1 Toyota Motor Corporation Student name Institutional Affiliation Course Date 2 Question 1. Toyota Motor Corporation is a Japanese corporation that started in 1937 and mostly operates in Japan, North America, Asia, and Europe. It plans, assembles, manufactures, and markets passenger vehicles, minivans, commercial trucks, and associated accessories and components. The most recent brands include Toyota, Lexus, Daihatsu, and Hino. The world's top automaker, Toyota Motor Corporation, is also the eighth-largest corporation (Pinho & Lobo, 2019). The yearly revenue of Toyota Motor Corporation was $213 billion as of March 31, 2013, and it employed 333,498 people (Betancourt et al., 2018). Automobile makers have experienced turbulent times during the last five years. Smaller, more fuel-efficient cars have become more popular among consumers due to rising gas prices and increased environmental concerns (Dave, 2020). According to Madoh et al. (2019), some automakers responded to the shift by broadening their product lines to include hybrid electric vehicles and growing their small car portfolios. The services provided by the Toyota company The Toyota Company creates and manufactures automobiles, engines, automotive air conditioner compressors, electronics for cars, stamping dies, and other automotive-related products. The newest manufacturers are Toyota, Daihatsu, Lexus, and Hino (Pinho & Lobo, 2019). In order to broaden its product line and improve its offerings' usability, dependability, safety, and environmental friendliness, the company places a high priority on research and development (Dave, 2020). According to Betancourt et al. (2018), the company's R&D activities are concentrated on developing new products and processes and improving the capabilities of already-existing items. The company conducts its R&D at 14 locations worldwide (Prajana, 2020). The business has been able to add new features to its current line of products and develop cutting-edge technology across multiple industries because of a strong concentration on R&D, 3 according to Madoh et al. (2019). Due to its strong concentration on R&D, the company maintains technological leadership in most product categories (Dave, 2020). Additionally, it assists Toyota in producing unique products, which increases sales. ERP used by Toyota Company Toyota Industries creates and produces cars and car-related products; therefore, it regularly introduces new features to its current line of products. Toyota Selects Odoo ERP for Their Company They could have chosen any more expensive ERP to manage massive industrial processes, keeping Toyota in mind (Prajana, 2020). Contrarily, Odoo ERP was appropriate for small and medium-sized businesses (Pinho & Lobo, 2019). According to Betancourt et al. (2018), Odoo offers businesses several advantages. The customer base for Odoo, a cutting-edge ERP solution created in the previous ten years, has been expanding rapidly (Dave, 2020). Since it is a modern solution, the platform has adopted a modernized operational approach. When adopting Odoo, the user will have complete control over business operations, according to Madoh et al. (2019). Odoo also offers several operational functions to help operate the firm as dependably and efficiently as possible. One of the key benefits of installing Odoo is the reduction in time. Next, companies like Toyota and those who required swift operations frequently benefited from using alternative ERPs. In addition, the price factor is significantly larger when subscription changes for the ERP software are taken into account (Pinho & Lobo, 2019). On the other hand, Odoo technology offers a cost-effective alternative with significantly cheaper implementation and subscription fees (Dave, 2020). Additionally, users will be able to adapt their business operations to regional tastes and the existing legal framework of the system, thanks to its localization capabilities in the countries it operates. 4 The problems faced by the Toyota Company, its objectives, and the consequences Toyota has increased its overall market share using various strategies and techniques to obtain a competitive edge. For instance, it has been asserted that the business's manufacturing strategy, which is effective in cost and efficiency compared to its rivals, is quite powerful. According to Betancourt et al. (2018), the company has enhanced its overall competitive advantage by considering this strategy. More importantly, the business has used its ability to manage costs to provide clients with cars at a lesser price than competitors in the same industry (Pinho & Lobo, 2019). This shows that Toyota now has a competitive edge because of its costcutting and resource-efficient strategy. Toyota has recently conducted a series of product returns, which could impact the company's current brand reputation and sales figures. For example, due to the possible shutdown of the hybrid system and the destruction of substrate components, Toyota recalled 111,000 vehicles under the Toyota and Lexus brands in 2011 (Dave, 2020). In addition, Toyota recalled 181,000 vehicles in Japan throughout the year due to oil leakage and unusual noise that loose nuts may have caused in the rear wheel differential and sub-gearbox. Product recall According to Madoh et al. (2019), Toyota has been found to recall more vehicles than any other competitor operating in the same industry, which may even be considered bad management or an absence of concern on the part of the firm. Despite being the largest automaker in the world, the company's inability to assure customers of the superior quality of its products speaks ill of its level of strategic management overall (Pinho & Lobo, 2019). In one instance, the company recalled more than 5.8 million vehicles from domestic and international markets because airbag inflators may have been fitted incorrectly, according to Betancourt et al. (2018). According to Madoh et al. (2019), more than 50% of the airbags used in Toyota vehicles 5 were discovered to be defective. It prompted the brand recall, mostly brought on by complaints from US authorities. According to Betancourt et al. (2018), the Corolla, one of Toyota's bestselling cars, and the Vitz were two items the business recalled. The company needs continuous financial assistance due to the brand recall to address the considerable liabilities associated with the recall (Pinho & Lobo, 2019). The business has also met with clients and potential investors to discuss survival strategies in the contemporary business environment. Results and benefits of an ERP system in Toyota After weighing the available enterprise-level solutions, Toyota Material Handling in France decided on Odoo when they