Toyota discloses unprecedented details of F1 development

It is very important to ensure that someone is always responsible for ensuring that problems are addressed and the solutions are in turn reviewed. This is an example of the implementation of PDCA, or Plan-Do-Check-Action.

The ‘toolbox’ project was implemented, the name given to a set procedure initiated for every new TPS activity within Toyota Motorsport, with one project leader responsible to solve a specific problem, such as final machining of the monocoque, the lamination steps, or the assembly stages.

“We analysed all the data we had, and split it up into different areas. These were problems related to production, to design, and so on. We put all the responsible people together in a workshop, looked at the problems, and asked what can we do to solve them and avoid them for next year?”

As with the engine department, it became evident that the positioning of equipment within the factory did not always contribute to efficiency. As the Cologne organisation grew into a Formula 1 team, there was little time to plan the optimal arrangement. This was particularly evident in composites, where operators were sometimes obliged to leave the clean room in the middle of tasks.

“Every time they went in and out they had to change their clothes. That’s very time consuming, so we did what we did in engine production. We counted the footsteps needed, and reduced it by 50%. We made sure everybody had the just the number of tools that he needed right by his work bench, so he didn’t need to go in and out, and didn’t need to go to the other end of the clean room. We had a special area for suspension parts, a special area for the monocoque, and we put up signs so that when you were looking for a part you knew it would be close to this work bench.”

All this ‘housekeeping’ was common sense, but it also reflected a key element of TPS known as the 5S’s, derived from the Japanese terms seiri, seiton, seiso, seiketsu and shitsuke. The collected 5S concepts can in essence be translated as tidiness, orderliness, cleanliness, hygiene and sustaining discipline, ideas that should be second nature to anyone working in a Formula 1 environment. However, the busy team in the composite department had rarely found time to focus on the basic issues of keeping the place tidy and organised, and that had to be addressed.

The results of the TPS project, reflected in production of the TF 04, were impressive.

“We produce the same amount of monocoques, but we’re quicker, and they’re better quality. We didn’t achieve the first target, which was a 20% reduction with the first TF 04 – we ended up with 5%. But from the third one onwards we achieved a 6% improvement, when the target was 25%. We’re doing the same now every year, setting ever more challenging targets and trying to achieve them.”

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