Our company is a complete vehicle manufacturer responsible for manufacturing and assembling of body and parts, and painting of "HIACE" which are sold in more than 150 countries in the world. We adopt "Slim Simple and Strong Factory" for producing large auto bodies of high quality in compact assembly lines, we have achieved top class quality in of all Toyota for many years.
5 Process Lines in Factory
Factory can be roughly divided into 5 process lines: Press, body, painting, assembly and inspection.
Press Process
The large press machine automatically makes steel plates form each part for the body. In our factory, we challenge shortening mold exchange time and speeding processing up, to achieve high production efficiency. Also we have excellent molds technical capabilities in the processing high-tensile steel plate (high-tensile steel material).
Body Process
The steel parts made in the press are built up as the body to be a base of a car by robots and skilled workers. Frequently using ATC (auto tool changer) in welding robot and AGV (auto ground vehicle) in parts transport made the space efficiency the top of the industry. In addition mass-production cars large body production for super long class has been available because of the first outer plate series SP welding.
See in numbers of Hiace 30,000
About 30,000 parts are required for one Hiace. They are made in a large number of our associated factories. Generally, associated factories are manufacturers with specializing in parts in most cases, however for Hiace, Gifu Auto Body is responsible for parts manufacturing and vehicle assembly, such as seat tracks. In other words, we are the rare presence that handles both vehicles and parts.
Painting Process
Electrodeposition coating for antirust is conducted and the body is completed to a beautiful finish by the second and top coating. Since the enemies of painting are rubbish and dust we have devices to remove the suspended substance throughout the factory to ensure to paint smooth and shiny on a large surface area.
Assembly Process
Seats, steering wheels, meters, engines, tires, etc. A lot of parts for interior and exterior are fitted at assembly line system. How can we produce high-quality vehicles more efficiently? How can we reduce the burden of workers and be more environmentally friendly? We are constantly conducting improvement activities (Kaizen) with these perspectives. Production lines are always evolving.
Inspection Process
Once the assembly is complete, HIACE are inspected one by one. Gifu Auto Body aims "Inspection which does not require rework, i.e. manufacturing that do not generate an outside process inspection." Therefore, the workers at each process confirm individually for quality in each work with responsibility, then send to post-process. They inform immediately to the preceding process if a defective product is found in post-process and take countermeasure treatment to fix it.
See in numbers of Hiace 4,000
Inspectors involved in inspection process are testing on behalf of Government. Not only the appearance of the vehicle, but also whether the engine is running normally or lights illuminate the correct position, the performance of the body is also strictly inspected. Inspection items are more than 4,000.
