Toyota Motor has presented an eye-catching figure that may alter the way the world’s largest automaker manufactures in the coming decades. Per the company, an investment of about 1 trillion yen (around $6.4 billion dollars) annually from 2028 could be needed to enhance production plants and supply chain within automaker itself and its allied firms and suppliers, as it pursues robotics and automation practices worldwide, in the years ahead,
No firm commitment to spend precisely this sum over a specific period. Rather, this figure came out of conversation with investors last week, and is meant as an unequivocal indication of the market in which Toyota is planning. For the purposes of this valuation, it encompassed industrial robots, automated logistical systems, as well as emerging types of human-robot cooperation on the shopfloor. If around 400,000 robots both replacements and new investment are needed in total, then some 150,000 would be installed in the company’s plants, and a further 250,000 in group firms and suppliers.
At the core of this vision is something decidedly less for science fiction and more on the practical side of robotics. Toyota’s best humanoid, named Eley, weighs in at roughly 50 kilograms, rides around on a wheeled platform kept going by a battery or cord, and relies on a 2-fingered hand unlike anything resembling a true grip. The design is clearly uppermost in minimum cost with maximum operational efficiency in the actual environments of production. What is also remarkable about Eley is its mode of learning. Not overly reliant on lengthy simulation training sessions, the humanoid learns instead by observing professionals on the job and gradually assimilates their mannerisms. Going one step further, Toyota employs some 18,000 talented “takumi” artisans, whose expertise the company is actively seeking to document and transfer to their innovations. These automotives then in turn train the next generation of human workers, creating a cycle of continuance within their global network of 60 plants.
The wider industry backcloth appears to help the figures. Car makers worldwide are confronting aging factories, shrinking labor markets and relentless demands for increased productivity and reduced costs. Robots represents a way out from that model that extends beyond the traditional assembly line. Automated material handling, higher levels of human-machine collaboration and networked factory processes that track data in real-time are part of the… ‘next stage of factory automation’ that Toyota identifies. Industry analysts have already suggested that this greater focus on robotics might inspire investors to see Toyota less as a traditional car maker and to identify opportunities for growth in associated technologies.
Clearly it’s never that simple for a decades-old production base to be re-engineered. Costsof hardware software sensors, and servicehave to be balanced against potential improvements in flexibility and efficiency; skill levels in the workforce will need to change as people move from doing things manually towards working with and managing smart machines; Toyota hasn’t yet determined exactly when the spend will end or that it will be necessary to maintain this massive budget at a level of 6.4 billion dollars indefinitely, but the fact of the company talking about an ongoingbut enormousprovisioning budget is a sign of how seriously it is taking the issue.