Japanese Carmakers Show the World How It’s Done

Toyota Motor Corp. plans to install production lines that can turn out up to 8 different models at the same plant.

Nissan Motor Co. plans to use information technology to automate parts conveyance and other routine steps to make roughly 10% of 300 procedures automated.

Honda Motor Co. will overhaul car assembly methods to trim assembly times and adopt a uniform quality system.

Suzuki Motor Corp. is introducing state-of-the-art methods in overseas factories that are until now, labor intensive. The company's second factory in India has 70% of the welding operations and 80% of painting procedures automated.

Japan is an expensive place and their cars cost a lot…but, the car makers know how to keep costs down by increasing efficiency and automation.

And that's why Japanese carmakers are outdoing all others.

What do you think of Japanese efficiency?