The trials of fighting COVID-19 have underscored the importance of safeguarding a domestic stronghold of manufacturing firepower and production knowhow.
In his address, Toyoda bemoaned that Japan had trouble getting medical face masks when the pandemic hit because most were produced overseas. This was the result, Toyoda suggested, of a misguided strategy of offshoring production to make goods at lower costs.
Reducing waste and costs is a core tenet of Japan’s manufacturing philosophy. But it becomes self-defeating when companies start cutting jobs, he suggested. If companies cut too deep, they lose knowledge and innovation along with employees.
“People are not costs,” Toyoda said. “People are the source of continuous improvement and a driving force for the growth and development of monozukuri,” he said, using the Japanese word that conveys the culture of manufacturing.
He pointed out that many Japanese companies, including those of the Toyota Group, were able to rally to fight the…
