Results from first half of the Production Facility Modernization Five-Year Plan

Toyota Motor Co., Ltd.'s machinery and equipment became obsolete, and as mentioned above, by the end of 1950, more than half (53 percent) of its machinery had been in use for 10 years or more. Updating of obsolete equipment and increasing capacity was planned, and in February 1951, the Production Facility Modernization Five-Year Plan was adopted (covering the period from April 1951 to March 1956). Target monthly production under the plan was 3,000 units, approximately double the 1,542 units produced in March 1951.

The plan called for total investment in equipment of approximately 5.8 billion yen over five years, with approximately 700 million yen to be invested in the first fiscal year (1951) and approximately 600 million yen the following year. The plan for 1951 focused on updating obsolete equipment, but the supply capacity of domestic machinery makers was inadequate so the difference was supplemented by acquiring equipment formerly designated for reparations and importing foreign production equipment.

In 1952, priority was placed on establishing the production facilities for the R engine (1,500 cc class), which was in prototype production and testing. Specialized equipment and tools designed and manufactured by Kariya Machine Works (a company name temporarily used by Toyota Machine Works following the war1) were installed with the aim of starting production in April 1953. Development of the R engine was extended because of design changes, and production began in September 1953.

One new machine that attracted attention at this time was a Clearing-type, internally-manufactured 2,000-ton press that went into operation in June 1951. Until then, a 700-ton crank press for automobile frames manufactured by Komatsu Ltd. and installed in 1935 was used, but when forming truck frames, it was necessary to divide the front and rear ends of the mold and to operate the press twice. The 2,000-ton press was installed to eliminate this lack of capacity. The background to its installation was as follows.

A request was received in July 1940 from the Automobile Technology Committee chaired by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to reinforce truck suspensions and increase their carrying capacity, and development of the 4-ton Model KB truck was started. An attempt was made to acquire a large press from the United States to form the truck frames, but as war expanded in Europe, the export of large presses was banned, and acquisition was not possible.

In the summer of 1941, a decision was made for Kenya Nakamura of the Body Manufacturing Division to manufacture a press internally with cooperation from Sumitomo Machinery, and Nakamura began designing a press based on a 2,000-ton Clearing press owned by Kanagawa-based Kohan Kogyo Co., Ltd. Tentative drawings of the large components were completed around the summer of 1944 and manufacture of the machine began, but with the worsening war situation, the manufacture had to be postponed until the end of the war.

The Temporary Reconstruction Office began restoring machinery in April 1946, and work on the 2000-ton press was resumed. With cooperation from Sumitomo Machinery, which was responsible for the drive mechanism and other components, a Clearing-type 2,000 ton press with a total mass of 216 tons was completed in April 1951 and began operating in June.

This Clearing-type 2,000 ton press was used not only to manufacture truck frames, but was also used as a transfer press. In other words, four press dies were attached by using horizontal slides and bolsters, and the panels were transported between the press dies manually in each stroke, and stamped parts (such as brake backing plates) were completed with each stroke.

Although cooperation was received from a machinery manufacturer, this large press was manufactured in-house and was a monumental achievement symbolizing Toyota's spirit of manufacturing through self-help efforts. The 2,000-ton press was relocated to the frame manufacturing plant of a Takebe Co., Ltd. subsidiary in Thailand in 2006.

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