Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Every day is “sun”day at the Toyota Parts Centre
Posted by Colin Hensley on April 13, 2010 in Uncategorized
I was recently lucky enough to be on vacation in the mountains. While I was riding up the mountain on the ski-lift with some friends I noticed that there seemed to be a lot fewer trees affected by acid rain as compared with my recollection of some years ago. If this is true, then I hope it has a lot to do with the wider use of electricity from renewable sources. We believe this is a very important step to take to have a more sustainable business.
It’s for precisely this reason that TME, in partnership with Blue Planet Solar NV have installed an 80,000m² solar panel array on the roof of our parts centre, TPCE, in Diest. This installation is one of the largest thin-film solar panel rooftop installations in Belgium and will produce between 15% & 20% of the annual electricity requirements of the facility, resulting in reduced CO2 emissions and huge savings on the energy bill.
On the 24th March we held an inauguration ceremony where the Flemish Minister for Energy, Ms Freya Van den Bossche symbolically pushed the button to start the collection of energy from the panels. Ms Van den Bossche also joined our partners and the other VIP guests in a trip to the roof to see the 12,800 panels. It was hugely impressive, covering the equivalent of 16 football pitches, the panels just seemed to go on and on as far as you could see. Even here in Belgium, which isn’t noted for it’s sunny climate, the panels should generate somewhere between 15% and 20% of the annual electricity needs of TPCE (the rest of the electricity also comes from renewable sources).
This also means a reduction in the CO2 emissions of about 1700 tonnes/year for TPCE. So now as well as being able to offer lower CO2 cars, we can also address emissions during the rest of the product lifecycle.
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Comments(0)“Flying” in the Toyota Way
Posted by Colin Hensley on August 07, 2009 in Uncategorized
On our recent vacation I had a lot of fun on the flying trapeze. This involves flinging yourself into space hanging on to a bar, then after executing some physical contortions to get into a specific position, letting go and being caught by the brave catcher at the other side.
As I prepared to leap, I thought about the teamwork and coordination that was required to be able to welcome a complete novice to the trapeze and an hour later have them being caught. There are four people in the team. The first is on the ground checking belts, teaching new positions and keeping things in good order. The second is at the top of the ladder; they fasten on the safety rope, and get the flyer into position, before sending them off into the void. The third is the catcher, who swings upside down waiting for the flyer to head directly at them. The fourth is basically in-charge, and controls the safety rope, and the overall timing of the activity.
Each one of the team takes responsibility for the flyer at their point in the process, and ensures that no problems are passed on to the next person. It’s a demonstration of great teamwork, combining synchronisation with complete trust in each other. Furthermore, giving the flyer the chance to repeat their position a number of times allows them to continuously improve their skill. I realised this is very like the Toyota’s “Total Quality Control” system in many ways, where you always depend on the person before you to deliver you what’s needed, and importantly take responsibility for delivering to your customer, the next person in the process. This way you can build-in quality from the start. Like so many things in our company, it’s a very logical approach to take. For me what is special is that it is formalised and spread through people’s day-to-day thinking through on-the-job training.
Thanks Andrea, Nathalie, Guillaume and Florent, it was a great experience, and a great lesson.
You can do a lot with the right iQ!
Posted by Colin Hensley on July 07, 2009 in Uncategorized
Remark: This picture is not representative for future models on the market
Working in communications means that you will often be exposed to things sooner than most people. This means we learn early about planned changes in production levels, or about the changes in our top management. It also means we are in the loop on quite exciting little stories.
When I was recently invited to participate in a meeting about a secret project, I really had no idea what it was about. Even when I first saw the A3 (the paper size) it took a second to sink in. Wow!, I thought, it’s an iQ, but it’s been turned into an Aston Martin city car concept, amazing, asto(u)nding!
Well, here we are, a few weeks further on, and a week after the announcement, and that, it turns out, was also the response of many other people. The traffic on the social networks has been extraordinary. I’d set up a search column in Tweetdeck to follow the topic, firstly to watch for any leaks, but later to watch the response. It was really flying, I gave up counting after 500 tweets. (if anyone knows a good way to count tweets with a specific word in them, please let me know.)
If you have read earlier blog entries, you’ll know I’m a little smitten by the iQ, as it really does exactly what it says on the box, and puts a smile on your face. Now it seems it can and will do even more. As well as the collaboration with Aston Martin, in Japan TMC will be launching a limited edition version of the iQ, customised by GAZOO racing – that’s the team that brought the LF-A to Nürburgring. They’ll also work on a range of other customisations which appeal to young people or women drivers.
So, what would you like your iQ to be? Answers below please.
If you can’t say it in 140 characters, it’ll have to go in the blog
Posted by Colin Hensley on April 30, 2009 in Uncategorized
We started our @Toyota_Europe activity on Twitter in February this year, with some hopes and some trepidation (or is there already a word “tweetidation” meaning nervousness about the response to your tweet?) After the establishment of this blog, this is the next of our steps to try to engage with people who are interested in Toyota in Europe.
The first use of Twitter, is to let interested people (called followers) follow what we have to say. So our tweets include references to press releases or activities that are going on around Toyota.
I currently run the software called Tweetdeck on the second screen on my PC, which now has a continuous stream of tweets running down it. It actually reminds me a little of the digital rain in the movie The Matrix. One of the streams shows me all of the tweets that are being sent that mention Toyota. This is the second use of Twitter. By keeping an eye on this it is possible to see when people have questions or concerns about us, and when possible, we can respond directly to them.
As a reader of this blog, you may already be following us on Twitter, if not, you can find us @Toyota_Europe. I really hope to see you there, and have a chance to tweet together!
Feeling technologically challenged? - these kids aren’t…
Posted by Colin Hensley on April 02, 2009 in Uncategorized
I grew up as science loving son of a science teacher & electrical engineer. Unsurprisingly, I am always happy to see projects or activities that help to instil enthusiasm for science into school kids. A really nice example of this is the Toyota Technology Challenge which is aimed at 11-16 year olds in the UK. It is funded by Toyota Fund for Europe, and run by TMUK in collaboration with Rapid.
There are two categories in the challenge. One is building a solar powered car, the other a car with a microcontroller enabling it to detect and avoid obstacles. You can see all of the details in the link above, but the basic idea is this:
• The team registers to participate
• A kit with everything they need to make the vehicle is sent to them
• They produce a folder all about their planned vehicle and submit it (Feb)
• Folder judging – best entries invited to one of 7 regional finals (April)
• At the regionals the folders are presented and vehicles race
• Winners are invited to national final at TMUK (16 May)
• More presentations and racing to find the champions!
This is the 5th year this has been run as a national challenge. Each year they receive about 400 registrations and typically about a quarter will actually submit their entry folder. The first of the regional finals will be held next week in Scotland, so good luck to all of the teams, and watch this space to find out who is successful.
These will be the engineers and scientists of the next decades, developing the technologies and products that we will need to ensure we have a sustainable future. So it’s really important that we get as many students as possible involved in this type of activity, and celebrate their enthusiasm.
