Planning to plant plants at the plants: stories from Tsutsumi
Posted by Colin Hensley on November 12, 2009 in sustainability
There are sometimes stories that we don’t write about, that are actually of great interest to many people. This seems to have been the case with the plants that have been bred by TMC’s Biotechnology & Afforestation Business Division in Japan, and are used, amongst other places at the Prius plant. I have to admit I missed the significance of this when I visited Tsutsumi last June, but there has been a great buzz around the blogs about this.
What they have done is identified plants that have particular characteristics that can improve the environment. This includes absorbing pollutants, like NO2 or SO2 or emitting more water vapour to cool the air. Then through a breeding programme they were able to further improve the level of these characteristics.
Two types of plants that are used extensively around Tsutsumi are Salvias and Gardenias. The Kirsch Pink Salvia can control heat and absorb pollutants, while the Kirsch Red has fast early growth which fixes more CO2. These are used around the factory alongside the Gardenias that have similar properties, and can even grow in the dark!
There is also a special type of slow-growing grass that only needs mowing once a year and is planted on the roof, in between the solar panels, (I’d quite like that for my garden.)
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Comments(1)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)
