3. Establishment of Manufacturing Practices
1971-
(1) Motorization and Increased Production
- 1965
- In response to the rapid increase in demand brought about by the personal car boom, our company began expanding its production capacity, starting with the establishment of the Hiroshima Plant in 1965. This expansion, however, presented new challenges in effectively utilizing the newly added production facilities.
From the 1960s to the 1970s, the automotive industry faced numerous challenges, such as trade and capital liberalization and emission regulations. Concurrently, Japan experienced unprecedented economic growth. As the personal car boom took off domestically, car manufacturers focused all their efforts on expanding production to meet the burgeoning demand. They also actively pursued overseas market development.
To meet the continual requests for increased production from car manufacturers, our company repeatedly expanded its production capacity. Following the Hiroshima Plant (1965), we established the Ikeda Plant (1966), Anjo Plant (1969), Nishio Plant (1971), and Takatana Plant (1974), constructing state-of-the-art factories one after another. Additionally, we planned new factories to ramp up the production of emerging car electronics products.
The newly introduced production equipment was fundamentally different from previous setups. To accommodate the diversification of demand, we introduced rationalized production lines capable of responding to multi-product, small-lot production.
With the expansion of production capacity, the number of employees also grew rapidly. From around 7,000 employees in the mid-1960s, the workforce surpassed 20,000 by the mid-1970s. The rapid construction of large-scale factories, the massive introduction of cutting-edge equipment, and the rapid increase in employees posed significant challenges. The pressing issue for the production department was how to effectively utilize these production facilities to enhance competitiveness.
Amidst these challenges, our company began new initiatives toward innovation and creativity in manufacturing practices.