Uchiyamada cited the new platform and new production facility -- in San Antonio, Texas -- as the leading causes for a dip in quality. Uchiyamada didn't put blame on Toyota's expansion for the Tundra's problems. When asked about the automkaer's push for the number one spot, Uchiyamada said Toyota "has a sales volume expansion plan, and we have to keep up."
Toyota recently opened a Global Training Center in Japan to help "assembly line managers better understand the Toyota Production System." "At the engineering stage," Uchiyamada said, "we need to identify and control the condition of machines, materials and procedures."
