Friday, March 27, 2015

In among the robots, veteran Toyota staffer says manual labor is key to success

By Chang-Ran Kim TOYOTA CITY, Japan (Reuters) - In a corner of Toyotas oldest factory, the Japanese carmakers longest-serving employee preaches the benefits of craftsmanship, saying manual labor is the key to success in a highly automated automotive industry. Mitsuru Kawai, 67, joined Toyotas technical academy from junior high school more than half a century ago, and believes that even in todays sleek, streamlined, robot-filled factories theres a place for manual skills to be learned, honed and encouraged. The worlds biggest automaker will this year launch its first car as part of its Toyota New Global Architecture (TNGA) initiative - where common platforms and powertrains will be used across many models, cutting production costs by as much as a fifth. more

No comments:

Post a Comment