As Toyota Manufacturing UK (TMUK) celebrates its 25th anniversary, we’ve selected 25 objects that represent the most significant processes, equipment and locations that have played a pivotal role in the production of every Toyota vehicle produced in the UK.
Spanning TMUK’s 25-year history, the selection reveals where the company started, how its manufacturing processes have changed over the years, and how TMUK’s facilities continue to lead the way with their technological and environmental innovations.
- Spade
Date: June 1990
Two years before it officially opened its high-tech UK manufacturing spaces, TMUK’s journey began with this simple spade. Find out how TMUK’s facilities have grown in the years since.
- Push bike
Date: 1992 – Present
As cars are assembled on the production line, bicycles play an important role in keeping Toyota’s internal parts ordering process running smoothly.
- Giraffe crossing
Date: 1992 – Present
No, it’s not a wildlife alert, but it is one of the clever ways that TMUK maintains safety for people and vehicles inside its busy factories. Find out more about the giraffe crossing.
- Signed body panel
Date: 1992 – Present
Toyota members take personal pride in their work, ‘building in’ quality at every step. Explore how this positive attitude is crucial to building great cars.
- Suction cups
Date: 1992 – Present
Moving thousands of carefully shaped, polished and trimmed body panels across TMUK’s assembly halls is delicate work. Find out how simple suction cups help us do it.
- Onsite nursery
Date: 1992 – Present
TMUK is a family-friendly workplace, helping parents maintain a good work-life balance and helping encourage and maintain a diverse workforce.
- Solar array
Date: June 2011- Present
Discover how Toyota’s UK factories harness renewable solar energy to build your Toyota, generating enough power to build more than 7,000 vehicles and 22,500 engines.
- Furnace
Date: 1992 – Present
Learn how every Toyota engine starts life with a baptism of fire in Deeside’s 750° Centigrade furnace, powered in part by solar energy.
- Wildlife
Date: 1992 – Present
Toyota is committed to working in harmony with nature, and at TMUK this extends to building natural wildlife habitats around its factory.
- Roll of steel
Date: 1992 – Present
It comes in flat, but is soon transformed into the strong core and modern exterior of the Toyota parked in your driveway. Learn how we stamp, shape and mould each roll of sheet steel in a high-pressure environment!
- Microscope
Date: 1992 – Present
Learn how Toyota’s commitment to quality leaves no detail unchecked, even testing on a microscopic level.
- Toyota Delivery forklift
Date: 1992 – Present
As well as making cars, Toyota builds a range of specialised vehicles and trucks for use inside its factories. Find out how each is designed to deliver.
- Engine block
Date: 1992 – Present
Discover how TMUK’s Deeside plant manufactures over 280,000 engines each year, including Toyota’s world-leading petrol-electric hybrids.
- Blue parts boxes
Date: 1992 – Present
How do you keep track of thousands of different components? Carefully, that’s how – discover how TMUK manages this challenging task.
- Paint Shop mister and water trap
Date: 1992 – Present
Learn about the innovative methods used by TMUK to ensure a flawless paint job, every time.
- Burnaston member’s uniform
Date: 1991- Present
Each Toyota facility around the world has a distinctive uniform – uncover the meaning of Burnaston’s three stripes and how they relate to every Toyota that rolls off the line.
- Konnyaku Stone
Date: 2016 – Present
The human touch is still needed in TMUK’s high-tech production process. Find out how people are central to Toyota’s focus on quality.
- Godzilla the Robot
Date: 2004 – Present
Meet TMUK’s biggest robot, one of over 500 busy at work every day in Burnaston’s weld shop.
- Andon cord
Date: 1992 – Present
Find out how a simple cord plays a pivotal role in the Toyota Production System, manufacturing principles that have been fine-tuned over generations and are used in all Toyota facilities globally.
- Parts delivery robot
Date: 1992 – Present
Our engineers designed these robots to get the parts where they need to be, just in time – discover how they get the job done.
- Dojo and training
Date: 1992 – Present
Learn how the principles of the dojo are applied to Toyota’s production methods, equipping TMUK’s members with the fundamental skills for the job.
- Spanner
Date: 1990 – Present
This simple spanner is one of many that helped make the Burnaston factory. It’s a reminder that every successful Toyota is the product of hard work by thousands of people.
- Mirrors on the production line
Date: 1992 – Present
Discover how Toyota’s ‘Kaizen’ principle led to the installation of mirrors on TMUK’s production line.
- Overalls in the freezer
Date: 1992 – Present
Keeping everything clean inside our paint facility is a full time – and highly specialised – job! Even the overalls are frozen to help keep them extra clean – find out why.
- Belgian road
Date: 2007 – Present
Discover how a little piece of Belgium plays a vital role in the production of Toyota vehicles as one of our many quality checks.
