Since the time in 1989 when the LS400 debuted, Toyota Motor Corporation’s Lexus brand has made premium its calling card.
In fact, so particular is it about quality that Lexus has only three plants outside Japan and one of these is in Bidadi, Karnataka, where the ES300H is made. And it is here that the Toyota Technical Training Institute (TTTI) has a key role to play.
Headed by Bhaskar Singh, it was formed in 2007 to provide free training and education to intelligent, but financially challenged, students from rural Karnataka and make them employable. According to a Toyota survey, 10% of the eight lakh students who completed high school could not pursue higher education due to financial constraints.
TTTI strives to help them build skills and work towards a better future. The idea is to focus on the holistic development of knowledge, skill, body and attitude. From the institute’s point of view, working on the body and mind of students brings everyone together on the same page when it comes to carrying out the task of producing a car without compromising on quality.
On the basis of these outlines, TTTI has developed two courses: a three-year long ‘regular course’ started since the inception of the institute and ‘Toyota Kaushalya’, a two-year long stint, which began in 2020. Both programmes offer welding, assembly, paint and mechatronics as key subjects.
Ensuring Gender Diversity
The regular course comprises 64 students (including five girls) in the 16-17 age group while Toyota Kaushalya draws 300 students, again from Karnataka, in the 18-20 category. With only 64 seats in the regular course, the company decided to expand the net and include other capable students in Kaushalya.
This course has on-the-job training as the focus while the regular program covers mostly the academic portion along with some experiential learning.
Hostel facilities have not been developed for girls thus far but this will change with a new dormitory building now being built. It will not only allow more gender diversity to ‘Toyota Kaushalya’ programme but enhance the student pool over three-fold to 1,000 students of which girls will account for 300 from October 2023. This will also see more students come in beyond Karnataka alone.
Planting The Seed
The selection process is strict and kicks off with TTTI reaching out to government high schools. Representatives discuss the course with headmasters and this is then conveyed to the parents of the selected students.
Ex-trainees also do their bit by spreading the word in their towns and villages which then encourages children to write the entrance test. The written IQ section evaluates their mental abilities while the second level of the entry process is the skill test to assess hand-eye coordination.
A physical capability test then follows to check if students can cope with factory working conditions like standing in a production line for eight hours. The next phase is the body and mind test which is linked to TTTI’s core ideology. Students are evaluated based on their ability to accept instructions.
While the institute tries to accept almost every student, even if they are unable to follow instructions or unwilling to be trained to do so, some are rejected since they can cause disruptions in the classrooms and facility.
The final step is a personal interview and medical exam which finally paves the way for the best abilities to qualify for the 64-seat regular course. The ones who have not made it can reapply for the test (age permitting) or join 'Toyota Kaushalya'.
Curating The Course
A visit to the Bidadi facility was an eyeopener on the daily routine which begins at 6 a.m. with a 30-minute run. The students then converge in the assembly area where they engage in a variety of activities beginning with loud screaming. The idea is to help them develop a loud and strong voice in order to work in the noisy factory and also express their frustrations.
This is followed by 30 minutes of yoga under the supervision of instructors. Following that, the students begin their presentations, which include delivering lectures on specific topics and demonstrating mind/body coordination with the help of a 'Kendama,' among other things.
The goal is to instil confidence within themselves and ensure that they are strong enough to accept and improve on their mistakes. The students then head out to their respective classes or move to the facility for training.
After classes are over, their evening routine begins with half-an-hour of club time where they participate in any sport or spend time at the gym and garden. This is followed by studying their day’s work for two hours per day before going to bed. The daily routine is followed six days a week, with Sundays off.
Detailed Curriculum
The curriculum is divided into three broad categories: mind and body (which account for 50% of the syllabus), skill (34%), and developing knowledge (16%). While Toyota Kaushalya focuses primarily on OJT (on-the-job training), the regular course begins with students gaining knowledge in basic subjects such as English, Mathematics, and Science during the first year.
The course is revised often to be in sync with industry needs as evident with 'Industry 4.0' and 'Mechatronic' which are part of the syllabus. Initially, the course was a replica of what was followed in Japan but has now undergone various changes keeping Indian conditions in mind.
All the content taught is at the ITI level, representing production requirements rather than design. OJT training for ‘regular course’ students starts from the second year. The training on developing mind and body coordination continues through various activities.
From the second year, the course tries to develop human values based on the ‘Toyota Value’. During this time, students are encouraged to take up several initiatives which include helping the needy at orphanages and old-age homes as well as planting trees and taking care of them.
TTTI collaborated with the Automotive Skills Development Council in 2012 to ensure that its certificates were at par with ITI (certificates), said Naveen Soni, President, Lexus India. Here, TTTI graduates take a written test administered by ADSC hiwhc allows them to enrol in any high-level ITI course.
Beyond the Classroom
The institute also encourages students to participate in the ‘World Skills Competition’ which sees participation from around 70 countries each year. The 2022 event held in Germany and Switzerland saw TTTI students bag bronze medals in prototype modelling and mechatronics where they were part of 20 competing countries.
After completing their programme, students are given a chance to either work at Toyota or pursue a higher level course. Of the 800 who have graduated since 2007, 300 joined Toyota’s facility at Bidadi. Meanwhile, at the Lexus production line, around 80% of the workmen are from TTTI.
To ensure top-class quality, workers or — as the company prefers to call them — ‘craftsmen’ are carefully chosen. Each plant is supervised by the (one or more) ‘Takumi Master’ with an experience of more than 60,000 hours.
While the average age of a ‘craftsman’ at the Lexus plant in Japan is 45 years, it is just 25 in India which reflects the difference in age demographics between the two countries.
Bidadi Roll Of Honour
It was in August 1983 when the idea of Lexus first emerged inside a secret meeting room at the Toyota Headquarters in Japan chaired by the then chairman of the Japanese brand Dr Eiji Toyoda. The question that was to be answered in the meeting was “Can we create a luxury car to challenge the very best?” Bidadi would have every reason to feel proud as it became part of this effort.
Beyond the manufacturing line and the institute, Toyota has also set up an ecozone within the facility premises spread across 25 acres. Toyota Ecozone is an experiential environmental learning centre with 17 educational theme parks including biodiversity and sacred groves theme parks. They are designed to create ecological consciousness among children and various stakeholders.
The biodiversity theme park is an effort towards creating awareness on the importance of biodiversity for the survival of ecosystems, what impacts humans have on it, and it should be conserved. Ecozone also has 38 rare and endangered plant species that belong to the IUCN (International Union For Conservation of Nature) red list.
‘Sacred Groves’ is a park that draws a connection between nature and religion. Toyota aims to promote the protection of trees through the lens of spirituality as well with this theme park. The carmaker has partnered with the Karnataka government to allow government school students to visit the park and understand more about the environment to inculcate a sense of responsibility.
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