On 11/2 I set out to the town of Toyota to see the Toyota Plant tour. I arrived early, which gave me time to explore their showroom, which showcased some new technology they are implementing as well as their current line of vehicles The new Land Cruiser is looking pretty cool (it's finally less bulky than the recent models), the 86 sports car had a fun feel to it, and Lexus upped the luxury quite a bit with a widescreen TV for both the front and back seats. And yes you can watch TV in your car (front seats included) while driving in Japan.
Soon I set off for the nearby Toyota manufacturing plant. The tour led us through an upper platform suspended over the whole plant, which is one big warehouse with a snaking assembly line. Obviously for trade secret reasons, we were not allowed to even bring cameras into the plant.
About 90% of car manufacturing is now completely mechanical, so the only human element left is installation of various parts and mechanical oversight, which Toyota calls Jidoka. The idea behind Jidoka is automation with human intelligence. Those workers involved are still valued as an integral part of the manufacturing process, and have the ability to oversee a variety of tasks. 
I found it interesting that they build multiple kinds of vehicles with steering wheels on both left and right sides on one assembly line, but I guess that means they can save a lot of space only having one line and break up the monotony for their workers. It also matches Toyota's other manufacturing pillar. 'Just-in-time'. By being able to produce a variety of vehicles in a single place, they only do so to meet demand that day. As the cars were built, large billboards displayed various stats, like vehicles complete, target goals, etc. for the staff to follow. Running along the manufacturing line is a rope that gets pulled if there is an issue during the process. When that happens, the line still keeps moving, but a manager who specializes in the entirety of the manufacturing process runs over and addresses the issue within a small time window. If he cannot manage to do it within that window, the line stops and he continues his work. It's an interesting idea which keeps the workflow smooth despite the minor hiccups which are bound to occur.
The tour ended with watching the welding, where a group of robot arms all work in unison to weld the frame of the cars together. It was truly a marvel of automated machinery, the precision, harmony and speed were marvelous.
After the we were dropped back off at the showroom just in time to watch Toyota's robot play the violin.
From learning about their history in Nagoya, witnessing their processes firsthand, and having relied on their vehicles for years, I have really grown to respect and admire the way Toyota does business.
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