction with component manufacturers and suppliers in facilitating the production cycle of its products. However, the main priority of this company is that the primary parts and components of the suppliers get the quality standards it wants!

A number of sections of the Toyota Management Charter (TPS) refer to ensuring that the best possible parts are received to produce quality products. Toyota has many partners in different industries and has extensive relationships with other car manufacturers and suppliers. Based on this, the officials of this company always receive the best and highest quality possible parts. This issue will ease Toyota's mind to a great extent about the quality of its products and will be highly profitable for suppliers. Component manufacturers usually use this income to upgrade their production line and research and development to improve the quality of their products.

In addition, Toyota has also hired inspectors at various stages of receiving raw materials, warehousing, and using them to ensure the quality of raw materials and prevent low-quality raw materials from entering the production line and, as a result, making low-quality cars.

Toyota has shown that it understands the importance of suppliers and parts makers very well. This company usually involves its suppliers in various product production processes and has maximum coordination with them. In this way, the Japanese can make sure that their customers are satisfied with the cars of this company and will always go to its products.

Rigorous tests

As you have noticed by now, Toyota has a brilliant history of producing reliable and durable cars. The brilliant history of this company was not accidental and was not achieved overnight; Rather, it is the result of very strict tests of this company on its products before they leave the factory. Of course, setting up a reliable production line is a very important way to produce durable products. However, what guarantees the durability and quality of the final product is the tests that are performed on it.

The original Toyota parts that are installed in the factories of this company are usually subjected to six-step and very strict tests to confirm their quality for use in Toyota vehicles. Also, the smallest parts of the engine are carefully evaluated before the car leaves the factory. Toyota's strictness in this sector is so great that by seeing only one broken part, it may reject the whole car and recalibrate the part producing machine. Toyota also randomly X-rays the pistons and examines their protective coating. In addition, the dashboard of Toyota cars is generally subjected to heavy thermal loads, and the engine is also subjected to severe tests to simulate the maximum of 200,000 times to reach the red engine speed area and its long-term durability is put to the test plant. Toyota tests also evaluate 10 years of flawless operation of the power windows and 1.5 million wiper cycles before the device is released to the market!

After performing all these tests on different parts of Toyota cars, the whole car is also evaluated as a set to ensure that it is at the level of Toyota standards. Any problem in the general or partial testing process of the car or its components will cause it to not be cleared by Toyota representatives!

Discreet innovations

Until now, Toyota has never officially announced that it will act with crutches regarding the use of new technologies. However, examining the products of this company in the last few years and comparing them with competitors is a good example of this! Of course, the big paradox about Toyota is that this company has given many innovations and creativity to the automobile industry!

Toyota should be regarded as the father of hybrid cars in the world, which drew attention to these cars and increased the tendency towards them. At the same time, this company has guarded against all-electric cars and has not yet seriously entered this market. Similarly, Toyota has also made a very quiet entry in the self-driving sector and seems to have no intention of introducing revolutionary innovations in this field! In both of these fields, Toyota is carefully studying different technologies and products in the market; But apparently he still doesn't see the time to use them in his cars!

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With this system, Toyota is sure that it can capture higher profits and achieve more success by introducing them at the right time instead of testing new and attractive technologies to the market ahead of time. This is another reason why Toyota cars are very reliable products. Throughout history, many cars can be introduced that failed to achieve success and experienced a major failure due to the premature introduction of a revolutionary feature. Based on this, Toyota's current policy is to use the current winning formula of this company and rely on reliable and proven products that will be very profitable for the Japanese giant for the next few years. Naturally, with the change of patterns and tastes in the automotive industry, Toyota will gradually become independent of new technologies.

Toyota method; The winning method!

If there is only one thing that has transformed Toyota from a small textile brand to such a profitable and successful company, it is the “Toyota Way”! The performance charter of this company is so complete and comprehensive that many other companies have been following it for years and even successful books have been written based on them.

The Toyota method is based on 14 principles, which can be seen in the models and management methods of this company. Of course, many of the key pillars of the Toyota method are the same ones that we talked about earlier in the production and quality management systems. However, the new categories presented for these basic principles are summarized as “Constant Improvement” and “Respect for Others”. When a company respects everyone's opinions and seeks to improve the processes and methods used, it will undoubtedly be able to progress and achieve success. Toyota is not even satisfied with this level of respect and expects its managers to share creative ideas with other people in the company and ask their opinions about general policies. In addition, other basic principles of Toyota include decision-making based on group agreements and standardization of processes, tasks and components.

Of course, Toyota's method, while fully adhering to the principles, also has a lot of flexibility and can undergo changes depending on the world or market conditions. However, what is constant in Toyota is the sense of responsibility towards customers and respect that makes the most reliable cars in the world with the Toyota brand to be launched on the market!