Toyota completes enhanced R&D facilities at Honsha Plant

Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) announced the completion of the Power Train Development and Production Engineering Building (PTDPEB) at Honsha Plant in Toyota City, Japan, which will serve as a development base for next-generation power train components, and the completion of the Aerodynamics Laboratory at the Honsha Technical Center, which will pursue enhanced automotive aerodynamic performance. The two facilities will serve to accelerate TMC’s efforts to make ever-better cars.
The Unit Center, a new organization that will develop globally competitive unit components (including major power train components such as engines and transmissions) and bring them promptly to market, will begin operation on April 1, 2013. The Unit Center will consist of various R&D and production engineering units that are to be consolidated at Honsha Plant, the roots of TMC’s operations. Unit Center operations began in February at the PTDPEB.
In addition to the integration of R&D and production engineering units at the facility, development processes have also been reformed to aid the development of new technologies and new production methods. The building features company-first paperless offices, no assigned desks, and many free work spaces that engineers can use at any time for collaboration and discussion while viewing diagrams, parts and vehicles.
The PTDPEB has a total floor area of approximately 100,000 square meters. There are integrated development offices for R&D and production engineering units, and floors for prototype and production method development and parts analysis. Lower levels of the building include areas for assessment and compatibility testing with a focus on major components and vehicles. With all these units in the same building, the different sequences of the power train development process can be integrated. During normal operations, approximately 2,800 employees will work in the building.
The Aerodynamics Laboratory (AL) will develop technologies for aerodynamic management to enhance automobile environmental performance, driving performance and quietness.
The AL will begin operations in March 2013. It is equipped with a large fan and a moving belt system that can simulate vehicle operation and environments with wind speeds of up to 250 km/h, (155 mph) making precise evaluation of aerodynamic characteristics possible under a range of driving conditions, from city to highway driving. The walls and floor of the wind tunnel have optimally placed sound-absorbing material to create a low-noise environment, enabling assessment of wind noise and other sounds.
The AL is intended to bolster efforts to reduce air resistance and further improve environmental performance. Reducing air resistance is extremely effective for improving fuel efficiency during high-speed driving. When driving at 100 km/h (62 mph), approximately 70% of resistance on the vehicle is air resistance.
TMC is developing environmental technologies in accordance with one of its fundamental policies of improving energy savings through fuel efficiency and encouraging the use of alternative energy sources such as electricity and hydrogen.
The placement of the AL in the Honsha Technical Center will facilitate close collaboration among design, development, and testing divisions, leading to more attractive and quieter designs as well as enhanced maneuverability and driving stability. This is the first renovation since TMC introduced its first such facility in 1969 and represents a major augmentation of TMC’s aerodynamic technology development system and processes.
(March 28, 2013)