It is a stupid o'clock start for us on day three of Japan as we are picked up from the hotel at 4am by a taxi bound for the Tsukiji Fish Markets to watch the Tuna Auction. For those who don't know the Tuna Auctions, they take place daily but due to its increasing popularity with tourists and an infrastructure that was not designed to sustain it, they introduced a system to limit the number of tourists who can view the auction to 120 people. The tuna auctions start at 5:25am and they hand out vests at 4:30am. We read that people start lining up well before 4:30am because "No vest, No tour". Given that we are travelling outside the peak tourist season, we decide to leave our hotel at 4am and arrive at the fish markets at 4:20am. Even at that early hour, we were about the 110th and 111th people to get vests.
Once we have our vests, we are ushered into a room with our fellow tourists who are seated on the floor. After a 1.5hr wait, we are guided past the chaotic, fast moving, one-man, flat bed trucks to witness the tuna auctions. When we first enter the shed where the auction takes place, it's surprisingly quiet as Japanese men walk around poking and prodding the extremely large, deep frozen tuna lying on the floor. The is their opportunity to inspect the product and decide how much they will be willing to pay for it. The auction then kicks off with two auctioneers ringing bells, then calling out the bids in a musical fashion. All quite entertaining. We're then herded back outside through the one-man, fast moving trucks and back to the start point.
Arriving in Nagoya, food is top-most on our minds and we ask the hotel staff for directions to restaurants with Nagoya specialities. Directions in hand, we head off to Yabaton to consume Miso Katsu while listening to Boys II Men. Miso Katsu is very similar to Tonkatsu - deep fried pork cutlets served with shredded cabbage and rice. The difference is the substitution of a thick, miso sauce for the traditional Tonkatsu sauce. The resulting meal has a rich, earthy flavor and a touch of sweetness that compliments the flavor of the crispy, fried pork cutlet. Mmmmm Miso Katsu.
Departing the hotel at 8.15am the next morning, we pick up Starbucks for an on-route breakfast to the town of Toyota. We follow the recommended train schedule which involves training from Nagoya Station to Okazaki Station and changing trains to get to Mikawa-Toyota Station. Upon arriving at Okazaki station, we discover that somewhere along the way, our first train must have been delayed as we have missed our connecting train by about 5 mins and begin to worry we might miss the Factory Tour.
Arriving at Mikawa-Toyota, we discover that six other people are in the same boat, which somewhat alleviates our fear that the tour will depart without us. Arriving 25 minutes late, we're happy to learn that Toyota has built half an hour slack into their tour start times, presumably to account for "always late foreigners".
Departing from the Toyota museum, our tour kicks off and we begin to understand the significance Toyota has in Japan. Our tour guide explains that there are 10 factories within the town of Toyota, all within 30 mins drive of each other. On the way to the Takaoka Plant, we're amused as we pass a Suzuki dealership within the town.
Arriving at the plant, where we'll get to see the Assembly step of the manufacturing process, we witness Toyota magic in action. Toyota uses a range of techniques, each contributing to making it the largest automobile manufacturer in 2012 and also the first automobile manufacturer to produce more than 10 million cars in one year. Techniques utilized include Kanban boards, Andon displays and Jidoka - we're sure some of our friends out there might be interested to hear more so there's a short blurb on each at the end of this post. The Toyota factory operates with incredible efficiency and flexibility towards shifting consumer demands as we see various makes and colours of cars travel down the production line in what appears to be random order (red Prius, followed by a white Corolla, then a blue Auris). Parts are also delivered to the workers at the factory line via automated trolleys that follow magnetic tracks on the factory floor and have weight sensors to know when to push off for a "refill".
On the bus ride back, we learn that while the founder's surname was Toyoda, he named his company Toyota for three reasons: 1) Toyota sounds better, 2) Toyota is for the employees and the community, not just members of the Toyoda family, 3) Toyota can be written in Japanese with eight strokes, a lucky number.
Our tour ends back at the Toyota museum where we take a quick stroll through the museum to sit in a futuristic personal transportation vehicle (picture the floating chairs from Wall-E), witness a robot actually playing a trumpet and get that "Oh what a feeling" experience. We stop for a quick lunch with a fellow tour member before heading back to Nagoya.
After a long journey and a short rest at the hotel, it's soon dinner time and we head to the Torikai restaurant to experience the next on the list of local "Nagoyan" cuisine Oyakodon - simmered chicken thigh with onions in a soy based sweet sauce, topped with a raw egg.
Notes from Toyota
Kanban Boards
These are reusable cards that contain information that is integral to the production of Toyota vehicles. As an example, each box of parts has a Kanban board that contains information about the parts in the box. As the box enters the production line, the card is removed and scanned, which sends a note to the parts supplier to deliver another box of parts. Presumably the card is then collected by (or sent to) the supplier to put on a future box of parts.
Andon Displays
Andon displays show at a glance, which workstations are at risk of stopping the line (highlighted in yellow when a worker at the station pulls a cord) or which workstation has stopped the line (displayed in red are locations where a worker and attending supervisor are unable to resolve a problem before a defined time has elapsed - i.e. the line has progressed past a certain floor marker - so they stop the line).
Jikoda
Throughout the tour we witness Jidoka, which Toyota defines as "automation with a human touch". As an example, we witness robot driven vehicles constantly delivering engine parts to workers in time for manual installation, then driving away again to be loaded with another engine part.
