Toyota Lends a Hand to a post-Katrina Rebuilding

St. Bernard Project (SBP), one of the primary housing recovery organizations in New Orleans, announced preliminary results of the work it has been doing with Toyota to improve the efficiency of its operations and speed up the pace of post-Katrina rebuilding efforts.

Toyota committed to donate its Toyota Production System expertise to help schools, hospitals and other community organizations improve their operations, extend their reach and increase their impact. The Toyota Production System Support Center (TSSC) began this new commitment with the St. Bernard Project. It worked closely with SBP’s professional staff, skilled construction supervisors and AmeriCorps members since late June to improve the organization’s homebuilding processes.

In just under three months, SBP has realized significant initial improvements using techniques pioneered on Toyota’s assembly lines. SBP was able to cut production of a house from 12-13 weeks down to 6. They have reduced rework 50% reducing waste, increasing efficiency and lowering costs.

Toyoita’s production practices are looked at throughout manufacturing as a benchmark. The Toyota Production System Support Center (TSSC), a not-for-profit corporation, established by and affiliated with Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc. (TEMA). TSSC provides an array of services to project companies with the overarching theme of retaining a company's workforce by improving processes to better compete in a global market. More than 160 companies – including some of North America's most successful enterprises – have used TSSC's leadership and training over the years. TSSC's 14-person team is comprised of team members from Toyota manufacturing affiliates in North America and from TEMA headquarters in Erlanger, KY. To learn more about TSSC or inquire about its services, please visit www.tssc.com.