October 25, 2010—AkzoNobel Car Refinishes Americas and Toyota Motor Sales USA announced on Monday that they are partnering to create a method to improve collision repair operations.
The collaborative program will be called Toyota Production System Collision (TPS-C), according to an AkzoNobel press release_notes. The program will combine AkzoNobel’s Process Centered Environment method with Toyota’s Production System.
Fifteen pilot Toyota repair centers have been selected to go through a series of classes and training starting in November.
“It is difficult to pick up any publication today without seeing an article as to how lean, Six Sigma or Theory of Constraints is being employed in collision repair,” said Roger Foss, national field support manager for Toyota Motor Sales USA. “Each of these concepts has their merits. But they are just that. Concepts. The TPS-C program is unique in that we have transformed concepts into real-world actions and tools resulting in a clearly defined methodology specifically for collision repair. We have decided that as a long-standing business partner, AkzoNobel had the resources to help us implement our shared vision of process improvement. ”
