Examining a New Automobile Global Manufacturing System

Kakuro Amasaka was born in Aomori Prefecture, Japan, on May 5, 1947. He received a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Hachinohe National College of Technology, Hachinohe, Japan, in 1968, and a Doctor of Engineering degree specializing in Precision Mechanical and System Engineering, Statistics and Quality Control from Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan, in 1997. Since joining Toyota Motor Corp., Japan, in 1968, Dr. Amasaka worked as a quality management consultant for many divisions. He was an engineer and manager of the Production Engineering Div., Quality Assurance Div., Overseas Engineering Div., Manufacturing Div., and TQM Promotion Div. (1968-1997), and the General Manager of the TQM Promotion Div. (1998-2000). Dr. Amasaka became a professor of the College of Science and Engineering, and the Graduate School of Science and Engineering at Aoyama Gakuin University, Tokyo, Japan in April 2000. Now, he is a professor emeritus of Aoyama Gakuin University (2016-present). His specialties include production engineering (Just in Time and Toyota Production System), statistical science, multivariate analysis, reliability engineering and information processing engineering.