Yahagi Industries’ Manufacturing

Fujioka Plant

37-1 Barabasama, Nishinakayama-cho, Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture 470-0431

This is Yahagi Industries’ newest factory, completed in 2015. Like the Mifune plant, we are in charge of the prototyping process, but since we assemble the parts from the Mifune plant to create a single body, we are the closest to the final delivery stage. Since it is the final step in Yahagi production, it can be more stressful than others, but the lush green location and new equipment and facilities are attractive.

General Manager, 2nd Manufacturing Department
Miki Hasegawa

The Fujioka plant is involved in the so-called final process, which involves assembling parts from the Mifune plant. Specifically, I am in charge of parts around the underbody and engine. Therefore, each component is also larger and closer to the actual car. At the Mifune plant, the processing equipment and jigs themselves are large, while Fujioka is equipped with four of the latest state-of-the-art robots to weld and assemble them. Robots that move at the touch of a button can make bold and delicate movements, but they are still moved by humans. In my daily work, I do not forget the fundamentals of manufacturing. Fujioka's most unique feature is its state-of-the-art equipment. As the work is close to the finished car, it is used for training new employees so that they can understand the overall picture from the parts.

Hexagonal measurements conducted by the Quality Assurance Department evaluate the accuracy of the underbody and jigs.

Jig for inspection. In order to make detailed measurements, we used a ball gauge to record the numerical values of the gaps.

A CMT (Cold Metal Transfer) system using robots to perform stable arc welding.

FSW (Friction Stir Welding) uses friction heat to soften the material and stir it to join it. This provides higher strength than welding.

The roller hemming process refers to "rounding off. The hemming process is done by hand to round out the hems to a certain degree before moving on to the next process.

Due to the need to weld various combinations of materials, modern robotic systems perform welding operations by changing the tip to SPR (Self-Piercing Rivet) or FDS (Flow Drilling Screw) as appropriate.