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Toyota Rewards Body Weld Team Members with
Prizes for Improvement Suggestions

Body Weld Team Members Troy Antle (IW190), Rick Corbin (IW271), and Doug Hill (SW141)

GEORGETOWN, KENTUCKY, (November 2, 2007) —Three team members in Body Weld were awarded for submitting suggestions that will aid in production cost savings in the Body Weld unit at TMMK.

Doug Hill (SW141), Rick Corbin (IW271), and Troy Antle (IW190) were awarded $100 gift cards for the submissions in TMMK’s Body Weld Pilot Improvement Suggestion Contest.

Hill’s idea focused on replacing the metal nuts that hold a vehicle’s license plate to the bracket.

Corbin’s idea focused on increasing the welding surface area for all door opening flanges, alleviating “slag” or leftover weld materials that eventually have to be removed from the car later down the assembly line.

Antle’s idea focused on adjustments to the Camry trunk lid, which would make it glide easier during the opening and shutting process.

Asking team members for their thoughts is not uncommon at Toyota. Toyota is noted around the world for “The Toyota Way”, which among other things promotes a culture that emphasizes respect for people. At TMMK, when a team member on the shop floor comes up with an idea that could improve their daily work process-that idea is taken seriously and often implemented plantwide. In fact, one of Toyota’s guiding principles is utilizing employee ideas and opinions in production processes, and practicing "kaizen" — striving for constant improvement.

TMMK in Georgetown employs about 7,000 team members in its 7.5 million square foot facility. It has the capacity to build more than 500,000 Camrys, Solaras and Avalons each year. Although TMMK is Toyota’s largest manufacturing facility in North America, each team member’s ideas and contributions are encouraged, allowing a pride in ownership for every vehicle produced.

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Contact:
Rick Hesterberg
Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc.
502-868-2135