Toyoda Boshoku's
manufacture of the Type G Automatic Loom
The new automatic loom was named the Type G Automatic Loom.
Toyoda Boshoku had originally considered asking Toyoda Loom Company to manufacture
the new machine. However, given that cooperation wasn't forthcoming during the
manufacture of the prototype, Toyoda Boshoku took it upon itself to manufacture
the new loom at its workshop.
Because the existing workshop attached to the Toyoda Boshoku
plant was quite small, the company leased the former Aichi Steel plant premises
in Nishihioki-cho, Naka-ku, Nagoya from Sakuzo Nozue towards the end of 1924.
The plant owner, Nozue, was an acquaintance of Sakichi Toyoda and had been
contracted to produce steel parts for looms ever since 1895 when Sakichi first
started working on his automatic loom. The Aichi Steel plant had continued to
produce parts for Toyoda Loom Company right up until it submitted notification
of discontinuance of business in July 1924.
Model G Automatic
Loom
After installing new casting equipment at the Hioki-cho
workshop, additional imported machinery was also installed to make the premises
ready for production. Furthermore, in order to check the dimensional precision
of the machine work, limit gauges were also introduced, ensuring
interchangeability of replacement parts. After all the preparations had been
made, the first Type G Automatic Loom came off the production line in November
1925.
By the end of March 1926, Toyoda Boshoku's Kariya plant had
added 240 Type G Automatic Looms, and by the end of September that year a total
of 520 new looms were up and running.
Toyoda Boshoku's Hioki-cho workshop continued to produce the
Type G Automatic Loom right up until Toyoda Automatic Loom Works new plant
began operations in XX, manufacturing a total of 1,023 of the new automatic
looms. Its operations were later taken over by Toyoda Automatic Loom Works,
which continued to use the same Hioki-cho premises.
Evolution of Toyota.
Part 5: Establishment of Toyoda Automatic Loom Works, Ltd.
Mass production of
Type G Automatic Loom begins
A large number of orders for the high-performance Type G
Automatic Looms were expected, but the Hioki-cho workshop was small with only
about 1,650 square meters of area and was not suitable for mass production.
Kiichiro Toyoda's father Sakichi had given instructions, and in February 1926
Kiichiro proposed the construction of a new plant in Kariya.
Sakichi's instructions were to build a plant capable of
producing 500 units of the Type G Automatic Looms per month, but Kiichiro
carefully considered the opinions within the company urging caution and
prepared two proposals for monthly production of 500 units and 250 units.1 A
list of orders for machine tools prepared by Kiichiro in June 1926 included
special-order machine tools and high-performance imported equipment, and the
installation of electric furnaces and molding machines suitable for
high-quality casting was considered for the casting facilities. The first phase
of construction began in July.
In conjunction with the construction of the new plant,
Toyoda Automatic Loom Works, Ltd. (TALW) was established as an automatic loom
manufacturing company. Establishment of the new company was proposed and
approved at a general shareholders meeting of Toyoda Boshoku Corporation on
April 26, 1926, and TALW was established in Kariya on November 18. The basic
details of the company are as follows:
Front gate of Toyoda
Automatic Loom Works, Ltd.
The Kariya Plant was under construction at the time of
establishment of TALW, and as a result, the Type G Automatic Looms continued to
be produced at Toyoda Boshoku's Hioki-cho Repair Plant. Later, the second phase
of construction, primarily an assembly plant, began in March 1927 and was mostly
completed by June.2 Full-scale production with monthly capacity of 300 units
began from this.
Looking back on the entry into the automatic loom
manufacturing business, prototypes were first produced at Toyoda Boshoku's
workshop followed by integrated production of the Type G Automatic Loom, a
completed model, at the small-scale Hioki-cho Repair Plant. Later, mass
production (300 units per month) was achieved at TALW's new loom plant, and
production was expanded to 1,000 units per month.
