JCB Inc.: Modifying Toyota’s Example
Cover Story
By Brian Salgado   
Tuesday, 14 March 2006
smc Borrowing from the lean manufacturing system of Toyota, JCB Inc. has been improving its manufacturing operations through its own
Adapting from the lean manufacturing system of Toyota, JCB Inc. has been improving its manufacturing operations through its own “JCB Production System” in its facilities all over the world for the last three years.

“As a group, we're trying to work in the same way and use standardized work and equipment,” General Manager Gordon Cooper says. “If you compare our factories in India, Brazil and the seven in the UK, they basically use the same manufacturing principles there.”

The biggest difference between the Toyota system and JCB's is that JCB keeps many of its own competitive production systems with different manufacturing performance comparisons for every plant to see which facility is the best. “We are all competing to be on top of the lean table,” Cooper says. “That drives management, as well as workgroup improvement through kaizen.”

Cooper says some plants are further ahead than others, including his North American location in Pooler, Ga. But JCB is about to issue a manual for its production system to bring more consistency to its plants' progress. Cooper has been a believer in the system from the start. “It turned on the lights for me,” he says. “I love the teamwork approach. It makes it so all team members have the same feeling that they come to work making some difference. And we're there to support them.”

Company History
Joseph Cyril Bamford launched JCB in 1945 as a construction and agricultural equipment company in Staffordshire, England. The business began in a garage that was 12 feet by 15 feet, according to JCB.

It has since grown to employ more than 4,000 people and produces more than 220 different models of machinery on five continents, JCB says. JCB is still family owned and operated by Bamford's son, Sir Anthony Bamford. Sir Anthony's son, Jo Bamford, works in the family business, also.

“We do not want to be the biggest company in the world as there are already too many faceless corporations,” JCB says. “We do want to be the best.

“We do want to make sure that when a customer buys a JCB machine they feel as part of our extended family, and that we will do everything in our power to make this choice the right one for them.”

Today, the company's product line includes rough terrain forklifts, teletruks, compact backhoe loaders, backhoe loaders, tracked excavators, mini excavators, wheeled loaders, skid steer loaders, telescopic handlers, articulated dump trucks and micro-excavators.

Cooper says JCB is No. 1 in the world for backhoe loaders and telescopic handlers, but in the United States, the company is a small but growing player. “We're trying to steal market share as the market goes up and down 10 or 20 percent,” Cooper says. “We've been taking more and more and expanding our sales and dealerships. It's what we've been doing since we commenced manufacturing in January 2000. We doubled in volume in 2005 from 2004, and we're going to achieve in excess of 50 percent more than last year.”

Customer Expectations
JCB supplies directly to end-users, including builders, landscapers and farmers. The company also supplies to rental companies such as United Rental and Sunbelt Rental. With two different types of clients, Cooper says, there are two sets of expectations JCB must meet. For the individual customers, JCB provides advanced technology and innovative designs for machines that will last for years. Price is less of an object for these clients, Cooper says.

“If they want to buy the BMW or Mercedes of machines, they're looking at our quality end instead of the cheap and cheerful models,” Cooper says. Rental companies, however, expect machines to arrive on their sites ready to be rented out the same day.

Cooper says they want good value and quality but not an expensive machine. They are looking for cheaper machines that will do the work of the top-of-the-line machine. “They go for entry level machines, but they want it to run with good quality,” Cooper says.

Manufacturing Operations
According to Operations Manager Jason Lovett, JCB fabricates the bulk of its machine parts. JCB applies e-coat paint undercoat and powder top coating.

Assembled machines undergo a 1,200-point inspection. The machines are hot tested, road tested in the plant's yard and detailed before being shipped off to an end-user or dealer.

For its inventory, JCB uses a line side two-bin system, and the company is trying to move toward 3PL and sequenced kits for all of its products.

For raw materials, JCB uses a kanban system replenished daily by its suppliers. JCB uses subcontractors for some small welded assemblies, as well.

“We also get material from outside the plant, so the first time we touch it we're building it onto the machines,” Cooper says. “We're planning to move more material out of this plant because we don't want to use the floor space to store material. We want to manufacture.”

Worldwide Support
JCB says there is no use producing unique products if they don’t meet the customers’ needs. “In our business, an innovative and efficient machine needs an innovative and efficient support system,” the company adds.

With that in mind, JCB considers itself a global brand that is equipped to meet the demands of the global community. The company offers local support via 24-hour parts back-up facilities and complete after-sales care. The high-quality, cost-efficient machines offer low downtime and real piece of mind, the company says.

“Whatever the type of environment, whatever the type of application, we deliver the goods and support our products in the field,” JCB says.

Its service, parts and attachments division meets the demands of customers from five continents, dispatching 450,000 items every week. JCB’s World Parts Centre in the UK covers 300,000 square feet with the parts warehouse stocking more than 108,000 line items.

The company says 99 percent of the items are dispatched within 24 hours from this facility. JCB has additional parts centers in Paris, Savannah, Calif., and Singapore to support its dealers throughout the world.

Corporate Responsibility
JCB says part of being a worldwide brand means the company has certain obligations. Part of its mission statement says, “we want to help build a better future for our children where hard work and dedication is given its just rewards.”

This commitment was displayed when JCB employees in the UK raised more than 1 million pounds for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children through the JCB – Digging Deep for Children campaign. JCB also improved conditions at an underprivileged Indian school following its adoption by a trust set up in Lady Bamford’s name.

JCB also says it places a significant priority on its responsibility for the environment.

“As a high-technology company engaged in the manufacturing industry, operating in growth markets worldwide, we acknowledge that there is an important role to play in the promotion of sound environmental management of the earth’s resources and have a determination to achieve the highest environmental standards within the business,” JCB says.
 
< Previous Story   Next Story >