It was about how we achieve zero impact on society by 2050. Leon van der Merwe: Toyota first introduced its zero emissions targets about five years ago. What will they mean for European logistics? Watch the complete interview with Leon van der Merwe hereĬhristopher Ludwig: Toyota has its own net carbon zero targets and there are initiatives underway. This interview has been abridged and edited for clarity. But Van Der Merwe is intent on being better prepared and self-sustainable in the face of what comes next, and he is confident Toyota’s supply chain and logistics principles will help it to meet the coming challenges. It has all required greater flexibility as mobility patterns change and the consumer demand for immediate gratification grows ever stronger. He also oversees a supply chain that is having to adapt to the seismic shift to electrification, driven in Europe by strict regulatory demands on cleaner transport. Since van der Merwe walked into the role in 2019 he has seen major upheavals including the coronavirus crisis and the UK’s departure from the EU, and most recently the semiconductor shortage. While those three areas are essentially distinct, they are built on common foundations that include safety, environmental sustainability and people development, and bringing them together gives Toyota more opportunities to optimise processes, systems and develop skills. That move has given van der Merwe responsibility for inbound, outbound and service parts logistics, a new integration for the carmaker in Europe. The company has also gone through some organisational changes as it seeks a clearer end-to-end vision of its supply chain and logistics. That is important in a company in which decision making has totally changed and become a lot more cross-functional, including in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Van der Merwe also explains that part of his role is to make sure the decision makers in R&D, purchasing and manufacturing understand the impact of their decisions on Toyota’s supply chain both in terms of cost and environmental. Under van der Merwe’s direction in Europe, the carmaker is setting out for its logistics sustainability programme to catch up to the progress it has begun to make in manufacturing, including a more strategic use of transport modes, a greater focus on rail and multimodal, cutting truck kilometres and the adoption of sustainable fuels for last-mile truck deliveries. That allows any problems in supply to be identified and solved more quickly but it also reveals where Toyota can reduce waste and emissions. JIT supply chain management is not simply about reducing stock, rather it is about having the right inventory where it needs to be when it is needed. Leon van der Merwe, vice-president of supply chain at Toyota Motor EuropeĪccording to van der Merwe, TPS enables Toyota to take waste out of its supply chain network by accurate visualisation of the steps and the suppliers involved. He does, however, envisage modernising and strengthening Toyota’s JIT strategy, bringing sacrosanct processes up to date with new technology and ensuring the company has greater visibility in the supply chain beyond its tier one and two suppliers. When executed correctly, with the right balance of visibility and partnership, the kanban system of replenishment at the heart of TPS is based on a steady flow and smoothing bottlenecks – in effect leaning inventory where possible, and balancing stock with the right level of demand and production.įor lean experts, carmakers like Toyota may have been able to manage current disruptions better than others thanks to JIT – rather than in spite of it.įor Leon van der Merwe, vice-president of supply chain at Toyota Motor Europe (TME), TPS and JIT will remain at the heart of the carmaker’s strategy, including its ambitions to reduce emissions and meet sustainability goals in the coming years. While material and chip shortages, along with delays to container shipping, have strained automotive manufacturers’ low inventory strategies, to blame lean supply chains may in some ways misinterpret the principles of the Toyota Production System (TPS) and just-in-time logistics. The death of just-in-time supply chains may have been greatly exaggerated.
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