 |
Toyota honors Raufoss plant for third straight year
 TRIO: Hydro in Raufoss has won awards in three consecutive years from Toyota. |
| |
(March 15, 2006) Hydro's automotive components plant in Raufoss has captured yet another award from Toyota, the second-largest carmaker in the world.
The Raufoss plant delivers in Europe the rear bumper beam for the Toyota Avensis and the front bumper for the Corolla. The plant has been supplying aluminium bumper beams to Toyota since 2003.
The award is the third in three years that Toyota has awarded to the Raufoss plant. In 2004, the company won Toyota's supplier award for achievement in quality, while last year, Hydro received a similar prize for cost management. The most recent award is called the Regional Contribution Award 2005. On a global basis, Hydro is one of only three non-Japanese companies to receive the award.
"This is very pleasing for us, particularly because Toyota is in many ways a champion within the automotive business," says Matthias Schwabbauer, who is head of the Structures business unit in the Automotive sector of Hydro.
 PROUD: The Raufoss team's tool and diemakers are pleased with the award from Toyota. Standing, from left, are Torbjørn Dahle, Per Gudmund Tofsrud, Roy Håvard Lundbye, Olav Monsen and Tommy Linnerud. |
| |
"Not only Raufoss, but Hydro's entire Automotive sector - representing 27 facilities on four continents - has learned a lot about Toyota's philosophy in cost-effective and quality oriented production systems. In fact, we have modeled our own Hydro Automotive Production System after the Toyota Production System.
"This work on continuous improvement has led to substantial gains in our production in recent years," he adds.
Hydro's Structures plant in the United States also supplies aluminium bumper beams to Toyota. Last year, Toyota honored the Holland, Michigan-based plant with a certificate of achievement for quality performance.
-
Hydro is the world's leading supplier of aluminium bumper beams, having delivered approximately 7 million bumpers in 2005 to a customer list that includes Audi, BMW, DamilerChrysler, Ford, Toyota and Volvo. The Raufoss plant is the single-leading producer, accounting for 4.6 million bumpers last year. Hydro also produces the lightweight safety components at plants in France and the United States.
- Toyota Motor Company was established in 1937, and produced vehicles mainly for the domestic market in Japan for the first 20 years. Starting in 1957, the company began exporting vehicles to the United States, and the company currently produces some of the most-sold cars in the US market. Toyota's first deliveries to Europe originated in 1963. Today, the company produces more than 600,000 cars and trucks in Europe - under the brand names Toyota and Lexus - from seven wholly owned and part-owned manufacturing plants in the Czech Republic, UK, France, Poland, Portugal and Turkey. The company has 66 manufacturing plants across the world. In 2005 Toyota sold 7,4 million cars worldwide.
|
