inside look at how it's reinventing the auto industry.Yoi kangae, yoi shina! that's Toyota-speak for "Good thinking means goodproducts." The slogan is emblazoned on a giant banner hanging across thecompany's Takaoka assembly plant, an hour outside the city of Nagoya. Plentyof good thinking has gone into the high-tech ballet that's performed here 17hours a day. Six separate car models -- from the Corolla compact to the newyouth-oriented Scion xB -- glide along on a single production line in any ofa half-dozen colors. Overhead, car doors flow by on a conveyor belt thatdescends to floor level and drops off the right door in the correct colorfor each vehicle. This efficiency means Takaoka workers can build a car injust 20 hours.The combination of speed and flexibility is world class. More important, asimilar dance is happening at 30 Toyota plants worldwide, with some able tomake as many as eight different models on the same line. That is leading toa monster increase in productivity and market responsiveness -- all part ofthe company's obsession with what President Fujio Cho calls "the criticalityof speed."Remember when Japan was going to take over the world? Corporate America wasapoplectic at the idea that every Japanese company might be as obsessive,productive, and well-managed as Toyota Motor Corp. (TM ). We know whathappened next: One of the longest crashes in business history revealed mostof Japan Inc. to be debt-addicted, inefficient, and clueless. Today, 13years after the Nikkei peaked, Japan is still struggling to avoid permanentdecline. World domination? Hardly.Except in one corner. In autos, the Japanese rule. And in Japan, onecompany -- Toyota -- combines the size, financial clout, and manufacturingexcellence needed to dominate the global car industry in a way no companyever has. Sure, Toyota, with $146 billion in sales, may not be tops in everycategory. GM is bigger -- for now. Nissan Motor Co. (NSANY ) makes slightlymore profit per vehicle in North America,...

No matter what they do they still have some of the same crummy dealersand that is where the rubber meets the road. For example, go look atthe sticker on a toy and look at some of the options put on the car. Then asked the salesperson is the leather seats come from the factoryand don't be suprised if they tell you that all the options are put onsomewhere else before the car gets to the dealer. Here in centralOkla. its Gulf States Toyota in Houston. The guy at two toy dealerstold me the same thing when we asked why the seats all lookeddifferent and he told us the leather and most options are put on thecar in Houston not the factory. Quality a little sloppy. Personally Ithink all Toyota with exception of the Highlander are way over pricedfor what you get. IMHO. Out

In news:4goyb.1992$ TeGGeR beMust be. I just told Huw I'd "ring" the local VW dealer for a workquote. LOL

Can Anything Stop Toyota?

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PhilipÂ® 22 years ago

The percentage our American population who qualify as obese has been increasing over the study period identified in the article. ALSO, these same persons are MORE obese than ever before.

Perhaps it is also the point you took personal offense. ;-)

On the way to being "grossly" obese, there is an span of overweights who barely qualify as "obese." My opinion (not mentioned in the article) is anyone 40+ pounds over their adjusted ideal is at the threshold of obesity.

Hehehhehhe!

"She doesn't sweat much for a fat chick."

An obese plumber squats down to look under the old woman's kitchen sink As he does, there's a horrendous ripping fabric sound.... The astonished woman says.. "Oh my God! I didn't know jeans could just rip open like that!"

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PhilipÂ® 22 years ago

You don't seem to understand why drivers say the things they do while under stress. In fact dear Neo, all excuses that fail to get you off the hook are .... "lame." But some are funny.

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HbgpodLW 22 years ago

snipped...

I forgot I wanted to address this one before...I used to have a friend that bought a Fiero (GM) that made fun of my devotion to Fords (since my Dad worked there) but still asked me for rides to the dealership as MANY - MANY times his car needed worked on but my poor Ford Escort had nary a problem...and was always available. Before my 2000 Focus I never had any major problems with any other Ford and I've been driving many Fords since 1980...low end ones - Maverick, Pinto, Escort , Tempo and 2 Foci - 2000 and now a 2003 without any recalls or problems except a smelly A/C. I've always gotten my moneys worth out of them. Linda ZX5 2003 red!!!

