Company info

Company history   Our history of working with kanbans

1979

June Tokai Systems Sales Corporation founded with 5 million yen in capital  
August Systems No.1 and No.2 began operating at the Haruhi Plant of Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd. and the Takahama Plant of Toyoda Automatic Loom Works, Ltd.
▲System K System No.1

1981

May TSS Inc. founded with 5 million yen in capital  
July Shipment commenced of Green TOPICS Type II with sorter specifications
System No.1 Hosei Brake Industry Co., Ltd.
 

1982

June TOPICS AV version delivered to all six plants of Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd.
▲No.50 Green TOPICS system

1983

June Capital increased to 10 million yen  

1984

February Anjo Office and company building completed  
June Capital increased to 15 million yen  
September TOYOTA TYPE-II began full-scale operation
Kamigo Center of Toyota Motor Corporation
 

1985

June Capital increased to 17.5 million yen  
December Began developing a new UNIX-based system  

1986

March Head office relocated to Toyoshima Building in Nishiki, Naka-ku, Nagoya City  
May TOPICS TURBO-BASIC released  
June Capital increased to 20 million yen  
October TSS Inc. renamed TOPIX Field Service Inc.  

1987

April TOPICS Volunteer Research Council established (chaired by Toyoda Automatic Loom Works, Ltd.)  
June Capital increased to 25 million yen  
October Shipment of the 32-bit TPX Series began  

1988

June Capital increased to 30 million yen  

1989

February No.50 TPX Series system delivered
▲TPX Series System No.50
June Tokai Systems Sales Corporation renamed TOPIX corporation
Capital increased to 40 million yen
 
December No.100 TPX Series system delivered Kanto Auto Works, Ltd.
▲TPX Series System No.100
 

1990

May Capital increased to 60 million yen  
October Construction of the new Sakyoyama House (company housing) completed  
December Full-scale operation of TOYOTA A-TOP (service parts) All parts centers of Toyota Motor Corporation  

1991

March No.200 TPX Series system delivered
▲TPX Series System No.200
April New-generation application development tool ASPECT completed  
June Capital increased to 100 million yen  

1992

March VAR agreement concluded with Tandem Computers Japan Ltd.
NonStop system announced
 
April Capital increased to 150 million yen  
May ASPECT System No.1
Operation at the Mishima FA System Plant of OMRON Corporation
 
December ASPECT System No.2 Operation at Toyota Motor Kyushu, Inc.  

1993

March New Model 70 sorter completed  
June TOPIX Anjo Plaza completed
Capital increased to 180 million yen
 
December System delivered to NUMMI (U.S.A.)  

1994

June Fifteenth anniversary of the company’s founding
▲TOPICS information exchange meeting 1994
July New application controller E Series announced  
November Open TOPICS announced  
December System delivered to Toyota Motor Corporation Australia Limited (TMCA)  

1995

July TOPIX Field Service Inc.
renamed TOPIX E S
 
November Toyota invoice/receipt-less system started
Tahara Plant of Toyota Motor Corporation
 

1996

April BL-2 delivered to Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada Inc. (TMMC)
TAC E Series System No.100 delivered
 
June TAC D Series released  
October TOPICS Year 2000 Plan announced  

1997

February BL-6 (Windows NT version) completed Delivered to Aisan Industry Co., Ltd.
▲TOPICS information exchange meeting

1999

February BL-5 (Windows NT version) completed
Delivered to the Nagakusa Plant of Toyoda Automatic Loom Works, Ltd.
 
July At a TOPICS user information exchange meeting,
an event to commemorate the 20th anniversary of TOPIX’s founding
was held under the title “Y2K Problem Study Meeting”.
 
 

2000

January Handling of the Y2K problem safely completed  
May Anjo PD Center opened  
August e-kanban B/M version delivered to the Iwate Plant of Kanto Auto Works, Ltd.  
October Service commenced at the e-kanban Support Desk (8-hour operation)
▲e-kanban Support Desk

2001

January Floor space of the Nagoya Head Office increased, establishing an e-kanban support structure  
May Seventeen-hour operation started at the e-kanban Support Desk  
September e-kanban B/M version delivered to the Kyoto Plant of Daihatsu Motor Co., Ltd.  

