To ensure a high level of quality of the new Toyota Yaris, Toyota implemented a strategy years before production started which calls for commitment from its own teams and close cooperation of all its suppliers.
For the last ten years, the Toyota Yaris has been built by Toyota Motor Manufacturing France, and engineers from the factory in Valenciennes were sent to Japan for up to 18 months to work on development of the new car. The aim was to identify and tackle any potential issues early on. This early development began three years before the start of production, some 18 months earlier than for any Toyota Yaris model before it.
All factory processes were looked at to ensure efficiency, with special attention to the design and function of jigs and tooling. A snap-fit sound is used on some parts to indicate correct installation.
The quality of the new Toyota Yaris also relies on every part which is used and required close collaboration with suppliers to make the requirements clear at an early stage and then supporting them with knowledge and guidance on how processes and employee skills can be adapted and best used in order to deliver the high levels of quality consistently required in high volume production. This process is continuous from pre-production onwards in order to reduce issues to a minimum.
The quality-focused activities fall under Toyota's principle of kaizen - continuous improvement - ultimately enabling Toyota to deliver better products and in turn, improved levels of customer satisfaction.
