Japan’s Toyota Motor will reduce the upper limit of operating hours at its car factories by 30 minutes in Japan this year. The remaining time can be used for early leaves or equipment inspections. It is expected to bring changes to the tight new car development schedule.
On the 2nd, major international media in Japan, including the Yomiuri Shimbun, reported this and stated that “it is to maintain quality by allowing workers to have free time on the production floor.”
Japanese Toyota factories operate on a two-shift system. Daytime and nighttime production workers work for 8 hours each. Depending on the volume and the factory (production facilities), they may work about 2 hours of overtime. The basic production time of 8 hours remains fixed, but the maximum limit of the overtime hours will be reduced by 30 minutes.
The shortened 30 minutes can be used for employees to leave early, equipment inspections, training, etc.
Yomiuri said, “It is unusual to reduce operating hours during normal times when there are no parts shortages or other issues, as popular models are produced with overtime. It is also under review to transfer popular cars with a shortage of supply due to reduced operating hours to other factories or other production facilities.”
In the research and development sector, the new car development period will also be extended.
Major global car manufacturers release new cars (completely changed models) every 7 years. It is common to release a partial change model, which is an improved model, at the midpoint.
In Korea, the Hyundai Motor Group has released new models every 5 years for competitive grades since 2000. They have secured product competitiveness by actively responding to trends.
Toyota has entered into a partial review of the development plan to solve the quality fraud. This means that they will relieve the tight development schedule to restore quality.
Akio Toyoda, chairman of Toyota, bowed his head at a recent press conference, saying, “I deeply apologize for the inconvenience and harm caused to all stakeholders, including customers.”
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