MUMBAI: Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) has won the globally recognized Frost & Sullivan’s “Indian Manufacturer of the Year Award 2015” for its consistent display of diligence and perseverance in developing a successful manufacturing organization at the recently concluded awards banquet in Mumbai. The award acknowledges Toyota’s facility in India as the one to have achieved and sustained manufacturing excellence with global standards. Started in the year 2004, this is the 12th edition of the IMEA Awards. 104 companies were shortlisted and 96 were assessed which comprised of the best manufacturing facilities in India to map out the manufacturing competitiveness on a world class comparative scale.
The award, considered as a benchmark in setting standards in manufacturing business, provides a premier platform to identify future ready factories in India. Furthermore, it enables best practices sharing amongst Indian industries encouraging ‘Make in India’ The assessment framework is built on strong fundamentals to assess the alignment of Plant level initiatives in driving and enhancing business growth.
Expressing his delight on the award, Mr. Raju B Ketkale, SVP Manufacturing Toyota Kirloskar Motor said “The recognition of being the Indian Manufacturer of the year comes as great inspiration for all of us at Toyota. The conclusions drawn from the unique assessment model by Frost & Sullivan has helped us get a better insight of the strengths and areas of improvement in our manufacturing process. Our focus has been to deliver customer satisfaction with highest quality at the lowest cost in the shortest lead-time, while developing the talents and skills of our workforce through rigorous improvement routines and problem solving disciplines”.
“The assessment results will help us enhance the standards of our operations and improve competitiveness in the industry. Each team member in the organization will be motivated to continuously improve their abilities and achieve higher efficiency levels in the processes. ” he added
"If you are visiting this plant, be ready for a pleasant surprise. Underneath what looks like a calm exterior, this plant is a constant buzz of activity. Using innovative methods of simulation for Logistics Planning & Optimization for new parts and ensuring a higher truck fill rate, a detailed and structured training mechanism and constant focus on setting new standards are just a few of the highlights of the plant. With continual improvement, Kaizens, Dojo Learning, Hoshin and Kanban systems forming the backbone of operations, this is a lean manufacturing facility with un-deterred focus on delivering Quality Products to the customer" said Mr. Gowtham Sivabalan,Associate Director, Manufacturing & Process Consulting, Frost & Sullivan.
The Global Manufacturing Excellence Model captures the facility’s operational performance across 13 parameters and the achievement of results namely : Business results, Innovation adaptation, Focus on customers, Inventory management, Internal competence, Operational flexibility, Supply chain management, Asset care, Quality systems, Scheduling systems, Visual management, Orderliness, Safety & Environment, Layout and MHS
The assessment is based on more than 250 pre-graded checkpoints that define the evaluation parameters and thereby map the facility’s standing on the ‘World Class Manufacturing’ map. With a weightage of 80percent given to operational parameters and 20percent to business results, the Global Excellence Model showcases complete synergy across all processes.
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