This method of increasing production capacity in stages
while acquiring production technologies was later adopted at the time of entry
into the automotive industry.
Preparations for
entry into the automotive industry
When Kiichiro Toyoda established TALW, he already anticipated
entering the automotive industry and had created plans for machine tool and
casting facilities. According to a prospectus for the establishment of Toyota
Motor Co. Ltd. prepared at the time of the company's foundation, "more
advanced machine tools than necessary for the production of looms" were
installed, and it was explained that the purpose was "to cultivate
workers' skills... in preparation for entry into the automotive
industry".1
Specifically, equipment such as high-precision,
foreign-manufactured machine tools, special-order frame hole three-axis boring
machines, planer four-axis drilling machines, frame cutting machines, and
electric furnaces and foreign-manufactured molding machines for casting were
installed. The numerous machines that could later be adopted for automobile
production also included an assembly line using a chain conveyor belt for
production of automatic looms.
Loom assembly line
with conveyor system
With respect to casting materials, gray iron melted in a
cupola is adequate for the components that make up a loom, and high precision
cast iron made using an electric furnace was not needed. Shortly after the
start of operations, however, TALW purchased a 1.5-ton electric furnace and
began research on electric furnace casting. As a result, when production of
high-draft ring spinning frame (discussed below) began, TALW was able to
produce strong alloy cast-iron with appropriate distribution of the alloy
components using electric arc furnaces and to manufacture cast components with accurate
shapes and smooth surfaces.
Patent Transfer
Agreement with Platt
The First World War caused tremendous changes in the
industries of the United Kingdom, one of the victor countries. Heavy industries
including automobiles, aviation, electrical equipment, and chemicals
(explosives, dyes, etc.) rapidly advanced, and the main industries prior to the
war including coal, textiles, and ship building lost their prominent positions.
In the Chinese and Indian markets, which Britain's cotton products had been
dominating, cotton industries were developed using domestic capital, and cotton
products from Japan also entered the markets, and Britain's spinning industry
urgently needed to recover lost ground.
TALW's Type G Automatic Looms were highly acclaimed even outside
Japan, and 205 units were installed in weaving plants in India. A. Platt and
Company, a British loom manufacturer, decided to purchase patents from TALW to
protect its key markets and sent [name] Chadderton, a corporate officer, to
Japan.
Chadderton visited the Mitsui & Co. Ltd. Nagoya Branch
with [name] Dorman from the Mitsui London office on June 7, 1929 and met with
Sakichi and Kiichiro Toyoda.1 Later, Chadderton negotiated with TALW through
Mitsui for transfer of the automatic loom patents, and it was decided that
Kiichiro would travel overseas to sign the contract in September of that year.
Signing the patent
transfer agreement with the British company, A. Platt and Company
Kiichiro also planned to sell the automatic loom patents in
the United States during his journey to England and headed to the U.K. via the
U.S. However, he entrusted the sale of the patents in the United States to a
staff member accompanying him and instead focused on investigating the
automotive industry and machine tools used for automobile manufacturing. He
arrived at Platt in the United Kingdom on December 21 and signed the automatic
loom patent assignment agreement.
The scope of the patent transfer agreement with Platt
included the patents relating to the shuttle-change automatic loom invented by
Kiichiro. The agreement called for total payment of 100,000 pounds to be made
in four installments of 25,000 pounds (approximately 250,000 yen) each year,
but ultimately, the unpaid amount of 61,500 pounds was reduced to 45,000 pounds
(for total payment of 83,500 pounds) in July of 1934.
Kiichiro, who long dreamed of manufacturing automobiles,
observed the changes in industrial structures in Europe and the United States
during two overseas trips and was keenly aware of the need for an automotive
industry in Japan. According to Akira Haraguchi (TALW managing director) and
Tsutomu Furuichi (Mitsui employee), who both accompanied Kiichiro on his trip,
Kiichiro was preoccupied with observing Ford's automobile manufacturing plants
and researching machine tools.
