Kris and Chris go on a NUMMI private tour
In March, Chris took me to NUMMI, New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. where they mass assemble Toyota Corollas, Toyota Tacomas, and Pontiac Vibes. Sadly, the public tour has been canceled indefinitely, but Chris was lucky enough to be invited to a private tour, and I was lucky enough to be his +1.
What really impressed me at NUMMI, besides the giant hydraulic robots, was the team spirit and collective work ethic. Based on several Japanese principles of increasing productivity and efficiency by avoiding waste of energy, time, and effort, while garnering incentives for employees who suggest simple strategies for further efficiency, the NUMMI philosophy really encourages a healthy overall morale and friendly environment. It was like Disneyland characters building cars. Definitely not your average workplace.
For legal reasons, of course, we were not allowed to snap photos inside (I got one of Chris outside), but among some tidbits we learned was that Pixar visited the NUMMI plant for inspiration for the amazing film Wall-E, especially drawing from a robot equipped with track “legs”, and one with mechanized motions and “upper body parts” mimicked for the Pixar hero. On our tram-ride tour with the most jubilant little woman alive, we got to see massive engine blocks being dropped and mounted, entire chassis dropped and mounted, from single and two-tier construction tracks… and all the workers and welders waved and smiled and most likely whistled while they worked.
