The Toyota New Global Architecture (TNGA) initiative is the company’s first move in response to a “sudden and drastic” change in their business environment.
Toyota plans to forsake older business practices and reduce costs to put quality over quantity in what seems to be a reaction to the recent global recession.
Factories will face a 20 percent reduction in material investments to achieve “simple and slim” production lines. Plant investment is also planned to go down 50 percent this year from 2008’s numbers.
Is this cause for alarm?
Toyota claims that while it may be taking resources out of their plants, they plan on redistributing them back into the system elsewhere.
What does Toyota’s new business methods mean for the cars?
Toyota’s old model of designing powertrains and platforms separately is gone. The two will now be designed together using lighter components and given lower centers of gravity. New models will have attractive, low-stance designs with more responsive handling and improved collision performance.
Toyota also expects improvements with engine and transmission efficiency. The company predicts improved fuel consumption by 25 percent with a 15 percent increase in overall power output.
Hybrid cars are also getting a makeover. Design teams are looking to create smaller electric motors, inverters and batteries with a predicted 15 percent increase in fuel efficiency.
New laser technology to speed up assembly lines
Toyota’s newer lines of vehicle bodies will be more rigid than ever. Body components will be joined together using an advanced form of laser spot welding Toyota calls “laser screw welding” (LSW).
LSW is designed for faster and more efficient welding for both steel and aluminum bodies when compared to spot welding. In its initial form, laser screw welding will alternate with spot welds on car bodies.
The new technology is also predicted to contribute to a 55 percent decrease in plant C02 emissions.
Toyota’s manufacturing process began utilizing laser screw welding in 2013. Will laser screw welding replace spot welding in the near future? To learn more about LSW and Toyota New Global Architecture, read on with us here.
Toyota predicts their new powertrains and platforms to represent half of sales by 2020.