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Abstract
A key driver behind Toyota Motors’ rise to prominence has been the Toyota Production System (TPS). This pillar of the firm's competitive strength was developed over several decades. As of the late 1980s, various changes were introduced into the TPS. Some of these, such as line segmentation, the use of inter-segment buffers and high-tech automation, have been portrayed as breaks with TPS foundations. With virtually no exception published accounts on these changes stop with the situation in the mid-1990s. Based on general literature and three factory visits, this article aims to provide an update on the situation in April 2001.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to various Toyota and Daihatsu staff who provided data for our study. In addition, we would like to thank Kansai University for the generous support during the first author's stay as a Visiting Research Fellow at the Faculty of Sociology. Three reviewers provided us with many improvement suggestions.