ABSTRACT
Strictly speaking, there may be as many ways of making automobiles as there are automobile companies or individual manufacturing plants. This is because production methods reflect the philosophy of business management and the individuality of the person in charge of the plant. However, the basis of automobile production as a modern industry is the mass-production system that henry Ford himself practiced. The Ford system symbolizes mass production and sales in America even today. It is a mass-production system based on work flow, sometimes called the automation system. Setup was regarded as an element that reduces efficiency and increases cost — and there seemed no reason for workers to want to change dies cheerfully. Rapid changeovers are an absolute requirement for the Toyota production system. Teaching workers to reduce lot sizes and setup times took repeated on-the-job training.
