SUBARU’s activities to pursue ease of production also contribute to sustainability.
Sustainability Journal
SUBARU’s activities to pursue ease of production also contribute to sustainability.
At Subaru, we have started Ease of Production (EP) activities as a Group-wide production improvement initiative that we plan to implement on an ongoing basis. These activities are led by the Cost Innovation Promotion Department, established in April 2022, with the goal of flexibly responding to future discontinuous change in our industry while also promoting product creation to meet customer expectations.
Our pursuit of “Ease of Production” through activities for production improvement is unique to Subaru, and is aimed at enhancing and stabilizing quality and productivity.
Through EP activities and the pursuit of ease of production, we will work together with our suppliers to also contribute to sustainability by reducing wasted resources and improving energy efficiency.
Examples of EP Activities
In February and April 2023, we conducted EP Activity Production Issue Confirmation Meetings at the Gunma Main Plant and Yajima Plant to raise awareness of the EP activities and share production challenges.
At these meetings, we showcased real product samples and explanatory panels as part of a focus on issues faced by our suppliers. Such issues include optimization of external appearance standards, reduction of product variations and problems with spare parts, all of which are central to our EP activities. In addition to giving participants a deeper understanding of the situation as it currently stands, the meetings acted as opportunities to increase engagement by helping participants empathize with the activities and to encourage self-directed production improvements in each department.
In addition to helping solve issues that Subaru will face in the future, our EP activities will continue to unify the direction of internal operations and drive Subaru initiatives that involve working with suppliers as one team.