Kiichiro Toyoda, who attached particular importance to material-related issues, set up the Automobile Section in 1933; the following year, he constructed a plant for building prototypes as well as the Materials Testing Center within the premises of Toyoda Automatic Loom Works, Ltd. (today's the Kariya Plant of Aichi Steel Corporation.) The Center had various testing rooms, an analysis room, a film processing room, a library, etc., with a total floor area of approximately 830㎡. Tests and research on steel and other materials used in the manufacture of automobiles were performed, and foreign automobile materials were also analyzed. Another important role of the center was to provide the shop floor with specifications of materials to be produced in house or purchased from external suppliers and to provide inspection standards for such.