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Relations with Customers
Quality/Increasing Transparency
The smiles that we earn from our customers are our greatest reward. Is there a gap between the "great cars" Toyota thinks of and the expectations of our customers? Are they satisfied with our current services? To be able to respond to the constantly-changing expectations of customers and society, we listen to customers' voices with sincerity and continually work on improvement. We never forget that the support of various stakeholders has made Toyota what it is today; we value the relationships of trust we have built; and we work toward continuing to provide accurate and appropriate communication and respond transparently and promptly to be a company that is continually trusted.
Basic Concepts of Quality
Quality is achieved through the integration of Development, Design, Procurement, Production and After-sales Service. Each is indispensable in the delivery of satisfactory quality to customers. We continue to aim to put the concepts of "Customer First" and "Quality First" into practice and to respond to the expectations of customers and society. That is why every member across our operations maintains a high consciousness, and takes ownership and responsibility of striving for continuous improvement and the enhancement of customer confidence and trust by cooperating closely with one another.
[Development]
Thoroughly Reinforcing the "Customer"s Perspective' Attitude and Forming the Product Audit Dept.
In its ongoing kaizen activities, Toyota has made further efforts in the development field to help ensure that customer's concerns are addressed promptly and measures implemented to prevent their recurrence, as well as to reduce the occurrence of new concerns, should be incorporated into vehicle development. At the same time, while individual workers address their daily assignments from the customer's perspective, thus assuming a key role in product quality assurance.
Specifically, the company strengthened cooperation with after-sales service organizations with the goal of solving customers' concerns on the spot, so that engineers can be sent into the field more frequently to hear customers' voices directly and more accurately grasp them.
Clearly identifying the situation and the environment in person is designed to help speed up the development and implementation of countermeasures.
In addition, to reduce repeated occurrences of the same issue, Toyota ensures that information gathered through these processes will be appropriately incorporated into new vehicle designs and evaluation methods.
Auditing a product
New product design was enhanced to more accurately reflect customers' usage and the effect of their behavior on vehicle movements. Toyota founded the new Product Audit Department to identify challenges with design work and request corrective actions from the assigned engineer. These initiatives are designed to help reinforce product safety as well as customer confidence.
Engineer training is proceeded through systematic education at the Learning Center and young engineers are sent overseas, primarily to emerging markets, so they can learn how products were used in foreign countries and bring the genchi genbutsu experience into product development.
[Procurement]
Teaming up with Suppliers to Promote Built-in Quality from the Customer's Standpoint
In March 2011, Toyota held a Quality Policy Presentation with 445 participants from 161 suppliers, asking for their continued cooperation in gaining customers' trust. The company briefed suppliers on three key activities on which it is asking for cooperation; reinforcing the product safety assurance system, joint efforts to improve design part and component design quality and working toward the complete elimination of the recurrence of concerns. Toyota will continue to work closely with suppliers to help ensure built-in quality from the customer perspective, strengthening the design attitude to consider customers' product usage as well as their reaction to product features.
[Production]
Reinforcing Monozukuri and Exceeding the Customer Expectations
Toyota has made a concerted effort to establish "requirements for good products" to realize designers' intentions in manufacturing processes. The company continually seeks to create products that reflect their intended designs while accumulating innovations to fully realize increase Ji Kotei-Kanketsu and thereby build quality into products. Throughout FY2010, final quality inspection in each plant was reinforced as a key step in delivering high quality vehicles to customers.
In January 2011, the Vehicle Quality & Production Engineering Division was created to foster closer cooperation with the development team from the early stages, reinforcing monozukuri and thus meeting or exceeding the customer expectations.
[After-Sales Service]
Promoting Customer-Perspective Approaches
Dealers and distributors are both business partners and important customers that represent Toyota car owners.
Treating quality issues as opportunities,Toyota has re-doubled its efforts to hold face-to-face communications with dealers and distributors. The company continues to listen sincerely to customer concerns and to focus on developing responsive personnel, thereby strengthening its overall service capabilities.
- Column - Overview of Initiatives to Enhance Customer Trust -
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Concerted Commitment to Continuous Improvement of Safety and Quality from the Standpoint of the Customer
In response to the series of quality issues, Toyota formed the Special Committee for Global Quality chaired by President Toyoda in March 2010 to "review all the working processes from the customer's perspective, through the new interface, and reinforce the quality control system." With activity pillars such as reinforced customer voice and quality information gathering, human resource development focusing on quality, and promotion of regional independence, Toyota is demonstrating its concerted commitment to a fundamental review of our operational attitudes and establishing a customer interface across Toyota's entities worldwide. Toyota has re-emphasized that the expectation on Toyota from customers around the world is quality. And in order for each employee to put into practice within their own work the mindset of "customer first, quality first," during the Month of Quality, November 2010, Toyota gathered 250 representatives from 230 divisions within Japan and held a Quality Forum. Opinions were exchanged on the theme of "knowing feelings and expectations of customers, and thinking about what do." In order to further enhance the quality that is Toyota's mainstay, all the participants fully shared Toyota's resolve to make all-out efforts to continue to raise quality without forgetting that we always have the opportunity to improve.