2002

March Lifestyle business established as a new operation and activities started  
April Progression from batch processing to On-site & On-demand processing mode announced  
October Kanban MES proposed, BL-6J/K completed  
November New-generation kanban “e-kanban (rewritable kanban)” announced  
December Sales of the e-post, a new terminal for On-site & On-demand processing, started
▲e-post

2003

April Business activity functions consolidated at the TOPIX Anjo Solution Plaza, establishing a new structure  
October Fourth-generation TOPICS proposed
TOPIX Anjo Solution Plaza remodeled and opened as a permanent exhibit area (Phase 1)

▲Permanent exhibit area

2004

January “Promoting visualization of production and logistics” set as the 2004 theme  
March Pull System (tentative name), a one-way kanban system, announced  
June Exhibit held to commemorate the 25th anniversary of TOPIX’s founding  
July e-kanban System Operation Seminar, a TOPICS training course, held
Shipment of rewritable card printers started
 
October Lifestyle business spun off and established as Shizen Sozai Seikatsu Co., Ltd.
TOPIX’s capital changed to 90 million yen in connection with the spin-off
 

2005

October TOPICS 2005, a new fourth-generation solution, announced  

2006

May Toyota Motor Corporation announces a plan to rebuild its domestic procurement and logistics system; TOPIX participates in this project.  

2007

November System No.1 of the Global Standard e-kanban Ver. 3.0, a system for all plants within the Toyota Group, delivered to the Tahara Plant of Toyota Motor Corporation  

2008

May Tahara Plant of Toyota Motor Corporation began using the Global Standard e-kanban system for mass production involving some of its suppliers  
July Nagakusa Plant of Toyota Industries Corporation. began using the Global Standard e-kanban system for mass production involving some of its suppliers  
October Tahara Plant of Toyota Motor Corporation began using the Global Standard e-kanban system for mass production involving all of its suppliers  
November “Total Solution” announced at the Autumn 2008 TOPICS Exhibit and Seminar  

2009

June Thirtieth anniversary of TOPIX’s founding
Through capital/business tie-up with Toyota Tsusho Corporation and Toyota Motor Corporation, TOPIX corporation becomes a member of the Toyota Tsusho Group.
 
October TOPIX E S, a wholly owned subsidiary, merged into TOPIX corporation
Special lecture (The 19th TOPICS information exchange meeting) held to commemorate the 30th anniversary of TOPIX’s founding
 
November 2009 TOPICS Exhibit and Seminar
An event held under the title ”Operational improvement and visualization through the utilization of logistics information”
 
 

2010

April The address of the Head Office changed from Naka-ku, Nagoya City to the Anjo Solution Plaza (Toei-cho, Anjo City, Aichi Prefecture)  
August The Head Office (at the TOPIX Anjo Solution Plaza) acquired certification for ISO 14001, an international standard for environmental management systems
Maintenance hubs in the Kanto District consolidated and the Kanto Service Station opened in Omiya, Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture
 
October The Kansai Service Station opened in Itami City, Hyogo Prefecture as the maintenance hub for the Kansai District  
November New Product Preview 2010 held, announcing “CALLS”
Kyushu Office, the maintenance hub for the Kyushu District, moved to Miyawaka City (formerly Miyata-cho), Fukuoka Prefecture as the Kyushu Service Station
2010 TOPICS Exhibit and Seminar held under the title “Tomorrow’s kanban system and kaizen for winning the battle now”
 

2011

March In response to the Great East Japan Earthquake (on March 11), maintenance service technicians were sent as part of on-site support for users in the Tohoku region  
April Release of BL-1, a new order receiving/shipping system, started  
September Release of BL-4S, a one-way parts procurement system, started
BL-1, BL-1R, BL-2, and BL-4S delivered to the new plant of Toyotetsu Tohoku Co., Ltd.
 
