| | DECEMBER 202319for greater flexibility in manufacturing lines. In a demonstration, EVs inched along without a roof, letting sections be slotted in. A Fanuc robot arm was used to drop the automobile seats into the EV bed. A nearby autonomous forklift removed more seats from a container. Toyota also demonstrated a prototype of Tesla's giga-casting die-casting process, making aluminum parts significantly larger than ever used in auto manufacture. Toyota, like Tesla, says it will build EVs in modular portions to reduce parts. However, it also highlights its own innovations. Because it has been working with die-casting for many years, it has produced molds that can be quickly replaced, which is important on a regular basis in giga casting. Toyota claims that this decreases the time required to change the mold from 24 hours to 20 minutes. It anticipates a 20 percent increase in production.The manufacturer has also developed a self-driving transport robot at the Motomachi factory in Toyota City that ferries new vehicles across a 40,000 square meter (10 acre) parking area, a job that was previously done by drivers before loading cars onto carrier trucks. Truck drivers walk an average of 8 km (5 miles) every day to get automobiles, consuming driving time and adding to the physical load in a career with a high turnover rate. The automaker stated that it hopes to get ten of the robots operational in Motomachi by next year and will then investigate other sites. It may also sell the robots to other businesses.Demand for Fuel-Efficient, High-Performance, & Low-Emission Automobiles is IncreasingBecause petrol is a fossil fuel, it is not a renewable energy source and will be depleted in the future. Developing and deploying alternative fuel sources to support sustainable development is critical. This includes the usage of electric automobiles, which do not require petrol and are more cost-effective than traditional vehicles. An electric car transforms more than half of the electrical energy from the grid to power the wheels. In contrast, a gasoline-powered vehicle only translates roughly 17-21 percent of the energy contained in gasoline. The recent increase in the price of gas and diesel has raised demand for fuel-efficient automobiles. With rising environmental concerns, governments and environmental organizations around the world are passing tough emission standards and rules to minimize car emissions. Major regulatory initiatives include rigorous emission limits for reducing nitrogen oxides (NOx) and carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere. Vehicles release large amounts of greenhouse gasses, and federal and state governments in the United States are stepping up efforts to make transportation cleaner. "THE STRENGTH OF TOYOTA'S MANUFACTURING LIES IN OUR ABILITY TO RESPOND TO CHANGING TIMES," SAYS KAZUAKI SHINGO, CHIEF PRODUCT OFFICER. HE EMPHASIZED TECHNICAL & TECHNOLOGY COMPETENCE ROOTED IN TPS, SHORT FOR TOYOTA PRODUCTION SYSTEM
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