One of the great guiding traditions here at Toyota is “genchi genbutsu”, which roughly translates into “go and see where work is done in order to gain fuller understanding.” Very much in that spirit, Toyota is conducting a safety and quality news media tour of our global headquarters in Japan this week.
 
This tour will offer a group of about a dozen top-level automotive reporters and analysts a deep dive into a wide variety of Toyota’s safety and quality processes, including our company’s technology, innovation, procedures and plants.  Specifically, it was designed to provide an unprecedented level of “behind-the-scenes” access to the nuts and bolts of how Toyota helps ensure the safety and quality of its vehicles in engineering and development.
 
I’m particularly looking forward to visiting what many consider to be the most advanced automotive facility in the world, the Higashi-Fuji Technical Center.  Here, we will try out a NASA-style driving simulator and witness a vehicle crash test, among other activities.  It promises to be pretty big on the “wow factor.”
 
Over the next several days, I’ll be posting stories about some of our experiences and the things I am learning. I look forward to sharing them with you.

 

Kristen Tabar
General Manager, Electronic Systems
Toyota Technical Center, Michigan, USA