ABSTRACT
Currently, the international automotive industry is characterized by high competitive pressure concerning products and production processes. Consequently, companies attempt to increase competitiveness by adopting production concepts of the leading competitors like Toyota. Therefore, Toyota Production Systems (TPS) has been copied and adapted in many different ways. The method of implementation of TPS activities varies in the corporations. Due to the demographical change, a new discussion started in Europe, which addresses the recent challenge in creating work systems that maintain the working ability of older
people. In the light of this demo graphical challenge, the present study examines the problems and benefits arising fi·om the assembly line concepts favored by Toyota in a newly introduced Chaku-Chaku assembly system (N=41) and a conventional assembly system (N=64) in a large internationally active automotive company. The focus is on the ergonomic point of view and the consequences for an aging workforce.
