Forbes: Why Can't All Automakers Be Like Toyota?

We have all heard someone say, "Why can't you be like...?" fill in the blank.

Well, it's not very often we hear of a major publications making the same kind of comparisons among automotive companies, but that's exactly what Forbes Magazine did in an online article.

In "Why Don't All Automakers Copy "The Toyota Way" In Order to Be As Reliable As Toyota?" the author basically asks all the younger automaking siblings, "Why can't you be like your big brother Toyota?"

Ouch. (By the way, I'm pretty sure that kind of parenting/constructive criticism is looked down upon with real siblings nowadays).

He points out that most automakers copied Toyota's production process to a point years ago, but seem to have lost their way or left out some key components that keep them from running as smoothly as Toyota: bureaucracy, worker strikes (from management and union workers alike), 'mandatory' overhead expenditures, and poor management processes.

"At Toyota, on the other hand, the production system rules were baked in. They had been an important part of Toyota’s business and culture since the first days Toyota started building cars. The bureaucracy reinforced the process, rather than challenging it."

Those sound like pretty big problems for those automaking little siblings and not like they really copied the "Toyota Way," but many have found their way back to the "Toyota Way."

The author states that nowadays many automakers copy Toyota "to a very high degree" because of its effectiveness, efficiency, and, simply, profitability, which allows it to invest in further part and technological development. This, in turn, creates an environment that manufactures vehicles with the high quality, reliability, and dependability everyone expects from Toyota.

What do you think? Why do you think Toyota is so successful that other automakers should (or are) copying it?