Downturn in the
Cotton Industry and Diversification and Streamlining
Following the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, the
cotton industries of warring countries including the United Kingdom lost export
capacity. Japan took their place and began exporting cotton products to other
Asian countries in about 1916, and Japan's cotton industry entered an
unprecedented boom.
When the war ended in 1918, however, the cotton industry
suffered an economic backlash and took a turn for the worse. The industry
struggled with a long-term slump that lasted until 1931 as a result of the
Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923, the financial panic of 1927, and the global
depression that started in 1929.
During this period, the cotton industry in Japan curtailed
production by 20 percent to 30 percent numerous times, cut wages, and reduced
workforces. One result was frequent labor disputes, and a dispute occurred when
13 workers at Toyoda Oshikiri Boshoku were laid off on August 13, 1929.1 The
dispute was resolved in the late hours of the night of the 14th, but five
workers were arrested.2
The economy slumped even further in 1930. At TALW, labor
problems broke out after Kiichiro Toyoda completed the contract with Platt and
returned to Japan from England in April.3 TALW's sale of automatic looms fell
by more than half from 4,004 units in 1929 to 1,992 units in 1930. Domestic
shipments in particular suffered, plunging to one-third, from 2,590 units to
859 units.
Toyoda Boshoku also cut personnel in 1930. According to
newspaper articles, the procession of events was as follows.
On July 11, 1930 the company announced that all operations
would be shut down for two weeks prior to Japan's obon summer holiday and that
after the holiday, employees were to wait until they received notice to return
to work.4 According to an article on August 45, operations resumed as planned,
but the work force of more than 1,300 men and women was reduced to about 700
employees.
An August 22 article headlined "Strike at Toyota
Automatic Loom Works Kariya Plant?" reported that workers had rejected the
dismissal of 21 employees and requested intervention by the Plant Section
Manager of the Aichi prefectural government.6 On August 27, however, an article
entitled "Union Approves Company Proposal for Peaceful Settlement at
Late-Night Meeting"7 reported that the workers agreed to a company
proposal to increase severance pay.
Sakichi Toyoda, president of Toyota Boshoku, passed away on
October 30, 1930, and he had fallen into ill health that summer. For this
reason, it is believed that he was not directly involved in the labor disputes,
and according to a newspaper article on Tojiro Okamoto8, upon hearing the
reports of the personnel reductions, Sakichi said, "if there was no other
way even after searching for any possible solution, I would share my food when
the plant could not support its workers".9
Kiichiro held the same beliefs as his father, Sakichi. No
matter what the circumstances, it was difficult for Kiichiro to approve the
termination of employees. Kiichiro believed that it was necessary to restore
the employee confidence lost as a result of the layoffs and decided to give a
portion of the 25,000 pounds received from Platt for the transfer of the
patents to Toyoda-related companies. On February 15, 1931, Kiichiro gave money
and goods worth a total of 250,000 yen to 6,000 employees at nine
Toyoda-related plants to commemorate the 100th-day memorial service for
Sakichi.10
Downturn in the
Cotton Industry and Diversification and Streamlining
First, Shonaigawa Dye Works was established in December
1928. The company performed bleaching and was able to ship processed cotton
with high added value. Next, Shonaigawa Rayon was established in December 1932
adjacent to Shonaigawa Dye Works and rayon production began.Later, both
companies merged with Toyo Rayon Co., Ltd. in June 1941 in accordance with
national wartime policies, and today they are the Toray Industries, Inc. Aichi
Plant.
Chuo Spinning & Weaving Company was established in March
1929 in Kariya with equal investments from Toyoda Boshoku and Toyo Menka
Kaisha, Ltd. The company was established to construct a model plant with
state-of-the-art spinning machinery. Initially, the latest spinning systems
manufactured by Platt and imported by Mitsui were used, but spinning machinery
manufactured by TALW was introduced in 1933 under a plan to increase facilities
by 42,000 spindles.
