Aircraft-builder Embraer established an agreement with Toyota do Brasil that will see it adopt Toyota Production System (TPS) principles and concepts in its industrial operations, initially at Ozires Silva Unit, the primary aircraft assembly operation at Embraer’s headquarters in São José dos Campos, São Paulo state. According to an Embraer statement, its goal is “to eliminate waste, obtain operational efficiency, and increase value generation for stakeholders.”
The duration and other terms of the agreement were not announced.
"Bringing Toyota to execute this work reinforces Embraer's commitment to focus on business excellence and sustainable growth," stated CEO Francisco Gomes Neto. "It will be an excellent opportunity to exchange knowledge and accelerate the usage of the Lean philosophy in the production systems, while strengthening practices already conducted by the Embraer Enterprise Excellence Program, the P3E."
TPS is a management approach that emphasizes workplace safety, logistics, and process management as principles for achieving product quality and low production costs. Embraer stated that the main TPS concepts to be implemented will be “just in time”, to create better supplier partnerships and continuous-flow manufacturing; and “jidoka” – a Lean manufacturing technique by which machines automatically stop working once an abnormal condition is detected – “which aims to improve the quality and added value of work executed in a factory.”
"TPS is a methodology that can contribute to different scenarios and occasions. More than efficiency and productivity, the TPS can provide solutions that allow industry and other sectors to continuously improve their processes, which is one of Toyota's pillars worldwide," stated Rafael Chang, president of Toyota do Brasil.
TPS specialists from Toyota Brazil will be embedded at Ozires Silva to evaluate and suggest improvements for those operations.
Embraer, which has about 15,500 workers, has another manufacturing center at the Eugênio de Melo plant, also in São José dos Campos, and at manufacturing plants Botucatu, and Gavião Peixoto, Brazil.
Embraer noted it has pursued Industry 4.0 principles with digital, integrated, and low-environmental-impact factories. This year, the manufacturer stated its goal is to increase its carbon neutral status, and to 100% of its energy for its Brazilian operations derived from renewable sources by 2024.
