Global Fastener News

Toyota’s newest luxury car, the Century Toyota, is handcrafted in Japan by a team of 40 skilled workers selected from a workforce of 1,500.

To assemble it, workers must pass a rigorous three-module exam involving basic skills; a written test covering the history of the Century, vehicle design and related topics; and a practical exam to demonstrate skills in creating the luxury series.

While precision is always a big focus for Toyota, these Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) vehicles put extra emphasis on it.

“On every assembly line except Century, every nut or bolt is tightened in one pass using a fastening tool,” 35-year-old assembler Hiroki Tanaka told the Toyota Times.

“However, on the Century assembly line, strict precision requirements mean that we first use a hand-tightening fixture and then re-tighten with a fastening tool to get closer to the target torque.

“Finally, we use a digital torque wrench whose torque values are fed into computers and work manually to arrive at the final value.”

In practice, a worker can spend up to a minute tightening larger parts, which is 12 times longer than the five seconds it takes workers to tighten nuts and bolts on other vehicles. At this rate, Toyota produces only three copies of the Century per day.

On the Century assembly line, these carefully selected workers are divided into one of four specialized sections: trim, responsible for operating components such as dashboards and roofs; The chassis, responsible for mounting the engine, suspension and battery integration of the PHEV; Final assembly including seats, doors and windows; and Tuning/Fluids, which monitor tasks such as engine coolant and brake systems.