We’ve just updated this part of the TTC-AU site – it now features a “Day in the Life” of one of our engineers, in this instance, Richard.
He’s a very skilled engineer who joined us in 2003, and since has been based in Australia and the US. He moved back here a year ago, and is doing fascinating work in the Vehicle Development Group. It’s worth having a look at his story to gain some insight into the work life, training and unique global experiences offered to our engineers.
Our parent company, the Toyota Motor Company, is the largest automobile company in the world – but proud as we are of our collective achievements, we are never content.
I liken our journey to a multi-level car park where the levels are joined by an upward spiral ramp, where you never actually see the end. That’s how we see our journey at TTC-AU – moving upwards, always improving, without finish or conclusion as a company, a division, a department or as an individual.
Our end goal is to simply be better, be ambitious and aspire to the next goal, which is what our customers have come to expect from us.
Our fundamental policy at TTC-AU is “Quality First” and to support this policy, we have 3 basic rules that everyone in the corporation abides by:
Rule #1: Think Customer
Rule #2: Think Quality
Rule #3: Remember Rules 1 and 2
We hope that we never reach the end, that we’re always delivering the best, and then bettering it for ourselves and our customers.
In January 2008, our new President Oyamada-san started at our site in Notting Hill. Having only recently arrived in our country, Oyamada-san expressed the desire to get better acquainted with our teams and their activities, and better understand the Australian take on automotive excellence. And true to our company’s form, he used The Toyota Way to doing so with our Vehicle Evaluation Group.
Applying Genchi Genbutsu – ‘Go to the Source and see for yourself’ – to experience first hand what the VE-Group does, he invited the Group’s engineers to a day of vehicle testing at the Anglesea Proving Ground. The ultimate Australian driving experience, The Toyota Way…
As part of the induction program at Toyota Technical Center Australia (TTC-AU), all our new employees attend the Toyota Way Foundations Course. As the name suggests, this one-day initiation course introduces the business philosophy at the core of our activities around the world – The Toyota Way (TTW) and establishes the base for future learning.
This year, two of our company’s senior managers having some 30 years of experience with the company vividly illustrated how they personally translated the two pillars of the Toyota Way (Continuous Improvement & Respect for People) and how the pillars have been used in the wider Toyota Group.
One particular anecdote relates to a fire destroying the plant of our largest P-valve unit supplier in Japan. At the time of the fire, almost all of the Toyota vehicle assembly plants were planning to operate at full capacity. By applying the processes in place at our company, assigning roles and responsibilities, and through team work, Toyota top management not only sourced a stable supply of P-valve units that saved the plant from being shut down, but also helped rebuild the plant’s assembly lines by mobilising support from other suppliers. Overall, they allocated 1,200 people to resolve the problems related to the fire. Although their efforts peaked during the two weeks after the fire occurred, a considerable number of Toyota members worked on Saturdays and Sundays for close to a month.
At the end of the Foundation Course, the participants of the Foundations Course were invited to partake in a simulation. After all, ‘seeing is believing’. The objective was to build miniature Land Cruisers at two purpose-built miniature production lines. The first line was set up in a departmental structure. The second line was set up according to The Toyota Way (TTW) -philosophy using a step-by-step process and focusing on teamwork. The outcomes were striking. Due to its siloed structure, the departmental line proved to be far more sensitive to errors and imperfection than TTW-line. The latter allowed for increased communication between team members, facilitating the group’s production process, efficiency, speed and overall results.
Food for thought! Now all we have to do is practice…
I really wanted to write a few words about the philosophy behind TTC-AU. Our company prides itself on “The Toyota Way”, a set of guiding principles that seek to continuously improve our company and our people.
For those of you not familiar with the Toyota Way, the two key elements are:
Continuous Improvement, and
Respect for People.
Under Continuous Improvement comes the creed to always adopt a long term philosophy and to consider and question everything. The right process will provide the right results – continuous improvement eliminates wastage and gets quality right the first time.
Another element to Continuous Improvement is ‘genchi genbutsu’: a term often used within Toyota walls, meaning ‘go the source’ and see for yourself.
When challenged by a problem, we encourage our staff to investigate the problem at the root of the issue before providing a solution, rather than using ‘hear-say’ as the basis for improvement.
Last but not least, Continuous Improvement drives organisational learning: by learning from our past challenges, we can avoid similar pitfalls and ensure greater success in future projects.
Respect for People splits into two key pillars – respect for stakeholders and teamwork. We believe in mutual trust and partnership, and add value to our organisation by developing our people. Our aim is to make every employee a knowledgeable, passionate, global leader.
I feel fortunate to have spent much of my career at Toyota, a company where developing high quality staff and designing high quality vehicles go hand in hand. A global company with a global perspective, epitomised by TTC-AU; a top facility firmly based in Australia, utilising Australian talent to design cars that might not be built here or even sold here, but will be enjoyed by people all over the world.
