Archive for the ‘360° approach’ Category
Sustainability reporting, more sustainably
Posted by Colin Hensley on September 04, 2009 in Clean Operations
So, the holiday season has come to an end, and the weather here in Brussels has taken a turn for the greyer and wetter. During the last months my colleagues here have been working on the 2009 edition of the TME Sustainability Report. One thing was clear from the start, it was time to move to have online as our primary communications channel for the report. We previously did have a PDF version on the website, but we were also printing copies. This will no longer be the case, for the FY2008 report, there will be a PDF, but perhaps more importantly all of the content will be fully incorporated into the Toyota corporate website. The report details environmental, social and economic activities of Toyota in Europe, including case studies. We’d love to hear your feedback on the report, either here, or through the addresses on the website.
Speaking of environmental activities, TMUK have been continuing to live up to their sustainable plant title. In the summer they held an Environmental Day, and Eco Plant Expo, which was attended by more than 3000 people. As well as showing off eco-kaizens in the plant itself, there was a nature trail around the balancing lake area and there was even a tree planting event. Visitors also had a chance to drive the lowest CO2 vehicles in our fleet. All in all it was a very educational and enjoyable day out.
Let’s not forget the new Auris HSD full hybrid will also be produced in TMUK. The concept will be on show for all to see in Frankfurt at the IAA.
See you there!
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Comments(0)Out and about in the new Prius – finally!
Posted by Colin Hensley on July 13, 2009 in Green Technologies
HUD & ACC in action on the French Autoroute
Four months ago, I was writing about the new Prius and my desire to get into one for a drive. Thanks to Johan and Dirk, I managed to do so last weekend. I previously had a Prius for a couple of years, so I was looking forward to giving the new model a go.
From the outside you are left no doubt that it’s a Prius, though I think it has really been brought right up to date, with a slightly edgier look. When you get in, the only thing that was really familiar was the voice of ‘Annie’ (this was what our kids christened the voice of the SatNav system.) the new interior was very much to my taste. But enough of me, I decided to ask the kids what they thought of it. Tim said, “it was really comfy and big and not noisy so I could hear the music really well.” Katie’s opinion was “it was cool and quiet and a bit like a spaceship!” (she’s a big fan of Dr Who)
So, there you go, it was fully approved by my toughest car critics. From my perspective, I was really impressed by the car. The driving was really effortless, we went about 800 km during the weekend, and between the lack of noise and the Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), it was possible to get out of the car at the end of the journey feeling in pretty good form. Very importantly, the fuel consumption was also great, and I only had to fill up once. Apart from the ACC, my favourite new feature is the head-up display. There floating in front of me was the speed and my directions – no need to take my eyes off the road – neat, and safe rolled into one.
Hybrid Synergy Drive – from vision to reality
Posted by Colin Hensley on June 15, 2009 in Green Technologies
As you know, last week I was in Japan on a trip we organised for corporate media to give them a real genchi genbutsu experience of our full hybrids. The star of the tour was the new Prius, and we were able to hear from company executives including Uchiyamada (Chief Engineer of the first Prius) about almost everything, from the styling to the development, right through to the manufacturing. We even had the chance to be the first group to visit the battery factory of PEVE a joint venture of Panasonic Corporation and Toyota Motor Corporation.
Solar Panel check
The most impressive part of the trip for me was the visit to the Tsutsumi plant. This is one of the plants where the Prius is being made. There are two mixed lines and Prius is made on both. One has a takt time of 57 seconds, the other 66 seconds. The takt time is the length of time that is allowed for each of the action on the line. One action may be fitting the bumper, or laying out a part of the wire harness. Ultimately, the takt time is also the time between cars coming off the line. So about every minute a car drives off each line. I’ve attached a few of the photos I took, but they don’t quite convey the energy of the line or the incredible focus and dedication of the Team Members.
Tsutsumi is also one of our Sustainable Plants. The plant slogan is “Eco-cars are the product of Eco-plants and Eco-people” and they really do live this every day. For example, there’s a massive array of solar panels on the roof and the building is painted with catalytic paint that removes Nox from the air. Unfortunately, it was miserably grey and raining the day we visited, so there wasn’t too much power being generated. I’ll try to persuade one of my colleagues in Environmental Affairs to write a bit more about this plant in the near future.
Finally, the Toyota Technology Challenge, <drum roll please> and the winners were “Team Torpedo” of Queen Elisabeth Grammar School in the in the solar power competition, and “Team Mafia” from Beechwood Park School in the PIC microcontroller category. Well done to both teams!
“…to the birthplace of the Prius”
Posted by Colin Hensley on June 03, 2009 in 360° approach, Green Technologies
By the time this gets onto the blog I will be in Japan working on the final preparations for a Hybrid Experience Trip that we have organised to help increase knowledge of our full hybrid technology and its history. While I am very happy that we will have the chance to explain this to the journalists who are attending, I am also really excited to be able to participate myself. It will be great to hear more about our technology directly from the Top Management who are responsible for it, and especially exciting to get the chance to go to the Tsutsumi plant, where the Prius is built.
I have been involved with Prius for more than 10 years. In 1999 I accompanied Uchiyamada-san, now Executive Vice-President at TMC, to the Royal Society in London, where he received an award for his work on the original Prius. So it will be quite reminiscent to hear him speak again 10 years on and more than one and a quarter million sales later.
As for the plant, well, it is one of the flagship sustainable plants, with an amazing array of activities going on. These include a massive array of solar panels, wastewater treatments, tree planting, and photo-catalytic paint on the outside of the building, which breaks down NOx. The great thing for me is that these activities still proceed at full speed, even though the plant has reached full capacity and beyond…
I’ll do my best to get a few pictures of the most interesting things, and post them either here or directly in a Tweet (@toyota_europe)
“Keep your eyes on them there hills… the PHV is a comin’”
Posted by Colin Hensley on May 15, 2009 in 360° approach, Green Technologies
This week is really about a few updates of previous posts. At the end of March I wrote about the Plug-in hybrids that we are testing, and the plans for enlarging this test in Europe. At the time I just mentioned the cars that will be going to Strasbourg, well things are starting to move on quite nicely. We are now in discussion to bring the cars to the UK, Germany and the Netherlands, and as you can imagine are keen to work with other countries too if we can. As a consequence, it looks like we will certainly need more than the originally planned number of 150 cars here in Europe.
This is great for us, as we will have even more data to evaluate, and more opinions and experiences of the drivers who are participating in this limited lease pilot. PHV won’t be ready for mass commercialisation for a little while, but when it is, we believe PHV will really complement the Prius, and the other full hybrids in our line-up.
I also promised to update you on the Toyota Technology Challenge in the UK. Well, the final is tomorrow at the Burnaston plant, and there will be thirteen teams competing from all across the country. The teams have already won their regional heats and are now competing for the national title in each of the categories. Seven will compete in the solar powered vehicle category and six in the PIC microcontroller category. Good luck to all of the teams, and, I will, of course, let you know who is finally triumphant
