Tahara Plant

Tahara plant (Japanese: 田原工場) is an automobile plant in Tahara, Aichi, Japan owned by Toyota Motor Corporation. It was opened in year 1979. It is the most computerized and robotized automotive plant in the world and produces the Lexus brand of vehicles including the Lexus LS, Lexus LS Hybrid, Lexus GS, Lexus IS, Lexus GX, and Lexus LX models. Several Toyota vehicles are assembled there as well such as the RAV4 and 4Runner. It is one of the most sophisticated plants in the world and has won awards for both the quality of production and attention to detail. This was awarded by JD Power and Associates.

When employees enter the factory floor, they have to go through an air shower to remove dust. Also the employees look through 4000 details for every car produced. The plant creates a Lexus every 87 seconds or 675 Lexus models per day. Workers are required to exercise and perform other physical activities such as holding and rolling golf balls in their palms. This keeps them sharp and is believed to help retain the standards necessary to produce flawless vehicles.

Columnist for The New York Times Thomas Friedman visited the plant in the early 1990s, and described the experience as an example of globalization in his best-selling 1999 book, The Lexus and the Olive Tree. In the book, Friedman detailed the precise installation of windshield rubber seals by the factory's robots, along with human quality controls.