Multiskilled labor management of Japanese commercial vehicle makers in the Chinese market

Abstract

In the fast-growing Chinese heavy commercial vehicle market, it has been claimed that the rule is “manufacturers cannot survive unless they exceed an annual production scale of 10,000 units.” However, Japanese automakers GAC Hino Motors Company (GHMC) and Qingling Motors have been producing a profit in the Chinese market even though their production scale is less than 10,000 units. This has been due to the adaptation of a Japanese production system that can maintain a constant productivity standard even when dealing with small-scale production. However, the success of this Japanese production system has been due to the development of a method of fostering multiskilled workers in accordance with the actual circumstances in China.