Toyota to cut costs by standardising component designs

Toyota is targeting to cut its capital spending on parts production by half within the next four years, and how it hopes to achieve this is by standardising its component designs, reports indicate.

For its new vehicles, the company is starting to design parts using a new method, which is called the Toyota New Global Architecture program. While body and interior designs will continue to reflect different characteristics for various global markets, the design of components hidden away are set to be standardised.

By doing so, Toyota is looking at universalising about half of a vehicle’s 4,000 to 5,000 various parts. Standardising components will also help streamline processing facilities, enabling a reduction in cost of capital spending and fixed operating expenses. Going that route will also bring down production costs for autoparts makers.

The reports add that the company already has a project in place that pares back parts costs by overhauling manufacturing processes and materials, but the new programme – which spans a range of vehicle models – will speed up cost savings. According to the company’s executive vice president Shinichi Sasaki, the benefits will begin to show up in one year and be full-blown in four.

© 2012 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Fri, 02 Mar 12 06:11:49 +0000.

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