Toyota Industrial Equipment Mfg., Inc. Named Top Plant in the U.S. by Plant Engineering Magazine


IRVINE, Calif. (Dec. 1, 2010) - Toyota Material Handling, U.S.A., Inc. (TMHU) today announced that Toyota Industrial Equipment Mfg., Inc. (TIEM) was named the 2010 "Top Plant" by Plant Engineering magazine. TIEM, the Columbus, Ind.-based facility, which produces the number one selling lift truck in the U.S., is the only manufacturer selected for this year's honor.

Plant Engineering's "Top Plant," now in its sixth year, is among the industry's most distinguished awards for innovation in manufacturing. TIEM joins the honor roll of past recipients including Toyota Motor Manufacturing in Georgetown, Ky., and Hewlett Packard. According to the publication, it is bestowed only to those manufacturers that achieve outstanding operational results-recognizing best practices in plant management, safety, productivity and efficiency to meet the challenges of an evolving global manufacturing environment.

"Winning the top plant award is an immense honor," said Kazue Sasaki, president of TIEM and chairman of Toyota Material Handling North America. "Continuous improvement is at the core of Toyota's philosophy, and it is very rewarding to see those efforts, and all of our associates, earn TIEM the title of top plant in the U.S."

TIEM designs, manufactures and supplies Toyota lift trucks and replacement parts associated with industrial lift trucks and tow tractors, along with the assembly of motor vehicle parts and accessories. Since the first lift truck rolled off the line 20 years ago, TIEM associates have built more than 350,000 lift trucks and Toyota has steadily penetrated the U.S. market to achieve the ranking of the number one lift truck supplier since 2002. Today, nearly 80 percent of all Toyota lift trucks sold in North America are produced at TIEM.

"We're pleased to honor the Toyota forklift facility with the 2010 Top Plant award," said Bob Vavra, editor of Plant Engineering magazine. "Our editorial staff analyzed 24 pages of meticulous data, which clearly outlined the quantifiable measures that TIEM has put in place to achieve efficient automation processes while steadily improving its tremendous safety and environmental record. TIEM has demonstrated continuous incremental improvement during the last two decades. Their work sets a high standard of manufacturing excellence."

TIEM was selected based on a number of manufacturing successes including:

Environment:

o Achievement of a "zero" landfill facility by shifting to a waste-to-energy facility; implementing recycling programs throughout the facility; and recovering all materials that are recyclable. All proceeds from the recycling programs are donated to children's medical charities.

o Implementing an energy reduction program designed to reduce the carbon footprint of TIEM. In 2008, for example, TIEM achieved a 35.7 percent reduction in electrical usage and a 21.5 percent reduction in natural gas usage. Overall, TIEM reduced the facility's carbon footprint by almost 4,000 tons of CO2 in 2008.

Safety:

o As a result of regular associate and plant-wide OSHA and risk-assessment training sessions, safety incidents have been reduced by more than 65 percent and the ergonomic recordable rate by nearly 90 percent.

Efficiency:

o Incorporating a Total Plant Maintenance (TPM) program that reduced emergency repairs from 14% of total maintenance in 2008 to just 11% in 2009 and enabled the cost per hour of downtime to be cut by 10% in the same period.

o TIEM's 19 maintenance associates are tasked with checking hydraulic tank levels, cleaning filters, verifying lights working, etc. However, associates throughout the plant assist with maintenance. This program helps associates effectively monitor and maintain nearly 4,000 pieces of equipment throughout the plant.

This achievement is highlighted in Plant Engineering's December issue and will be formally acknowledged before an audience of the nation's leading plant managers at the March 2011 Plant Engineering Manufacturing Summit in Chicago.

About Toyota Industrial Equipment Mfg., Inc. (TIEM)

For the last 20 years, Toyota has been proud to provide its customers with high quality products built at the award-winning TIEM facility based in Columbus, Ind. The TIEM campus totals approximately one million square feet of facilities sitting on 126 acres. The facilities include a National Customer Center and training center, manufacturing operations, and distribution centers for equipment and service parts. Led by the philosophy of the Toyota Production System (TPS), TIEM strives to improve efficiencies by reducing waste or "muda" and focusing on more value-added functions. TIEM has earned numerous accolades, including the 2006 and 2009 Indiana Governor's Award for Environmental Excellence and achieving the ISO 14001 standard from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

About Toyota Material Handling, U.S.A., Inc.

Celebrating more than 40 years of established operations in the United States, Irvine, Calif.-based Toyota Material Handling, U.S.A., Inc., (TMHU) has been the No. 1 selling lift truck supplier in the U.S. since 2002. In addition to the full line of high-quality lift trucks sold under the Toyota brand, the company's extended industrial equipment solutions include: Aichi aerial work lifts-scissor lifts, crawler and wheeled boom lifts-Automated Guided Vehicles, and electric and diesel tow tractors.

Toyota's commitment to excellence in customer service extends nationwide. Sixty-eight authorized Toyota Industrial Equipment dealers, with a total of 188 dealership locations throughout the United States, offer comprehensive customer service and support, including one-stop shopping for both new and used lift trucks, rentals, parts and service, fleet servicing and financing. For more information on TMHU, please visit www.toyotaforklift.com, www.facebook.com/ToyotaForklift or twitter.com/ToyotaForklift or call 1-800-226-0009.

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