Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers report

JAPAN: Toyota eyes independent quality process assessment: Automotive news & analysis
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I didn't include some of the predicable recommendations but these stand out.

"Analysing each serious accident and each serious customer complaint thoroughly . . . " this is different from stating that the car behaves as designed. For example, the brake pause of the NHW20 apparently didn't receive effective attention. But the ZVW30 version did and it was improved. A second example is absence of "check engine" light when the last of the gas is burned.

"Developing and applying criteria for evaluating suppliers . . ." applies to a large North American supplier whose accelerators apparently could 'stick.' This was nearly across all models.

"Stepping up training for dealers' maintenance and repair personnel . . ." the Saylor crash in San Diego traced back to maintenance staff who had received an earlier report of the floor mat interference and fatally gave the same vehicle to the Saylor family. The echos of that decision are still stalking Toyota in the halls of Congress.

This recommendation, "obtaining input from third-party experts in so-called "design reviews based on failure mode"" indirectly relates to Prof. Gilbert's resistor network. Gilbert's passive network reveals an industry wide practice, the use of overlapping, same slope encoders. It remains a latent, industry wide risk in part because Gilbert's clumsy reporting allowed vested interests to exploit his report. I wonder if more skillful handling of his initial report to Toyota might have led to a better result ... if the AP story is to be believed.

Hindsight is always 20/20 and foresight is often less. Toyota's history of quality wandered off and the price to be paid is what has gone on and continues today. But "help" is a four letter word. It is a good thing to offer help and ask for help but to have help thrust upon one is bad, very bad. Too often those who force their help upon others come in without the background or understanding of the issues. They can often make ill-informed decisions that risks unintended consequences (aka., nuke the BP well.)

Bob Wilson