Toyota And Lexus Strengthen Commitment To India With Skilled Talents And Made In India Products

Japanese giant Toyota entered the Indian automobile space in 1997, as Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) with its first product, the Toyota Qualis rolled out of the Bidadi plant near Bengaluru, Karnataka in 2000. Fast forward to 2022, the company is one of the largest carmakers in the country not just in sales but also topping the chart in terms of customer satisfaction in India and worldwide. While quality products are a key factor in achieving a credible name for itself in the industry, the Japanese carmaker also imparts its core values with the Indian arm to consistently produce world-class products from its local facility spread across 850 acres with an annual capacity of 1.10 lakh vehicles.

“Respect the spirit of research and creativity, and always strive to stay ahead of the times." The motto is a heritage of Sakichi Toyoda, who laid the basis of the Toyota group about a century ago through the invention and industrial use of the world's most advanced automatic looms. Thanks to the hard work of Sakichi and Kiichiro Toyoda (the eldest son of Sakichi), and other forerunners, the industrial technology of Japan progressed rapidly, making Japan one of the leading countries in science and technology. This prompted the global leader to offer unique educational programs, based on Toyota’s founding philosophy, opening doors to the Toyota Technological Institute (TTI) in 1981.

Introduction of TTTI

With expertise in producing global products, Toyota brought the same ideology to India with TKM and opened the Toyota Technical Training Institute (TTTI) in 2007 to impart world-class skills training to young talents of rural Karnataka, eventually absorbed by the company in various positions at its manufacturing plant. The idea of TTTI is to teach specific knowledge, skill, body, and attitude through its dedicated two- and three-year program.

TTTI Programs

The curriculum offers a complete learning experience, along with basic subjects, recreational activities and comprehensive training on automobile assembly, automobile paint, automobile weld and mechatronics. In addition, students are given practical training by applying the world-renowned ‘Toyota Production Systems’ to the various manufacturing processes at the Toyota plant in Bidadi. The age limit for these courses ranges between 16-17 years for the 3 years course and 18-20 years for the 2 years “Toyota Kaushalya” course.

The program aims at offering a unique training methodology with an overall curriculum consisting of 16 per cent knowledge, 34 per cent skill & 50 per cent body and mind. The Toyota Kaushalya, on the other hand, focuses on 70 per cent of skill through on-job training in a company and 30 per cent of training through classrooms at TTTI certified by DGT (Directorate General of Training) under the Craftsman Training Scheme. However, both the programs consist of very few girl students, which the administrators of TTTI say will increase to about 300 from the October 2023 session for Toyota Kaushalya.

What Does TTTI Do?

TTTI believes that the program will allow underprivileged students to access higher education. However, it also believes that the program teaches many life skills required for the holistic growth of students. Activities like 5S, and Kaizen, enhance the core values like honesty, humility, courage, responsibility, and teamwork are instilled in the students through human relationship principles which is a prominent factor of TTTI's curriculum. Then, various clubs as a part of physical fitness and attitudinal training are such platforms that bring the creative talents of the trainees to the fore. At the same time, periodic evaluation verifies the holistic growth of students. Students contest in various inter-college, taluk levels, district levels tournaments and World 10K competitions winning the highest rankings.

Global Recognition

TTTI is also one of the certified institutes by the government of Japan through the Japan-India Institute for Manufacturing (JIM) for its efforts and contribution to scaling the skill levels of the industry. World skill competition is the global hub for skill excellence and development through international cooperation and development between Industry, Government, institutions, and organisations. More than 1,200 competitors from 74 countries and regions compete in 50 different skills at the National Skill Competition & World Skill Competition (Skill Olympics) in different Skill categories (Mechatronics, Car Painting, Prototype Modelling).

At this, the TTTI 2011 batch student secured 4^th position in World Skill Competition 2015 held in Sao Paulo, Brazil & won the “Medallion of Excellence”. The TTTI Alumni secured 3^rd position in Prototype Modelling & Medallion of Excellence in Mechatronics in World Skill Competition 2017 held in Abu Dhabi. In 2022, TTTI students secured 3^rd position in Prototype Modelling, and Mechatronics in World Skill Competition held in Shanghai.

Planting The Lexus Seed

Lexus is the luxury vehicle division of the Japanese automaker Toyota marketed in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide and is Japan's largest-selling make of premium cars. Created at around the same time as Honda and Nissan created their Acura and Infiniti luxury divisions respectively, Lexus originated from a corporate project to develop a new premium sedan, code-named F1, which began in 1983 and culminated in the launch of the Lexus LS in 1989. But what makes Lexus so special is that its vehicles have been consistently produced in Japan by a group of ten master craftsmen called the Takumi who pass their knowledge and expertise on to every technician.

These Takumi masters train inspectors to check 4,000 points on every Lexus for paint quality and scrutinise up to 250 points on a single engine part. In total, there are 26,000 tasks in every Lexus plant that require a special certification. And every four months, each technician must precisely demonstrate and describe in perfect detail their respective task to be certified again. Apart from Yoshiwara, Motomachi, Tahara and Kyushu in Japan, Lexus vehicles are also manufactured at Lexington in Kentucky, USA and Cambridge in Ontario, Canada.

Lexus And Its Journey In India

The Lexus brand entered the Indian market in 2017, with the models RX450h, LX450d, LX570, ES300h, NX, and LS, making it the 5^th luxury brand to be launched in India, after Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, BMW, and Audi. Touted as a premium niche brand, the company has managed to carve a decent space for itself offering an ultra-uber-rich experience not just with its vehicles but with its holistic experience. Right from entering the dealership to exiting it with a brand-new Lexus car, the entire process is made seamless thanks to the high standard. With a presence in 15 cities at the end of 2022, Lexus is more than invested in the country than just expanding and hence was awarded the privilege to assemble the Lexus ES300h at Toyota’s Bidadi plant.

And why is this special? Well, Lexus India is the only market after Lexus Japan to assemble vehicles in Asia. With one Takumi master assigned for this region, the rest of the team includes Indian workers selected for the right talent with skill, mindset and craftmanship here to make Lexus. While the average age of a worker at the Lexus assembly line in Japan is around 48 years, the average age in India is between 25-26 years. Although these craftsmen don’t undergo the 60,000 hours of training, the Takumi master present at the plant passes on his vast knowledge to the team.