The other day, I had the opportunity to speak with a Lexus dealer.
The centre of the discussion was the delivery date of products, which is now a global problem.
A few days ago, there seemed to be an unofficial announcement from the manufacturer about the number of Lexus vehicles allocated to this dealer's sales office for the following year.
I think it's the number presented by the domestic planning department.
It was a number that did not reach 50 units.
The cause is the impact of economic sanctions by the Biden administration in the United States, which originated in Ukraine.
Germany takes comprehensive measures to curb soaring gas prices up to 28 trillion yen.
"Prime Minister Scholz, Finance Minister Lintner, and Economy and Climate Minister Habeck announced at a joint press conference on the 29th. The price of energy, such as natural gas, is soaring due to supply instability following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and demand for heating will increase this winter. According to Veribox, a comparison site, the unit gas price for household use has more than tripled compared to a year ago. ” Nihon Keizai Shimbun September 30, 2022"
It is an article from the Nikkei Shimbun at the end of September. Regarding this article, it seems that the sanctions against Russia are hurting the EU, including Germany, and the so-called Western countries, such as the United Kingdom.
Even in Japan, despite having a sizeable fiscal deficit, it subsidizes the price of gasoline to support it.
The delay in the supply of semiconductors is a significant cause of the long delivery times for Lexus and industrial products such as automobiles.
Is someone somewhere (although a force can only do it with considerable financial power)? I also hear rumours.
This blog does not deal with political issues, so I would like to avoid going further.
However, a why-why analysis of this problem reveals that
The actual cause lies in the presence of a hidden global power
that transcends national power.
There is no doubt.
Lead time refers to the start of manufacturing to the delivery of the product to the customer.
In the manufacturing industry, the flow is to purchase materials, process them, and deliver them to customers.
Let's take a look at the car manufacturing process. An iron plate does not turn into a car in an instant.
Steel manufacturers deliver steel sheets in the form of coils.
Steel coils are pressed to make body components such as floors and roofs.
The body components are welded together to form an iron body.
The steel body is brought into the painting process and painted.
A coloured body is brought into the assembly process, and many parts, such as tires and steering wheels, are assembled.
Imagine this flow in your head.
A spiral iron plate changes colour and shape to complete a car.
There are moments and moments when this colour and shape change, and finally, the car is completed.
Customers decide to purchase this car because they find value in it.
Of course, the value might be more about colour and looks or engine fuel economy.
Please imagine the flow of 1 ⇨ 2 ⇨ 3 ⇨ 4 ⇨ 5 of the manufacturing process again.
The shape changes at the arrow ⇨ ⇨ ⇨ ⇨.
Customers appreciate the value of an integrated vehicle,
In the manufacturing process, starting with steel plates, paint and parts are added to make a car.
The process from steel plate to the automobile is called lead time.
The content of the lead time is ⇨ ⇨ ⇨ ⇨, that is, added value.
Added value ⇨ ⇨ ⇨ ⇨ is just a momentary event if you look closely.
For example, in welding, it is a momentary event when two steel plates stick together.
Holding the welder in your hand and moving it closer to the welding point is physically necessary, but it does nothing to the steel plate.
Strictly speaking,
"The content of the lead time should be added value ⇨ ⇨ ⇨ ⇨."
It is sometimes referred to as the value chain.
Integrating things that exist separately to create a new whole (= Gestalt).
Manufacturing is about creating added value.
What about reality?
Is the content of the lead time only added value?
Unfortunately, the reality is not the following image.
Instead of 1 ⇨ 2 ⇨ 3 ⇨ 4 ⇨ 5
1☁️⇨☁️2☁️⇨☁️3☁️⇨☁️4☁️⇨☁️5
For example: (Fictitious example, not confirmed)
☁️ I bought too many coils, and they are sleeping in the warehouse
☁️Replacing moulds takes a lot of time
☁️ It takes a lot of time to switch paint colours
☁️It takes a long time to bring it to the assembly process
☁️ Parts are not on time, and there is a waiting time
This kind of ☁️ is called waste in Toyota style. Or you could call it stagnation.
The critical thing about lead time can be explained below.
Shorter than the delivery date desired by the customer
Being able to deliver products to customers in less time than competitors
period to add value to the product
Time to unleash your potential
Lead time is a result of current ways of working
However, unfortunately, the current situation differs from the above concept, and some considerable force is twisting healthy manufacturing industry activities.
Let's take a look at the product development lead time.
Build a product concept.
Design in detail and check the compatibility of each part of the performance.
Prototype the detailed design and check the matching relationship of each performance part.
Redesign based on feedback from review results.
Create assembly drawings and pass the baton for manufacturing.
There are ☁️ here as well as in the manufacturing stage. (Fictitious example, not confirmed)
1☁️⇨☁️2☁️⇨☁️3☁️⇨☁️4☁️⇨☁️5
☁️Insufficient consideration of the concept-building
stage (resulting in rework later)
☁️Inadvertent mistakes by designers and insufficient DR
☁️Prototype parts will not arrive in time, and they will
be delayed prototype schedule
☁️You pointed out again that it was pointed out in the
previous project
☁️I got an inquiry from the manufacturing for leaking
what should be written in the assembly drawing
It's the same as the production process.
If you, as a customer, want to buy a product, you don't want a product full of ☁️.
In the case of product development, things proceed in the designer's brain.
In other words, it is an event in the information space.
For that reason, unlike manufacturing, the point is how to visualize the invisible and understand the problem.
I think standardization is standard in both manufacturing and development.
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