Quality Forum Underscores Need for Everyone to Take a Leading Role
The Quality Forum was held in November 2010, designated as the Month of Quality by the company, to discuss "What every one of us should do, knowing our customers' thoughts and expectations." Some 250 attendees representing various divisions and departments met in a World-Café style, where they exchanged opinions moving from table to table. Spirited discussions transcended organizational barriers, with earnest debates on how to build quality into products from a customer perspective, generating such comments as "I realized the importance of communication in achieving built in quality." Attendees went back to their respective workplaces with new insights and ideas on addressing corrective actions.
Vigorous discussions went beyond organizational boundaries
World-Café style discussion
Transparency Increase
For a business to be accepted broadly in society, it is necessary to maintain transparency. Accordingly, Toyota is making continuous efforts to increase its corporate transparency, positively setting up contacts and opportunities for information sharing, as well as listening to a broad range of requests from, and entering into consultations with customers.
Customer Assistance Center
Every Day with Customers: Toyota Customer Assistance Center and Lexus Information Desk
The Toyota Customer Assistance Center, as well as the Lexus Information Desk dedicated to the Lexus brand models, offer toll-free phone services 365 days a year and accept brochure requests 24 hours a day in Japan. In such a framework for improving customer convenience, the center and the desk respond to opinions and complaints to provide quick and adequate services empathetically. These embrace the "Customer First" principle as the primary internal organization directly facing consumers. At the same time, we work to relate these efforts to overall excellence in creating products and services.
No. of Calls at the Center and the Desk in FY2010
A Prompt Response from the Standpoint of the Customer
Since the recent series of quality issues, Toyota has seen a sharp increase in the number of customers calling for information about recalls. The company will propose enhancements to online recall information to make it easier for customers to determine whether their vehicles are subject to a recall.
In addition, call volume increased rapidly the week after the Great East Japan Earthquake. The questions focused mainly on include where to get fuel, delivery times of purchased vehicles and credit card payment. Inquires related to the quake are also posted on the Web site, providing information on how to deal with vehicles damaged in the quake and tsunami.
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Incorporating Customer Requests in a New, More Versatile Compact Car
The Vitz has gained immense popularity among families with small children. Naturally, many customers have commented on the need to load bulky baby strollers and other items when they take a trip.
The new Vitz reflects such customer concerns and features a high-capacity cabin. A version with a new adjustable deck board that can be set at two heights is also available, giving families the flexibility to carry items they have wanted to take along but usually had to leave behind.
Participating in the WBCSD Activities
The WBCSD* is to help develop policies towards sustainable development via three pillars—economic growth, environmental protection and social development. Toyota agrees with the objectives of the WBCSD, and has participated in various projects as a member since 1995. Toyota Honorary Chairman Shoichiro Toyoda, who served as Vice Chairman of the WBCSD Executive Committee (ExCo) for five terms (10 years), is now a Member of the Honorary Committee, and Chairman Fujio Cho has served as a member of the WBCSD ExCo.
The aim of the UII, which started in January 2010, is to select several cities around the world and serve as a trusted business voice on urban sustainability. Toyota participates in this project as one of 15 corporate members from 8 nations. The company is expected to draw on the know-how accumulated through past projects such as Sustainability Mobility and Mobility for Development.
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- WBCSD(World Business Council for Sustainable Development)
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Direct Communication with Broad-Based Stakeholders
In January 2011, the 10th Toyota Stakeholder Dialogue was held under the theme of "Toyota's CSR goal toward 2020." Stakeholders from NGO/NPO, industrial experts and other relevant experts attended the dialogue to engage in direct discussions on the ideal of Toyota in 2020 taken consideration of various social issues. Toyota receives its stakeholders' expectations and opinions and shares them with the internal related divisions/persons for future Toyota initiatives.
"CSR Boost-up Initiative" was held in March 2011 to set up an opportunity for our staff members to directly communicate with external intellectuals to support their understanding of global CSR issues and to raise their awareness of them. More than 20 people participated from the internal related divisions and the Toyota Group companies under the theme of ISO26000 and human rights. There was a Q&A session and a discussion on the various issues that participants face in their daily work; how to adapt their business to the international norms of behavior in terms of sphere of influence, information disclosure and accountability etc.
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