Toyota Motor Corporation Australia - Product Development Process - Case Study Example

MAPPING PROCESSES Name Institution Course Date 1. Top-down flowchart The purpose of this flow chart is to describe how this assignment will be done. It shows the various steps that will be taken in order to conduct the research needed to finish the work. 2. Overview of organization Toyota Motor Corporation Australia Toyota Motor Corporation Australia Limited (TMCA) manufactures sport utility automobiles, and four wheel drive cars along with commercial vehicles in Australia, which are sold to both local and international markets. The company provides different accessories, like lubricants and oils, oil filters, brake pads, spark plugs, fuel filters, clutches, air filters, mufflers, tires, air filters, drive belts among others. It is the major producer of Aurion, Prius and Camry hybrid vehicles. The company was founded in 1958 with its headquarters in Port Melbourne, Australia. The company has other offices in Adelaide, Brisbane, Altona North (the manufacturing plant), Townsville, Caringbah, Darwin and East Perth in Australia. TMCA limited works as a subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation. The sales and marketing operations of TMCA are controlled from Woolooware Bay in New South Wales. TMCA deals with manufacturing and production of vehicles and accessories as well genuine spare parts (Toyota Motor Corporation 1998a). The stakeholders of the company are all people who are affected by of affect Toyota Australia. The identifiable stakeholders are: Toyota Motor Corporation (the shareholder), customers, employees, suppliers, dealers, and government as well as community groups (Toyota Motor Corporation 1998a). The company has several processes between planning stage to selling a car. There are five main areas of operation namely: product planning, product development, product manufacturing, product delivery and customer and supplier support process. My main area of operation is in customer and supplier support. Our customers include direct consumers, local and international dealers who buy vehicles from us for reselling. My main responsibility is to communicate with customers so as to get the feedback for each product sold. We interact with customers to get their views concerning any product they buy, so that we can ensure that our customers are satisfied (Toyota Motor Corporation Australia Limited 2008). This is because, the company is founded on the reputation of quality and we would like to be the first people to get the feedback, either positive or negative from our customers. This way the company is perceived as transparent. The company also interacts with customers in order to know which products are fetching good markets (Sobek, 1997; Toyota Motor Corporation Australia Limited 2008). Customer support role in the company is very important as it helps the company to retain the repeat customers as well as attracting new customers through referrals. We also understand that with the increasing use of social media as a communication tool, most of the customers communicate with one another through social media discussing about various products, their quality, price as well as likes and dislikes. It is therefore necessary for the company to engage with customers so as to leverage the outcomes of electronic word of mouth and use it advantageously. 3. Organization’s processes and sub processes Toyota Motor Corporation Australia has several processes that are undertaken from when an order is placed to when a product is delivered. All these processes are interrelated in a number of ways and are linked together by the customer support process where I work. The main processes are: Product planning process Product development process Product manufacturing process Product delivery process Customer support process Product planning process The main purpose of this process is to receive the orders of customers and assess the market viability of a particular model of vehicle. Once it has been confirmed that there is market opportunity, the team involved starts formulating and planning the business. The team then establishes the product plans and remarkets the product again so as to get the views of prospect customers (Toyota Motor Corporation Australia Limited 2008). This process has been successful in ensuring that TMCA remains loyal to its customers and also increases its market share in Australia. This has been enhanced by the TMCA’s strengthened relationship with JATO Dynamics, the world’s leading providers of automotive data and intelligence. TMCA has been using JATO’s market leading data in its speedily developing business significant processes. This integration of precise industry data into the product planning process has been of great benefit to the company in maintaining its position as the most successful global carmaker (Hall 1987, 23). Nevertheless, the operations of this process have been considerably affected by an unbalanced trading environment in which market and regulatory factors have permitted unfettered access to the Australian market while hindering access to international markets for locally built vehicles. The Australian vehicle market is characterized by low entry barriers and a high level of competition. This leads to fragmentation of the market, with more car brads and models available to local consumers compared to anywhere else in the world (Conelly 2007). Product development process Once a product has been designed in the planning process, it is developed in at this stage. The major tasks in this process include: managing product development programs, designing and engineering the product, designing the manufacturing systems, managing technology development programs, servicing products, supporting dealers and managing commodities. This is the most significant process in the industry as it is the one that comes up with the real products as demanded by customers. With the help of other processes, product development process has been successful in fabricating vehicles of high class that have fetched market both locally and internationally. However, since TMCA