needed an ERP solution. Amazingly, it took them just six months to implement the software. Nevertheless, what distinguishes Odoo from other ERP systems? Through a burgeoning development ecosystem, Odoo enables third-party app developers to provide additional functionality for Odoo users. According to Betancourt et al. (2018), traditional ERPs could not provide this benefit; while some enterprise ERP software suites permit feature development, new features must be more constrained because they are not freely available (Dave, 2020). More significantly, creating those extra capabilities would take time, and Toyota Material Handling would need to implement a new system quickly to keep their facilities operating efficiently. According to Madoh et al. (2019), Toyota Material Handling might tailor the ERP platform to their company's distinctive qualities by selecting Odoo. By using communitydeveloped apps to enhance the basic functionality of Odoo, they could add new capabilities as required (Pinho & Lobo, 2019). Additionally, Toyota may integrate Odoo with its existing systems, significantly lowering the learning curve for staff members (Dave, 2020). The result was an ERP that was just as strong and adaptable as a proprietary solution. However, it was also 6 significantly more affordable and flexible due to its reliance on Odoo. The open design of Odoo eventually won over Toyota Material Handling's proprietary software for its distinctive qualities (Pinho & Lobo, 2019). By using community-developed apps to enhance the basic functionality of Odoo, they could add new capabilities as required. Additionally, Toyota may integrate Odoo with its existing systems, significantly lowering the learning curve for staff members. The result was an ERP that was just as strong and adaptable as a proprietary solution (Dave, 2020). However, it was also significantly more affordable and flexible due to its reliance on Odoo. The open design of Odoo eventually won over Toyota Material Handling's proprietary software for its distinctive qualities (Pinho & Lobo, 2019). By using community-developed apps to enhance the basic functionality of Odoo, they could add new capabilities as required. According to Madoh et al. (2019), Toyota may integrate Odoo with its existing systems, significantly lowering the learning curve for staff members. According to Betancourt et al. (2018), the result was an ERP that was just as strong and adaptable as a proprietary solution. However, it was also significantly more affordable and flexible due to its reliance on Odoo (Dave, 2020). The open design of Odoo eventually won over Toyota Material Handling. Toyota's best IT asset, according to Cottet, is its workforce, and Odoo enables them to utilize this resource to its fullest potential. Advice to employees and other workers I would advise the employees of the Toyota company that a strong cultural advantage is very important and has always occasioned a strong competitive advantage for Toyota. The employees should become more devoted to their work, and their desire to improve the company should always be a strong factor taken into consideration, as it will also lead to optimal 7 performance (Dave, 2020). Since the company treats all its employees equally, it should create a legitimate sense of loyalty and respect for all its employees. Question 3 Ideas for improving the Toyota Company case study The Toyota Company can use the Odoo ERP in six major stages or phases spread over months or even years. The process must start well before they decide which product to purchase, and it must continue even after the initial rollout of the system of choice. These stages could run concurrently and differ slightly from company to company. However, businesses will generally take this course. According to Betancourt et al. (2018), the company's first concept is discovery and planning. The organization assembles a cross-functional project team to gather information on various business units' demands and the issues the ERP system must address. According to Madoh et al. (2019), the second business concept is design. The team assesses existing processes and determines how the new system might change them. The ability to modify how one does one's work is a requirement for people in control of everyday operations, such as administrators and business process owners (Dave, 2020). Using that method, the team may determine which ERP features are crucial to the company's operations, how the software may need to be modified or extra modules created to meet the needs of each business sector, and which data will need to be transferred to the new system (Pinho & Lobo, 2019). Growth is the third notion. Together with the team, the Toyota team or integration partner customizes the software. Betancourt et al. (2018) also carried out additional deployment preparation tasks, like creating documentation and training materials and starting data import. Suppose they are using an on-premises ERP system instead of a cloud-based SaaS ERP. In that case, they will need to decide how to handle hardware, connectivity, client rollout, long- 8 term administration, and stability (Betancourt et al., 2018). With a hybrid ERP system, the same considerations apply. The testing phase of Toyota's proposal must include detailed staff appraisals of all potential uses for the system (Madoh et al., 2019). It might need to be tweaked to fix problems discovered during testing, but that is preferable to workers discovering problems after they push. 9 References Betancourt, P., Mooney, J., & Ross, J. W. (2018). Digital Innovation at Toyota Motor North America: Revamping the Role of IT. Dave, P. Y. (2020). The History of Lean Manufacturing by the view of ToyotaFord. International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, 11(8), 1598-1602. Madoh, A., Alenazi, J., Alkhamees, L., & Panwar, A. (2019). Case Study on Market Mix Strategies of Toyota Motor Corporation. Asia Pacific Journal of Management and Education (APJME), 2(3), 70-78. Pinho, T., & Lobo, M. (2019). Lean tools applied in transport and logistics services. Revista Produção e Desenvolvimento, 5. Prajana, A. M. (2020, October). Visual analysis of product placement in the NKCTHI web series on Toyota Indonesia Youtube channel. In Proceeding International Conference on Information Technology, Multimedia, Architecture, Design, and E-Business (Vol. 1, pp. 309-314). Thiruchelvam, S., & Hayder, G. The application of the lean manufacturing system and its impact on competitive policies (Applied study in the prefabricated building factory). Wada, K. (2020). The Emergence of Flow Production at Toyota. In The Evolution of the Toyota Production System (pp. 115-132). Springer, Singapore.
