IMVP News | Japan Virtual Tour

Welcome to the gallery of IMVP's 2003 IMVP Auto Industry Symposium in Tokyo and Japanese auto plant study tours, where researchers and sponsors convened at the sites of various car makers. Click on each photo for an enlarged view.

Conference | Toyota | Honda | Nissan | Subaru

Conference
Before the conference kicked off, speaker Sadanori Ito, who is deputy director of the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry’s Automotive Division, presented the next step beyond hybrids - a Toyota hydrogen-powered car. Ito spoke on the global auto industry's future.
More than 200 auto industry leaders and researchers attended the Auto Industry Symposium jointly sponsored in Tokyo by Japan’s Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry, Hosei University, and IMVP on Sept. 12, 2003. Ryu Imahashi, Vice President of the Center for Business and Industry Research, Hosei University; IMVP Co-Director John Paul MacDuffie; and Masahiko Aoki, RIETI president, introduced the conference’s research framework.
Sozaburu Okamatsu, from left, introduced Matthias Holweg and Frits Pil’s discussion of their forthcoming MIT Press book, The Second Century: Reconnecting Customer and Value Chain through Build-to-Order.
Mari Sako, IMVP research and RIETI Visiting Fellow, presents her work on “Supplier Parks: Shared Proximity and dispersed Ownership.”
IMVP researcher and MIT Professor Charles Fine discussed “Opportunities When Value Networks Collide: Telematics at the Intersection of Automotive and Telecommunications.”
Toyota
At the Toyota Kamigo Engine Plant showroom, IMVP researchers Frits Pil and Matthias Holweg examine the new Estima Hybrid, a mini-van to be introduced in the U.S. in fall 2003.
Koichi Shimokawa, Hosei University emeritus professor and longtime IMVP researcher, and IMVP Co-Director John Paul MacDuffie take notes as a Toyota manager discusses the worldwide adoption of the Global Body Line.
The IMVP Japan study trip and conference connected senior researchers, industry managers, and younger scholars: from left, University of Tokyo graduate student Dong Sheng Ge; Tohoku Gakuin University Lecturer Shinya Orihashi; University of Tokyo senior Takaaki Ikeda; and Hosei University Assistant Professor Yoshinori Konnol.
Toshio Ohashi, project general manager, Production Engineering Planning Division, guided IMVP researchers, students, and guests through a daylong plant tour that included the Takaoka plant, a mother plant that supports production operations in the U.S., Canada, France, and Turkey.
Honda
IMVP researchers Matthias Holweg, right, and Frits Pil assemble a tiny car at a Honda theme park, created to encourage safe driving habits among young people.
IMVP Co-Director John Paul MacDuffie enjoys the view from the control room of Honda’s Suzuka Circuit race track, a R&D site for their Formula 1 race cars and motorcycles and home of the Japan Grand Prix.
MacDuffie, University of Tokyo Professor Takahiro Fujimoto, Honda’s Hiroshi Kojo, Corporate Planning Office Chief Engineer, and the IMVP team examine Marshal-1, a Honda racing car at the Suzuka Circuit.
Honda's Green Factory efforts, such as worldwide renovation of production lines based on Suzuka plant innovations that include an All-in-One engine assembly and compact two-story production line, produce new models viewed by Kazuhiro Miyano, IMVP team members John Paul MacDuffie and Daniel Heller, center, plant manager Naohiko Kitaoka, and student Takaaki Ikeda.
Nissan
Managers at Nissan’s Oppama plant described douki-seisan or never ending production improvements such as the Nissan Integrated Manufacturing System (NIMS) during the IMVP team’s plant tour.
Nissan’s Fumiaki Matsumoto, general manager of the NPW Promotion Department, Manufacturing and Industrial Engineering Division, and Matthias Holweg discuss the Oppama plant’s renovations including shortening the production line and synchronizing assembly to allow for mixed products.
IMVP researcher Mari Sako consults with a Calsonic Kansei manager during a walk-through of the supplier’s plant located adjacent to the Nissan Oppama plant.
Subaru
IMVP researcher Frits Pil poses besides the Subaru Sambar, a 1960's 660cc car that benefited from Japanese tax laws.
Subaru’s Yajima assembly plant will introduce a new IT system that will enable daily scheduling in 2005, a step towards build-to-order cars.

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IMVP is a global research program based at the
Center for Technology, Policy, and Industrial Development
MIT E40-207, 1 Amherst Street, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307
phone:617.253.8973, fax: 617.253.7140, email:ctpidcom@mit.edu

MIT \| SOE \| ESD \| CTPID
IMVP is a global research program based at the Center for Technology, Policy, and Industrial Development MIT E40-207, 1 Amherst Street, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307 phone:617.253.8973, fax: 617.253.7140, email:ctpidcom@mit.edu