How did Toyota's plant manage to recover so quickly after massive flooding suspended production in South Africa? And what was the slogan that kept the genba going?
Major floods struck South Africa in April 2022. Toyota’s local plant was among the areas inundated, suffering extensive damage that brought all production lines to a halt.
A general manager on the ground described it as the most terrible moment. And yet the recovery was swift, with some lines back up and running in around three months.
The slogan that spurred this rapid recovery was “Better than Before”—making the genba better than before the flood. We went behind the scenes of the reconstruction, achieved by Toyota colleagues from around the world working hand in hand as one team.
In the program’s second half, we feature Toyota’s vocational training school in South Africa, including words of gratitude from a pupil. See how Toyota’s “best-in-town” spirit is bringing happiness to more communities around the world.