The ability of Toyota Australia to produce cars specifically designed for the local market has been significantly enhanced as a result of the decision by Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) to establish a research and development centre in Melbourne, according to Toyota Australia President Ken Asano
This announcement is excellent news for Toyota and for the Australian automotive industry,” Mr Asano said.
Currently, our engineers conduct research and development work to ensure the global makes of Camry and Avalon are tailored to the specific needs of our Australian and export markets.
However, the research and development base will have the ability over time to design vehicles from the ground up that are specifically designed for local Australian and Asian markets. This creates great opportunities for our manufacturing operations and for many highly skilled Australians seeking a career in the automotive industry.
It also has the potential to provide more opportunities for our local part components suppliers who will have a continuing role to play in the ongoing development programs.
In the future, this could mean that our Altona plant could be producing vehicles such as 4WD, new passenger cars or sport utility vehicles similar to the X-Runner concept vehicle that our engineers produced for the Melbourne Motor Show.
It is a clear vote of confidence in the capacity of the people and facilities that make up the Australian automotive sector. It also recognises the ongoing support from both the Federal Government and the Victorian Government. Both have a strong understanding of the industry and its value in terms of key areas such as technology transfer, export revenue and job creation.
“ Opportunities for young people wanting to pursue an exciting and challenging career in the automotive industry will increase. More than ever before, customers in Australia can look forward to seeing even more exciting cars in terms of design and performance.
TMC today announced a plan to establish the Toyota Technical Centre Asia Pacific – Australia (TTCAP – AU) in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs. The Asia/Pacific facility will have a second operation in Bangkok. It will be the third technical centre established by TMC outside Japan with existing operations in Europe and North America.
TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION (TMC) will established a new research and development base for the Asia/Pacific region – its third development base worldwide – in order to supply products that meet the needs of growing markets in the Australia/Asia region as they diversify and become more advanced, and to reinforce product development capabilities.
The new development centre will have facilities in Australia – Toyota Technical Centre Asia Pacific Australia Pty Ltd (TTCAP-AU) and Thailand – Toyota Technical Centre Asia Pacific Thailand Co. Ltd (TTCAP-TH). Each centre will have its own technology development centre. In addition to Japan, TMC operates technical centres in Europe and North America.
The announcement was made concurrently in Tokyo, Melbourne and Bangkok today.
Speaking in Melbourne today, TMC Director Kazutoshi Minami said that the new centre would encompass two countries and take advantage of the merits of both – the proven achievements in automotive development in Australia and the potential and geographic advantage of Thailand.
Mr Minami said that the role of the research and development centre would be to supply new products to Toyota’s manufacturing sites in the context of global development operations. Toyota Australia’s existing technology divisions will continue to support its own production activities that are currently focused on Camry and Avalon sedans for local and export markets.
“ Australia has a well developed and advanced infrastructure, coupled with a pool of well qualified, experienced automotive specialists. The industry is well supported by Governments at all levels and maintains a very strong network of parts and components suppliers. In our view, Australia has an important role to play as a partner in the continuing development of motor vehicles for customers across the world.”
The Australian operation will be located in Melbourne with the initial capital investment at AUD$47 million. At least 90 employees are expected to begin work at the Centre when operations begin during the second half of 2004. The majority of these employees will be highly skilled technical and engineering specialists recruited locally with the balance consisting of administrative and support employees. There is potential for future growth in relation to employee numbers.
President of the TTCAP-AU will be Takeo YagiT
TMC plans for both centres to have the latest design and analysis tools and evaluation facilities in addition to vehicle development tools. Initially they will work on partial development with the long-term aim being the ability to design an entire vehicle.
Outline of TTCAP-AU
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| Name | Toyota Technical Centre Asia Pacific Australia Pty. Ltd. (TTCAP-AU) |
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| Location | Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
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| Capital | AUD$24 million |
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| Share distribution | TMC 100% |
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| Executives | President: Mr Takeo Yagi |
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| Details of operations | Vehicle development |
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| Site area | Approx. 40,000 m2 (plan) |
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| Investment Min | AUD$47 million |
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| Date of establishment | June 2003 (planned) |
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| Start of operations | Latter half of 2004 |
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| Number of employees | Min 90 (at start of operations in late 2004) with potential for future growth |
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Outline of TTCAP-TH
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| Name | Toyota Technical Centre Asia Pacific Thailand Co. Ltd. (TTCAP-TH) |
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| Location | Samut Prakan Province, Thailand |
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| Capital | 1.1 billion baht (approx. 3 billion yen) |
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| Share distribution | TMC 100% |
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| Executives | President: Eichi Omura |
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| Details of operations | Vehicle development and other related operations |
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| Site area | 320,000 m2 |
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| Investment | Approx. 7.3 billion yen |
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| Date of establishment | September 2003 (planned) |
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| Start of operations | Latter half of 2004 |
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| Number of employees | Approx. 240 (at start of operations) |
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