Toyota Material Handling Values Proplate's Expertise in Oxyfuel and Plasma Cutting
Long-standing Relationship and Strong Collaboration
Toyota Material Handling is a world-leading supplier of forklifts. The company operates in over 30 countries and has 7,600 employees across Europe. The headquarters is located in Mjölby, Sweden, where two factories employ almost 2,000 people. One factory manufactures larger forklifts, known as Power Trucks, while the other produces smaller models called Hand Trucks. As Commodity Manager, Torbjörn Mange is responsible for strategic issues related to portions of the company's entire supplier base.
"Collaboration with our suppliers is obviously a crucial part of our production process, and Proplate is one of the suppliers we've maintained a long-term relationship with," he says.
Continuous Improvement
Toyota's corporate culture is almost as well-known as the brand itself, with the Toyota Production System being a key component that permeates all aspects of the production process. It's built on simplifying production as much as possible and continuously implementing incremental improvements.
"The fundamental idea is that it's better to take many small steps and work on development and efficiency continuously, rather than taking few large steps. It's simply an ongoing process that's connected to the entire production," says Torbjörn Mange.
A significant part of the Toyota Production System is what they call KAIZEN, which focuses on continuous improvements throughout the supplier chain. The selection of suppliers is therefore an extensive and purposeful process, involving thorough evaluation of each supplier's operations. Toyota commonly visits suppliers to examine various processes on-site to determine if they can be developed and improved.
"We can't always conduct such hands-on evaluations, of course. But we do it when we believe there are efficiency gains to be made, both for ourselves and for the supplier in question," says Torbjörn Mange.
At the Forefront of Gas and Plasma Cutting
He considers Proplate's modern and high-tech machinery for gas and plasma cutting to be the company's greatest advantage as a supplier, along with the processing services that Proplate offers.
"The processing is essential for us; the parts need not only to be cut but require additional machine processing. Not all suppliers can offer this, and I see it as a major advantage that Proplate has strengthened its process capabilities. They are clearly at the forefront when it comes to gas and plasma cutting."
Strong Understanding of Customer Needs
Quality is important to Toyota, and here too, Proplate and other suppliers are crucial. Thanks to ongoing dialogue and a shared focus, continuous development and improvements in the collaboration have been possible.
"Proplate has a good understanding of our needs, and their resources meet our expectations. I think they have excellent market knowledge about everything they manufacture and sell," says Torbjörn Mange.
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