Once we have our vests, we are ushered into a room with our fellow tourists who are seated on the floor. After a 1.5hr wait, we are guided past the chaotic, fast moving, one-man, flat bed trucks to witness the tuna auctions. When we first enter the shed where the auction takes place, it's surprisingly quiet as Japanese men walk around poking and prodding the extremely large, deep frozen tuna lying on the floor. The is their opportunity to inspect the product and decide how much they will be willing to pay for it. The auction then kicks off with two auctioneers ringing bells, then calling out the bids in a musical fashion. All quite entertaining. We're then herded back outside through the one-man, fast moving trucks and back to the start point.
Next we make our way to one of the many on-site restaurants for a sushi breakfast. Opting for set menus, we're forced to consume a couple of items we wouldn't ordinarily order, such as raw prawns, raw squid, fish roe and sea urchin. While the flavours were pretty nice (mostly salty) the chewy / gelatinous textures were unpleasant. Thankfully the other sushi items (e.g. salmon and tuna) were soft and delicious.
Finally, it was back to our hotel for a rest before a quick Mos burger lunch, then onto a Shinkansen for our trip to Nagoya!
Inspecting the fish before the auction
Ringing the bells to call the auction to start
Auctions going full swing!
Finally, it was back to our hotel for a rest before a quick Mos burger lunch, then onto a Shinkansen for our trip to Nagoya!
Arriving in Nagoya, food is top-most on our minds and we ask the hotel staff for directions to restaurants with Nagoya specialities. Directions in hand, we head off to Yabaton to consume Miso Katsu while listening to Boys II Men. Miso Katsu is very similar to Tonkatsu - deep fried pork cutlets served with shredded cabbage and rice. The difference is the substitution of a thick, miso sauce for the traditional Tonkatsu sauce. The resulting meal has a rich, earthy flavor and a touch of sweetness that compliments the flavor of the crispy, fried pork cutlet. Mmmmm Miso Katsu.
Departing the hotel at 8.15am the next morning, we pick up Starbucks for an on-route breakfast to the town of Toyota. We follow the recommended train schedule which involves training from Nagoya Station to Okazaki Station and changing trains to get to Mikawa-Toyota Station. Upon arriving at Okazaki station, we discover that somewhere along the way, our first train must have been delayed as we have missed our connecting train by about 5 mins and begin to worry we might miss the Factory Tour.
Arriving at Mikawa-Toyota, we discover that six other people are in the same boat, which somewhat alleviates our fear that the tour will depart without us. Arriving 25 minutes late, we're happy to learn that Toyota has built half an hour slack into their tour start times, presumably to account for "always late foreigners".
Departing from the Toyota museum, our tour kicks off and we begin to understand the significance Toyota has in Japan. Our tour guide explains that there are 10 factories within the town of Toyota, all within 30 mins drive of each other. On the way to the Takaoka Plant, we're amused as we pass a Suzuki dealership within the town.
Arriving at the plant, where we'll get to see the Assembly step of the manufacturing process, we witness Toyota magic in action. Toyota uses a range of techniques, each contributing to making it the largest automobile manufacturer in 2012 and also the first automobile manufacturer to produce more than 10 million cars in one year. Techniques utilized include Kanban boards, Andon displays and Jidoka - we're sure some of our friends out there might be interested to hear more so there's a short blurb on each at the end of this post. The Toyota factory operates with incredible efficiency and flexibility towards shifting consumer demands as we see various makes and colours of cars travel down the production line in what appears to be random order (red Prius, followed by a white Corolla, then a blue Auris). Parts are also delivered to the workers at the factory line via automated trolleys that follow magnetic tracks on the factory floor and have weight sensors to know when to push off for a "refill".
On the bus ride back, we learn that while the founder's surname was Toyoda, he named his company Toyota for three reasons: 1) Toyota sounds better, 2) Toyota is for the employees and the community, not just members of the Toyoda family, 3) Toyota can be written in Japanese with eight strokes, a lucky number.
Our tour ends back at the Toyota museum where we take a quick stroll through the museum to sit in a futuristic personal transportation vehicle (picture the floating chairs from Wall-E), witness a robot actually playing a trumpet and get that "Oh what a feeling" experience. We stop for a quick lunch with a fellow tour member before heading back to Nagoya.
Notes from Toyota
Kanban Boards
These are reusable cards that contain information that is integral to the production of Toyota vehicles. As an example, each box of parts has a Kanban board that contains information about the parts in the box. As the box enters the production line, the card is removed and scanned, which sends a note to the parts supplier to deliver another box of parts. Presumably the card is then collected by (or sent to) the supplier to put on a future box of parts.
Andon Displays
Andon displays show at a glance, which workstations are at risk of stopping the line (highlighted in yellow when a worker at the station pulls a cord) or which workstation has stopped the line (displayed in red are locations where a worker and attending supervisor are unable to resolve a problem before a defined time has elapsed - i.e. the line has progressed past a certain floor marker - so they stop the line).
Jikoda
Throughout the tour we witness Jidoka, which Toyota defines as "automation with a human touch". As an example, we witness robot driven vehicles constantly delivering engine parts to workers in time for manual installation, then driving away again to be loaded with another engine part.
No comments:
Post a Comment