GFerg

Source: Automotive News Daily Email

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. -- Toyota Motor Corp. is taking even more time out of vehicle development.

The automaker’s U.S. engineering group moved the 2005 year Avalon redesign from production drawing to production in just 18 months. That is down from its 2000 year redesign project, which took 29.5 months.

But Seiya Nakao, executive chief engineer for Toyota Technical Center USA Inc. in Ann Arbor, Mich., says his team wants to trim the process even further now.

“We’d like to try that and we’re making a lot of efforts,” Nakao told a Management Briefing Seminars audience Tuesday. “But it’s going to be a very tough road.”

The schedules are startling, considering that a decade ago, Toyota was taking more than 30 months to develop models, while the Big 3 were taking more than 40.

One change that helped, Nakao says, is a practice Toyota calls “obeya,” or “the big room.”

For obeya, Toyota brings all of its key suppliers into a common workroom to identify problems and work out solutions at the outset of the project. According to Nakao, that process has reduced the number of engineering changes that would otherwise emerge later in the project.

The company has also simplified its manufacturing engineering with more flexible tooling and commonized production practices.

In recent years, Toyota has shifted more engineering and development resources from Japan to Ann Arbor. The company now plans to build a $150 million research and development center in Ann Arbor that will employ about 700.

Stage3

iTrader: (3)

cripes!!! 18 months!!! dang, i wish i could build an ENTIRE CAR FROM SCRATCH in 18 months. Although they do have unlimited resources and the best tools on the planet...

LexFather

THis is really big news, thanks. This is REALLY big, that means if a car flops or if some things are successful, they can adjust quicker and add/subract to other models.

The Avalon is the MOST COMPLEX Toyota and it ONLY took 18 months? So a Corolla should take 12?

Wow, this is incredible.

foofighter

that's truly amazing, i'm so impressed with how toyota approaches their challenges and comes up with incredible solutions

GFerg

What I really like is how they work with all suppliers from the get go. They work closer together and it makes a great business atmosphere. Other automakers should take notes.

encore888

So this is the opposite of the LS 400 which took 6 years?

Also the LS 430 I wonder took how long? I imagine with Lexus, Toyota gives maximum time for 'ultimate refinement' -- sort of the other end of the spectrum. With Toyota, design is for 'maximum efficiency' -- producing reliability, comfort, performance--all class-leading, but more quickly.

LexFather

Well its a different market. The ultra luxury class is not about change but almost the opposite. THey do not want to spend 70k on a car and 2 years later a restyled one is out. It would kill resale and some of the luxury aspect.

STIG

It's great that toyota can make the new avalon in production in 18 months but i dont know if that's really creat a great business atmosphere with their suppliers. Toyota uses JIT (just in time, and it cuts a lot of costs) system with their suppliers. Toyota and Dell are well known for squeezing thier suppliers so much that they make the suppliers cry. lol. Good for the consumers since we got the final product cheap, bad for the suppliers.

LexFather

I forgot the Japanese word for it but Toyota does not sqeeze suppliers. They are one of the few companies that works with them. That is why quality is so high and also, why Toyotas will never be the cheapest product.

GFerg

I wouldnt see why not. They work closer together and they know eachother on a personal level(might) and business level. They are able to compensate for eachothers needs better without much drama(money, design issues etc)

If any company is able to work together on a bigger level than just the regular conference call every now and then, then I believe that is an outstanding atmosphere to work in.

I havent heard of much complaints from the Toyota suppliers(well except they cant keep up with demand on certain products...LOL) but we have heard of many problems with other suppliers who dont work with Toyota.

nthach

Toyota owns their major suppliers like Denso, Aisin, and Tokai Rika. They have get-go from the beginning. Ford and GM are almost like Toyota, but their major suppliers Visteon and Delphi, respectively, are spun off from them. The Euros deal with the same suppliers like Bosch, Valeo, Siemens and so on.

Celicamaro

Toyota designs have always been intelligent designs, but now I worry about quality of execution. Parts not thoroughly tightened or seals not properly sealing, etc. Leaving customers to have to deal with crappy dealers to fix annoying little stuff.

doug_999

Per Bob Lutz, the Pontiac GTO does not have a sunroof because they only had 18 months to bring the car to the US - from an existing design of course. I wonder what Mr. Lutz would say to Toyota designing an entire car in the same period of time?


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Bean

iTrader: (1)

They've been cutting down on their time from drawing board to sales for a long time... perhaps you'd like to take a new Toyota and say some seals arent tightened correctly?

Having fast production time has NO reflection on whether parts are 'tightened thoroghly' or not... this has to do with research and development, not actual car production.

LexFather

LMAO......................