When TALW entered the automotive industry, Chuo Spinning
& Weaving transferred 48,358 square meters of its 333,300 square meter
plant site to TALW's automobile department for an assembly plant. Operations at
the assembly plant began in June 1936.
In February 1942, Chuo Spinning & Weaving, according to
national policy, merged with four spinning companies including Toyoda and Toyo
Menka-related companies to form Chuo Boseki Co. In conjunction with the merger,
the Chuo Spinning & Weaving plant was renamed the Chuo Spinning &
Weaving Kariya-kita Plant. In November 1943, the company merged with Toyota
Motor Company, became an aircraft plant, and began manufacturing aircraft
engines.1
Toyoda Boshoku posted a loss for the fiscal term ended
September 1930 (April to September 1930), the first loss in its history,
reporting losses of 228,625 yen. Kikui Boshoku reported a loss of 280,507 yen
during the same fiscal term. In response to these poor results, both companies
cut operations for five days and nights per month starting in June of that year
and reduced wages by 10 percent. The two companies merged in May 1931 with the
aim of drastically streamlining and increasing the efficiency of their
production systems.
In September 1930, Mitsui proposed a merger of TALW, Toyoda
Loom Company, and Platt in the United Kingdom, and negotiations took place, but
no agreement could be reached and the proposal was withdrawn the following
year.
Ring Spinning Frame
Development and Automobile Research Starts
When Kiichiro returned from the United States in April 1930,
TALW was experiencing poor financial results. In order to achieve a recovery of
business through diversification, work on development of the high-draft ring
spinning frame1, a prototype of which had been created in 1929, was continued.
At that time, the downturn in the spinning industry was
becoming even more serious as a result of the global depression, but high-draft
ring spinning frames and simplex fly frames2 were introduced in response to the
prohibition of late-night work under the revised Factory Law, which came into
effect on July 1, 1929, and cotton thread production processes were shortened.
Against this backdrop of active streamlining investment, it was expected that
demand for high-draft ring spinning frames would increase.
The eagerly-awaited type RI high-draft ring spinning frames
was completed and launched around June 1930.3 The machine frame was modeled on
a Platt ring spinning frame, and the draft part (fiber drawing unit) adopted a
Rieter-type4 three-thread high-draft system.
The use of high-draft ring spinning frames and simplex fly
frames shortened and streamlined cotton thread production processes and led to
increases in cotton thread production. Textile departments were asked to
increase capacity, and the spread of automatic looms accelerated even further.
As a result, TALW's financial results recovered rapidly.
Ring Spinning Frame
Development and Automobile Research Starts
In parallel with the development of the high-draft ring
spinning frames, Kiichiro also began investigating a plan for the manufacture
of automobiles, something he had long hoped to do, as a part of the diversification
measures. Kiichiro believed that caution was necessary before entering the
automotive industry, which would require massive investment as well as
extensive and advanced technological skills.
The Hanomag
ultra-compact passenger car
Kiichiro started with research on and prototype development
of a compact engine. Risaburo Oshima and Jiro Iwaoka1 divided their time
between textile machinery manufacturing operations and investigation, research,
and design concerning automobiles and engine prototypes. Jirokichi Chigusa2
from the die plant also became involved in the production of prototypes. To
learn about automobiles, they learned how to ride motorcycles and drive a
Hanomag3, an ultra-compact passenger car made in Germany.
In early 1933, a three-ton arc electric furnace (800 kVA)
manufactured by Daido Electric Works was installed, and research on advanced
casting of automobile components began. Also that year, compact engines were
purchased, and by sketching them, 10 small engines were produced. At that time,
single-bore cast cylinders for a compact engine were made using cast iron
produced in the electric furnace. The completed engines were installed on
automobiles and test runs were conducted. These research and prototype
activities were conducted under the direction of Kiichiro during breaks from
textile machinery manufacturing.
Source: TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION
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