oyoda Gosei Co., Ltd. will enlarge its Seto Plant, located near its main customer in Japan, to strengthen the company’s competitiveness through more efficient manufacturing in interior and exterior products.
The automobile industry today is moving toward concurrent manufacturing of different types of automobiles, including hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) and battery electric vehicles (BEV). For large painted products such as front grilles and back door garnishes, this demands higher functionality with simple appearance as well as a wider range of variations to satisfy the design needs of customers.
To meet these market needs, the productivity will be enhanced in the Seto Plant. This includes optimization of the production layout, the introduction of highly efficient, large molding machines and painting booths, and use of collaborative robots, automated inspection machines, automated product carriers, and IoT systems that consolidate management of production lines. Further reductions in CO2 emissions also will be achieved with electrification of facilities.
Outline of Seto Plant
| Established | October 2004 |
| Location | 141 Sousaku, Seto, Aichi, Japan |
| Area | Land: Approx. 45,000 m2 → After expansion approx. 51,000 m2 Buildings: Approx. 12,000 m2 → After expansion approx. 27,000 m2 |
| Products | Front grilles, back door garnishes, instrument panel peripheral products, console boxes, more |
| Employees | 134 (as of March 31, 2022) |
| Investment | Approx. JPY 7 billion |
| Operation start | December 2023 (planned) |
| Main production equipment | Large molding machines, painting booths, collaborative robots, automated visual inspections, automated guided vehicles, IoT systems (consolidated management of production lines) |
SOURCE: Toyoda Gosei
