The Toyota Motor Corporation

Introduction

The main purpose of this essay is to analyze the enterprise resource planning of this company. The essay has analyzed the nature and forms of a business organization. It studies the different ways through which firms can interact with each other. It describes the Importance of linking firms and organizations together. These are the systems that integrate the management information of a business. They help to bring the internal and external environments of a business together. This includes the finances of a business organization, its sales, services and in this case, manufacturing. They use an integrated software application. This application has characteristics that apply to all the firms and organizations involved. Toyota is a car manufacturing company that has shown remarkable success in the past. It is a multinational automobile manufacturing company. Its headquarters are in Toyota, Aichi, Japan. In 2010, Toyota was named as the largest automobile manufacturers.

Organizational Structure

Toyota is a limited company in the private sector. Kiichiro Toyoda was the founder of the corporation. Ever since, it was founded, it has shown remarkable success. This is as a result of the structure of the cooperation. The companies in the Toyota Motors Corporation are Daihatsu, Lexus and Hino motors. There are also some other companies in this corporation. However, they are non automotive. The BPM of an organization is involved on aligning all the activities of the organization with the wants of the clients. This is a vital step that Toyota does not forget. It always makes sure that the wants of their customers are taken into consideration. Therefore, all the activities carried out by Toyota are customer oriented. This ensures that the customer receives the attention as well as the services required. For example, in their market structure, they always remember to inform their customers about their products. This is crucial since it helps to increase the volume of sales in the company (Borowski 2010). They use slogans like, “You want it! You have got it.” Such slogans are meant to entice the customer into buying their product. When a customer learns that they have what they need, they obviously go to the firm to confirm.

The business process managements of all its companies are integrated. Toyota does this using the latest technologies. This company deals with the manufacture of cars. The manufacture of a vehicle requires numerous steps before the product is ready. Therefore, there is a great need to link all these departments. This makes sure that every department is kept in check. It also enhances communication in the business. With their companies situated in different locations, the managers of Toyota choose to integrate the business process managements of all the departments, as well as firms. This ensures that there is uniformity in the information given to the customer. They achieve this by the use of a software application. Using their computer hardware which incorporates latest technologies, they are able to come up with programs that are universal for the whole corporation. They have a data base, from which all the activities of the corporation can be monitored. This is one of the many reasons why Toyota is a leading organization when it comes to the automobile industry. Although all firms are situated in different locations, they operate as if they were in the same place. This is because there is direct contact as well as coordination between the different units. This makes sure that nothing goes wrong in the manufacturing process.

Business Processes and Systems

Toyota uses stock exchanges to market its products. It uses the New York stock exchange and London stock exchange. Therefore, publicity is the main method that the cooperation uses in the marketing of its product. They use advertisements in order to reach a larger market. They use some of their cars to represent the others. Then, they present them as strong and reliable vehicles to their customers. This is how the customers get to know and like their products. Then, the company has many outlets all over the world. They take their products to these outlets for the disposal to any consumers. Therefore, when the consumers need to buy their cars, they do not have to involve hectic and tedious orders. They just go to their outlets to get the cars directly. This is why Toyota satisfies all of its customers.

The ERP systems that Toyota uses have always evolved and developed with time. This is because its main headquarters are in Japan. This is a country that is known to have improved technological methods in nearly all sectors of the economy. Therefore, Toyota is easily able to coordinate its activities and link all the people involved. For example, they have a system called Just-in-time. This is a system that suggests the satisfaction of customers. This ensures that goods and services reach the consumers at their convenience. This means that there are minimal time wastages by the employees when it comes to serving the customers. This makes sure that the customer is still willing to come back.

Therefore, the cooperation does not easily lose it s customers to other motor vehicle manufacturing industries. In this system, one of the most sophisticated supply systems is applied. It includes working closely with manufacturers to ensure that goods are delivered when needed. For example, when a car comes from a paint shop, this system takes charge. It sends the supplier an electronic message telling him that seats are needed urgently. This supplier only has four hours to deliver the seats to the customer. Therefore, when a customer visits Toyota, they are assured that they will get their product as soon as possible. This interaction between different firms in an organization is vital to its success.

There is also another system known as Jidoka. The process of manufacturing vehicles is extremely delicate. If a mistake occurs in any of the steps, it is doomed to fail. For this reason, this system was invented (Gaspar 2005). The sole purpose of the system is to make sure that all the processes are carried out correctly. It stops the production process for some time. This gives the workers some time to correct their defects. This is important to the organization since it ensures perfection in the vehicles manufactured by this company. The simple works on basic concepts. For example, a button may be used. When it is pressed, all the workers halt the manufacturing and start to check for flaws in their work. Such systems are vital to any firm. This is why Toyota has undoubted success.

The cooperation uses many other systems. For example, Kaizen is used to minimize any time wastages. There are many time wastages that occur in companies yet they can still be reduced. It is the role of such firms to come up with creative ways of minimizing these wastages. This could be as easy as using a machine to move a tool from one place to another. This tool could have been used by an employee. Therefore, it saves the precious time of the employee. This makes sure that the employees give their best in the business. There are also business portals, which help to reduce time wastages, where the customers have to wait for a long time to be served by the employees. The organization can improve their current supply chain and BPM in many other ways. They can do this by increasing the number of manufacturing plants allover the world. This goes a long way to minimize the time wastages that occur during transportation. There should also be increased use of the internet in their operations. This could support extensive online sales and purchases for the company.

Quality

The product that a company produces should be of excellent quality. This is because it ensures lasting customers in the business. Low quality products cause customers to look for alternative sources. The processes involved in the manufacturing should use quality products. These are products that meet the required standards. The people who carry out these processes should also be qualified. This ensures the production of favorable goods. The most notable determiner of success in a business is quality marketing. The organization should use quality advertisements, trade shows as well as other marketing strategies which can cause an impact in the sales. Toyota uses quality products, strategies and people in their production. They make sure that they employ individuals who are highly qualified. This makes sure that the desired objectives are met. They also use quality and unique structures in their marketing (Amasaka 2004). They appeal to the customer in all their adverts. This makes them to have a fat list of customers. Toyota cars are also known to be one of the best qualities. Therefore, people always want to go for them. This is a cooperation that can be a lesson to many others out there. There is enormous power in strategizing.

Conclusion

There are numerous companies in the world that have succeeded in their relevant industries. From the company analyzed above, it is clear that this does not come easily. It involves a series of structures and strategies. There has to be coordination between all the firms involved. This ensures the sharing of ideas. It also gives employees a general view of activities. This ensures efficiency and effectiveness. Therefore, recent technology should be directed to making the achievements of a business increase.