November 2011 TOPICS Exhibit and Seminar held under the title “Let’s work hard on manufacturing – Improving efficiency to support the global environment and strengthening competitiveness”  

2012

May The Tohoku Service Station opened in Kurokawa-gun, Miyagi Prefecture as the maintenance hub for the Tohoku region
Pullsystem began operating for mass production at the Takahama Plant of Toyota Industries Corporation.
 
September BL-4S began operating for mass production at Toyotetsu Fukuoka Co., Ltd.  
October Toyota Working Group appoints TOPIX as the management company and service provider for the Toyota Working Group Common EDI  
November 2012 TOPICS Exhibit and Seminar held under the title “Toyota Working Group Common EDI/ASP Service Starts”  

2013

February Pullsystem began operating for mass production at the Takaoka and Toyohashi Minami Plants of Toyota Boshoku Corporation  
April Toyota Working Group Common EDI/ASP services started Support desk for these services opened
Pullsystem began operating for mass production at the Oguchi Plant of Tokai Rika Co., Ltd.
 
September BL-2/BL-4S began operating for mass production at the three plants of Futaba Industrial Co., Ltd.  
October Pullsystem began operating for mass production at the L&F Brazil Plant of Toyota Industries Corporation.
Pullsystem began operating for mass production at the Fujisusono, Fujioka, and Tokyo Plants of Toyota Boshoku Corporation
 
November Pullsystem began operating for mass production at the Tsutsumi and Tsuchihashi Plants of Toyota Boshoku Corporation
2013 TOPICS Exhibit and Seminar held under the title “How to utilize Toyota Working Group Common EDI in operations”
 

2014

April Pullsystem began operating for mass production at the three plants of Tokai Rika Co., Ltd.  
September The 20th TOPICS information exchange meeting held in commemoration of the 35th anniversary of TOPIX’s founding  
October Parts procurement system at the Sanage and Toyohashi-Kita Plants of Toyota Boshoku Corporation switched from an e-kanban system to Pullsystem  
November 2014 TOPICS Exhibit and Seminar held under the title “Using Toyota Working Group Common EDI to reform order receiving/shipping operations”  

2015

July BL-4S delivered to Akashi-Kikai Industry Co., Ltd.  
October Displayed products at the Monozukuri Fair 2015 held in Fukuoka
▲Monozukuri Fair 2015
November Pullsystem delivered to the Anjo Plant of Toyota Industries Corporation.
2015 TOPICS Exhibit and Seminar held under the title “New initiatives toward manufacturing”
 

2016

April Displayed at “1st Design Engineering & Manufacturing Solutions Expo in Nagoya”Proposed solution of “Production Track Record Collection”  
June Established TOPIX Kyushu Office, near Hakata station in Fukuoka city.  
October Hold TOPIX Exhibition; “TOPIX way of utilizing in-process production order”.  

2017

April Established TOPIX Higashinihon Office in Sendai city.  
July Nagoya Office moved to Symphony Toyota Bldg.  

2018

February “TopicsAlpha” delivered to ASUNO HORIE(THAILAND)Co.,LTD  
April Pullsystem began operating for mass production at the Shintoyo plant of Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd.  
July “TopicsAlpha” delivered to PT. Futaba Industrial Indonesia.  

2019

February “TopicsAlpha” delivered to Hamura plant of Hino Motors, Ltd.  
July The 21th TOPICS information exchange meeting held in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of TOPIX’s founding
BL-1R began operating for mass production at TAKEBE TEKKOSHO Co.,Ltd.
 

2020

January BL-4S began operating for mass production at the six plants of Sango Co., Ltd. and two Sango Group.  
March “TopTime” delivered to Inabe plant of TOYOTA AUTO BODY Co., Ltd.
“TopTime” delivered to Morimachi plant of TOYODA GOSEI Co., Ltd.
 

2022

April Leveling pickup system(Libra) began operating at the Heiwacho plant of Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd.  

2023

January Warehouse management system(PHOENIX)began operating at Toyotsu Machinery Corporation  
October Nagoya Office moved to Sumitomo Life Nagoya Bldg.
“TopTime” delivered to Yajima plant of Subaru SUBARU CORPORATION.