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TeGGeR 22 years ago

"Philip®" spake unto the assembled masses in news:gqVxb.21037$ snipped-for-privacy@newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net:

"Stone", Philip? Been reading too many of Huw's posts, have you? (That's

161 pounds for those not in the know).

I must be a fatty then. I'm 6' 2" and 174 lbs (just weighed myself to be sure).

C'mon Thomas, what do *you* weigh?

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Thomas Moats 22 years ago

Already been posted.

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PhilipÂ® 22 years ago

Must be. I just told Huw I'd "ring" the local VW dealer for a work quote. LOL

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PhilipÂ® 22 years ago

Post it again .... just of r TeGGer.

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TeGGeR 22 years ago

"Philip®" spake unto the assembled masses in news:Rbqyb.20380$ snipped-for-privacy@newsread1.news.pas.earthlink.net:

After I posted that messsage it occurred to me that it would have been more fun to just have posted my own weight as 12½ stone and let everyone else figure it out. Oh well, next time...

And if that quote was far below what you thought you'd pay, then you'd be well chuffed!

Off to watch telly now.

Cheers.

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TeGGeR 22 years ago

"Thomas Moats" spake unto the assembled masses in news: snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com:

And so it has. "5'11" and weigh 190".

So I'd say you qualify for "porky", "stout", "roly-poly", "plus-sized" or maybe "pleasingly plump", but probably not "obese".

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Thomas Moats 22 years ago

According to the BMI GUIDE ( that is all it is, a guide ) I do not "qualify" as obese. Yes, you might be able to call me overweight. Guess that all depends.I fit into a "gray area" in that guide. Is a foot ball player at 230 overweight? How bout a heavy weight boxer? Body builder? Are you a "qualified" doctor and know enough about me to make that determination? I'm not clairvoyant, but I'll be able to make a very safe bet you do not. There is a lot more than a BMI guide that goes into it. But being of a small and bigoted mind, I doubt you or the short bus kid can grasp it.

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PhilipÂ® 22 years ago

12½ stones .... how about 2.65 talents? ;-)

Hehehhehhe

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PhilipÂ® 22 years ago

"Moats" is ... on the way! LOL

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PhilipÂ® 22 years ago

Aren't we a bit sensitive!

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Thomas Moats 22 years ago

Point proven. Let me guess, your "check is in the mail"?

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TeGGeR 22 years ago

"Thomas Moats" spake unto the assembled masses in news: snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com:

It depends on where the weight is, above the bottom of the rib cage or below it.

And is that a 230 lb quarterback or a 230 lb lineman (not that you'd find a lineman that light)? Linemen are built for bulk, not health. A pot on them serves as inertia, which is very useful in their jobs. Quarterbacks have to be nimble. A pot on them would be a serious liability.

Either way, a 230 lb non-athlete is much more likely to resemble a pear than a 230 lb athlete.

'Course not. I'm just a TeGGeR®. I was needling you because I was getting a defensive reaction and that made it funny. Same reason Philip® did it too.

Short bus kid? Who's he and where'd he come in to this?

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TeGGeR 22 years ago

"Philip®" spake unto the assembled masses in news:O_zyb.21659$ snipped-for-privacy@newsread1.news.pas.earthlink.net:

Are you using the Babylonian Talmud definition of "talent"?

Hey, how about 4.84 poods? Figure THAT one out! ;^)

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PhilipÂ® 22 years ago

Russian weight, approx 36 lbs per "pood" 167 lbs. Took me a couple of minutes to find "pood" because all the references were in a language I'm illiterate in.

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TeGGeR 22 years ago

"Philip®" spake unto the assembled masses in news:4OJyb.23515$ snipped-for-privacy@newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net:

My references all say about 36.1 lb per pood, so 4.84 poods is 175 lbs approx:

formatting link

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Thomas Moats 22 years ago

Defensive to what?

As Philip says, a careful reader would have caught it.

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C. E. White 22 years ago

Frequently.

Ed

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