Toyota Remakes Its Bpiggest Plant

摘要

Toyota Motor Corp.'s largest plant in the world sits on 1,300 acres surrounded by rolling fields of bluegrass in rural Kentucky. With floor space equal to about 170 football fields, the Georgetown factory houses more than 2,000 industrial robots, 6 cafeterias, 2 paint shops, and an indoor basketball court. Walking down crowded aisles between parts bins and half-assembled cars, plant manager Susan Elkington scans the facility, obsessed with finding more open space. "I talk a lot about space," she says. "If you want something new, you need space first." Say for room to build a RAV4 sport utility vehicle, which isn't presently built in Georgetown but Elkington expects will be starting in January.