Toyota Becomes the Most Innovative Automaker

There was a time when East Asian automakers looked to German or American manufacturers to see what they were doing in order to imitate them. That time has now passed, and the Japanese, particularly Toyota, have taken the lead in introducing innovations and inventions in the automotive world. Over the past eight years, Toyota has registered more than 1,600 significant and minor inventions. The Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) has released information about the patents registered by the Patent and Trademark Office, and Toyota is the only automaker among the top 20 companies on the IPO list. This Japanese automaker has received more awards for its inventions than any other automaker in the past eight years. Other companies in the top 20 list include Apple, Google, IBM, and Microsoft. One of the most interesting inventions registered by Toyota last year pertains to a flying car. Although this design may not be very realistic for the present, it shows that Toyota has a forward-thinking mindset. In recent years, Toyota has introduced the most significant initiatives in reducing fuel consumption. Toyota is the only company that has dared to commercially use hydrogen fuel in passenger vehicles. Hydrogen is one of the most abundant elements in nature. Burning hydrogen produces only water; however, there are many challenges associated with using hydrogen fuel. The most important discussions revolve around the production and storage of hydrogen. The most common methods for producing hydrogen involve extracting it from water or fossil fuels like natural gas. The difficult part, however, is storing hydrogen. Hydrogen boils at minus 252 degrees Celsius at sea level pressure, and liquefying it is very complex and costly; compressing hydrogen also requires very sophisticated technology. Recently, Toyota has launched the world's first commercial fuel cell vehicle. This car can travel 502 kilometers on a full tank of hydrogen. The electric motor of this vehicle has a power of 152 horsepower. In this vehicle, hydrogen stored in tanks at a pressure of 70 megapascals (700 times atmospheric pressure) moves toward the fuel cell unit. In this unit, hydrogen mixes with oxygen from the air, and the result of this reaction is the production of water and electricity. The electricity is used by the electric motor to drive the vehicle, and water is expelled from the vehicle's exhaust. When pressing the gas pedal of this vehicle while stationary, if you hold a cup in front of the exhaust, it will fill with water after a while. The current price of this vehicle is $75,000. In 1998, Toyota revolutionized the automotive industry by introducing its dual-fuel vehicle, and since then, other automakers have gradually introduced dual-fuel vehicles as well. The dual-fuel method is currently considered a mid-term solution to reduce fuel consumption and pollutant gases in the automotive industry. In dual-fuel vehicles, an electric motor works alongside a gasoline or diesel engine to produce power. The system that Toyota has introduced for dual-fuel vehicles has been the most successful and effective method. This method is hybrid and operates based on a complex algorithm. According to the vehicle's internal computer program, when there is not much power needed, the vehicle uses the electric motor, but when more power is required, the gasoline or diesel engine kicks in. When maximum power is needed, both the electric motor and the gasoline or diesel engine work simultaneously, and the gasoline or diesel engine also supplies electricity to the electric motor and charges the battery. However, Toyota's innovations in the automotive industry are not limited to technical aspects. The company has also introduced some of the most well-known engineering management models to the automotive world. The Kaizen idea is one of the most important methods in the automotive industry, which is considered one of Toyota's innovations. The Kaizen idea was invented by Taiichi Ohno, one of Toyota's creative engineers. Taiichi Ohno, a pioneer of the Toyota production system in the 1950s, believed that the biggest problem occurs when there are no problems at all. He continuously told employees to ask 'why' five times for any issue they encountered. An example he provided was a welding machine that stops working in the middle of a task, and through these five questions, the root of the problem is found. These five questions are: Why did the machine stop? Because it was overloaded and the fuse blew. Why was it overloaded? Because the bearings were not well lubricated. Why were the bearings not well lubricated? Because the oil pump was not circulating properly. Why was the oil not circulating properly? Because its outlet was blocked with metal debris. Why was the outlet blocked? Because there was no filter on the pump. Thus, the answer to the problem is found. Although the originator of the five whys principle was Sakichi Toyoda, Ohno developed this principle. Ohno believed that discovering the root cause of problems is the key to solving future issues. This ingrained questioning in Toyota's managers and engineers has led to the company's daily growth, forming the fundamental principles of the company since its inception. Toyota is one of the first automotive companies in Japan, having launched its first car production line in 1935 and establishing its research institute just five years later in 1940. Today, Toyota produces over 10 million vehicles, making it the largest automaker in the world.