Starting out as a mutual aid association in the turmoil following WWII, TOYOTA CO-OP now operates employee cafeterias, supermarkets, and a whole array of services. To mark its 80th anniversary, we look back at the organization's history.
MEGLiA’s TPS-driven kaizen efforts
From here, we turn our attention to the present-day TOYOTA CO-OP, and in particular, the supermarkets that also serve local communities. There, we find that these facilities have adopted the Toyota Production System (TPS) and are striving for greater efficiency through continuous improvement.
“In our supermarket business, as elsewhere, we have long been pursuing improvements based on the Toyota Production System,” says General Manager Kyoichi Takemura of the co-op’s Kaizen Promotion Division. “However, given the larger environmental changes—including rising energy and personnel costs—since around 2018, we have been going even further with our kaizen efforts.”
One such initiative is preparing operation manuals. In its supermarkets, MEGLiA has established quality standards focused on user-friendliness, freshness, and availability of the products customers seek. These standards are used to determine the necessary work items, set out as a table of tasks and the hours they require, which serves as a reference for scheduling employees by day and time of day.
Building up manuals for various processes allows the co-op to visualize and assess the workload involved in planning and carrying out tasks. General Manager Takemura learned TPS at Toyota, and this is one example of how he applies that knowledge in the genba. The result has been a 6-7% improvement in productivity.
“In the past, we just went by experience—‘we’ll probably need this many staff for this day,’” says MEGLiA Miyoshi Store General Manager Takuro Hosoi.
General Manager Hosoi, MEGLiA Miyoshi Store
With the numbers now visible and our workload mapped out from the supply plans, we’ve come to see how much waste there was in the old approach.
It helps with cutting costs and has become a tool that we can no longer do without.
Inside the stores themselves, a change to sliding shelf fittings has streamlined the stocking process. In addition, placing excess inventory on the top shelves drastically reduced the need for repeated trips to the storeroom when replenishing products.
The carts used for restocking merchandise are a unique design suggested by a MEGLiA employee. They integrate handy features throughout, such as a built-in step for reaching high shelves and slits to hold flattened cardboard boxes.
Another addition is a system for keeping track of expiration dates, which had previously been checked manually on all items. For each product, the earliest expiration date is logged and managed by the system.
General Manager Takemura is determined to go further still. “Looking beyond cafeterias and supermarkets, we want to establish standards across all areas, including our delivery and funeral services, and keep the kaizen cycle going.”
Becoming an indispensable presence
Since the food shortages that followed in the wake of World War II, MEGLiA has continued to nourish both the bodies and hearts of Toyota employees, their families, and the local community.
Ahead of this milestone 80th anniversary, we asked Chairman Osamu Niimi to share his outlook for the future.
Chairman Niimi, TOYOTA CO-OP
Although we are a workplace co-operative founded by Toyota, many people in the local community also make use of our services, including our supermarket co-op.
Another area that we need to tackle is the local issues faced by government agencies. If we were to establish another area of focus that aligns with the nature of a co-operative, I think that would be it. I believe we can assist governments in the various challenges they face.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, we used our delivery network at the request of Toyota City to bring groceries to people isolating at home, delivering to around 1,000 locations a day. This was much appreciated by residents and reaffirmed to the city government that they can rely on MEGLiA in times of need.
That is the kind of presence I want us to be.
At the same time, I also want to expand our network of vendors and other partners, as well as continue broadening our range of services.
Our 80th anniversary is a good opportunity to build new partnerships that will make us a more open and inclusive co-operative.
On December 15, MEGLiA’s 80th anniversary, a giant collage made from countless photos of employees and others connected to the co-op will go on display at its main store in Toyota City, with posters going up at other locations as well.
Together with its partners, MEGLiA will continue strengthening its bonds with Toyota employees and local residents, striving together to reach new heights.
