{"id":5153,"date":"2016-02-08T19:14:03","date_gmt":"2016-02-08T10:14:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tcmit.org\/?page_id=5153.html"},"modified":"2024-06-04T10:18:32","modified_gmt":"2024-06-04T01:18:32","slug":"challenge","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.tcmit.org\/english\/research\/car\/car01\/challenge","title":{"rendered":"The Challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"

~Making Things(“Monozukuri”) from Scratch~<\/p>\n

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Construction of the Materials Testing Center<\/h2>\n
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\"Construction<\/p>\n

Kiichiro Toyoda placed special emphasis on material-related issues when he started to design and produce automobiles. The Japanese steel industry in Japan at that time had no capability to provide a stable supply of steel materials for automobiles. For this reason, Kiichiro decided that his company must conduct research on steel materials with a view to mass production of automobiles. He established the Materials Testing Center, fitting it with latest research equipment almost equivalent to that of Japanese imperial universities.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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The Hardships of Creating an Engine Prototype<\/h2>\n
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\"The<\/p>\n

Kiichiro and his associates were confident about the casting technology they had acquired with spinning and weaving machinery. Casting is a method pouring melted metallic material into sand molds or dies to create molds. The engine’s cylimder block, the core of an automobile, has a complex shape and thin mold, witch they could not create with the know-how that they had. They struggled for 3 months, from May 1934, wasting 500 to 600 cylinder blocks, until they finally succeeded in August.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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Complete Prototype Body (replica)<\/h2>\n

\"Prototype<\/p>\n<\/section>\n