Body Welding in the 1990s: Adapting to Local Production Needs

In an attempt to avoid trade friction, and believing that cars should be produced in the region where they are going to be used, Toyota accelerated overseas production during this period. To ensure that the Toyota Production System would take root at all overseas plants, the company chose to transfer a Japanese mother-plant design to its international sites without alteration. For this scheme to succeed, the original welding line would have to be renovated to satisfy local production requirements. Although the Flexible Body Line was quite innovative, some procurement and maintenance issues needed to be addressed if it was to be transferred abroad. Accordingly, an evolved Global Body Line was developed which used generic aftermarket parts to solve compatibility problems, thereby enabling efficient and high-quality welding operations anywhere in the world. As global warming was recognized as a worldwide concern in the second half of the 1990s, however, reduction of CO2 emissions became another priority issue in car manufacturing.