uses the ‘Just-In-Time’ production process, its efficiency has been low due to the geographical expanse of the TMCA supply chain infrastructure. Each member of TMCA’s current supply chain links are not able to communicate and interact well with other members further downstream. The efficiency of operations may be affected if TMCA continues to run its supply chain linearly (Bester et al. 1999, 36). Customer support process This process deals with all customer issues. The department collects all feedback from customers and relays them to various concerned departments. The department provides both internal and external services to our customers and dealers. It is through effective communication with our customers and attending their issues that TMCA has maintained its reputation for quality and integrity as well as maintaining the title of Australia’s most respected and admired company. Thus, this department’s main role is to manage people and information (Imai 1986, 76). However, we are currently facing challenges since only 79 percent of TMCA”s suppliers are localized. This means that a considerable amount of components have to be imported causing the application of the ‘just-in-time’ principle to fluctuate throughout the TMCA supply chain. This further may cause delays to the customers due to decrease in productivity in the supply chain (Evans and William 1999). 4. Written Procedure of selecting team leader in product development process The process of selecting leaders is very important to TMCA as it is through these leaders that the company has managed to grow and maintain its reputation. The management feels that it is of great importance to be keen even when selecting junior leaders since they have great influence to the teams they will be leading. A poor leader means failure of the process, which will negatively affect the company. The purpose of this procedure is to highlight process undertaken when selecting a team leader when there is a project to be undertaken. This mainly happens regularly so that our employees can develop their leadership skills. Activity/ description Persons responsible Establishment of need Once there are plans to develop a new product, the department dose some analysis so as to assess the need. The department informs the management, which further analyzes the issue further and after it is satisfied, a conclusion is reached of starting the process of selecting a team leader to head the team developing a new product. Management/ Business Development of job ad and selection criteria After doing further consultations with the management and the employees’ representative, the human resources department prepares the job ad and selection criteria. There are consultations on the qualifications required for the position. A suitable criterion for selecting the best candidate is developed. Management/ human resource department/ employees’ representative Making the advertisement An internal memo is drafted and posted on the advertisement boards where all workers can see. The interested candidates respond by writing application letters and taking them to the human resource department. Human resource department Evaluation of applications Once the application period is over, all letters submitted are evaluated to see if the applicants have attached all the required documents. All the applications that meet the threshold are then handed over to human resource department for further scrutiny. Candidates supervisors and human resource department Screening of applications A recruitment team is constituted so as to screen the applications against an established minimum criterion. The successful applicants are then informed through letter, inviting them for an interview. The unsuccessful candidates are also given feedback. Management, human resource department and employees’ representative Interview process An interview panel is constituted ahead of the interview date. All shortlisted candidates are interviewed so as to pick the best. The most sought qualities in the interview are the leadership qualities and the ability to make wise decisions. The interview panel picks three most qualified candidates for further screening. Interview panel: group leader, human resource department, team member (from group) and employee representative (from union) Data gathering The picked candidates’ referees are consulted so as to offer more information concerning the candidates. The panel then, based on interviews and consultations with the referees, recommends to the management the candidate they fell to be the best suited for the position. Interview panel and management Appointment The management and the interview panel meet to make the final appointment. In the event that the management picks a different candidate other than the one recommended by the panel, the management is required to present a justification for its choice. One candidate is appointed and takes up the position. All unsuccessful candidates are informed ad offered counselling so as not to be demoralized in work and to work as a team. Management, human resource department, supervisors and interview panel. Bibliography Bent, James.1989, Project Management for Engineering and Construction. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersy, Prentice Hall, p. 2. Bester field, H. D., Bester field-Michna, C., Bester field, H. G., & Bester field-Sacre, M. 1999. Total quality management (2nd). London: Prentice Hall. Biolos, Jim. 2002. Six Sigma Meets the Service Economy. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Connelly, Mary 2007. "Article: Toyota's ad constants: Stress quality; seek a feel-good connection". Automotive News. Evans, James R., and William M. Lindsay. 1999. The Management and Control of Quality. 4th ed. Cincinnati: South-Western. Goetsch, David L., and Stanley Davis. 1995. Implementing Total Quality. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice-Hall. H.A. Reijers, J. Mendling and R.M. Dijkman, 2010. ‘On the Usefulness of Sub-processes in Business Process Models’, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands. 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