dentate

I had the pleasure of taking the Lexus Plant tour (not Toyota) last November. You sign up through Club Lexus (at least thats how it works with the Canadian Version of Club Lexus). We had to arrive in the morning by 11am I believe at Langdon Hall in Cambridge, ON. For those that don't know, Langdon Hall is one of the few Michelin (the guide-not tires) Rated Restaurants / Establishments in Canada. (Langdon Hall is also a very upper-class hotel that also makes 3-4 Lexus RX's available to guests who do not have their own vehicles!) We were served wine before lunch, followed by a wonderful meal in the dining room with more wine....following lunch, a coach arrived to take us to the plant - just a few kms away! We were ushered into an auditorium, where we were shown a couple of videos about the products produced in the plant and Lexus products in general as well as the importance of the safety aspect. Lexus Canadian HQ dined with us and were on hand to give us more details about products and answer our questions. Prior to our arrival at the plant, we had been emailed details about acceptable clothing etc. From the auditorium we were escorted bqck to the coach to take us to the Lexus factory--where we were all issued safety glasses and taken into the plant to await our tram complete with headsets to hear the details of what we were witnessing. It was a fabulous tour....I was amazed at the cleanliness of the entire plant! I would have loved to have spent more time inside the plant!! The only area that visitors were not permitted into was the paint shop--for fear of contaminents damaging the Lexus paint finish. As I understand it, Lexus paint shop employees are given very strict guidelines as to what they can and cannot wear (jewlery) as well as the use of certain personal products such as deodorants/anti-perspirants are strictly forbidden because they can contaminate the paint. At the end of our tour, the coach was waiting to take us back to Langdon Hall to collect our vehicles...It was an absolutely wonderful day and there was no charge! I will sign up for the tour again! The tour comprised approx. 50 people and as I understand it, the Lexus tour is offered only a few times a year. I can't wait to take the tour again!

dentate
Oshawa,ON

kitlz

That's sweet dentante. I say we get a group together from here and plead with them to let us take the tour. After all we're keeping them busy

w4rjd

I have owned a number of Lexus products. This is without question the poorest assembled car of all. The rattle went in before the name when on. Dealer has no idea how to fix.

RXTMMC

Certain facts stated by the tour guide might be off a bit.

I work there so I am well aware of our happenings!

Toyota North Cambridge makes Corolla and Matrix. South makes RX350 (no Hybrids and certain special package vehicles). The plant west of Cambridge makes the Rav 4.

We did have a slow period during Jan-Feb 2010. I am sure that is easy to find out way...

It is very hard for regular people to enter the Lexus plant tour.. From what I heard, mainly Lexus Sales Reps and Dealer officials will get a chance to tour the plant and that is mainly for selling/training purposes.

DunWkg

Please correct any inaccuracies, I hate disseminating incorrect information.

I was very impressed by your quality control measures.

The Rav 4 plant sounded huge at 1.8 million square feet sitting on 1,000 acres. Is there some expansion planned at the Rav4 plant or why is it sitting on such a huge acreage compared to Cambridge, which seems to be packed onto a smaller site?

It didn't sound like you'd had any layoffs, which has been so common in other types of manufacturing facilities.

When I got home I asked my sales person about the Lexus tour. Being a less than regular person, I had no chance of taking that tour!


When I first heard the music during a line stoppage and before the tour guide explained it, I thought "wow, do really they allow loud radios in here?".

Although I had many questions, I asked this one and no one seemed to know. I took the tour twice and on the second time around they were changing the stamp in one of the stamping machines. As we passed by, there was a green laser being flashed on the outside of the machine. What was the purpose of that projected laser line?

kwbuggy

I just signed up for a tour of the Lexus plant on the Canadian owner's website. If they only take 50 people then anyone who wants to go better sign up right away. I'm not sure how US owners would get in on this, better check with Lexus USA.

DunWkg

US owners sign up the same way as Canadians to tour the Cambridge Toyota factory.

RXTMMC

I will try my best to answer some of your questions.

The RAV4 plant might have further expansion. Toyota likes to purchase additional land for future plans... I guess it is their way to ensure that space is there when it needs to be there.

TMMC doesn't like to use the term "Lay Offs". Instead, we have "training" days and reduced shifts to compensate for the slow downs.

The music you hear is the result from a TM (Team Member) seeking the TLs (Team Leader) help. A TM would press the button when a problem arises either due to the robotics, materials, process or when he/she needs to go to the washroom .

I am not too sure about the green laser thing. I have to check it out myself when I am down in the press again.

kwbuggy

My wife and I just toured the LEXUS plant on Thursday. We found out about it on the Lexus Canada owners website. It is one of the perks for buying a Lexus.
The whole event was tremendous, first lunch at Langdon Hall, then a tour of the Lexus (South plant) then bussed back to Langdon Hall. Check out the Langdon Hall website if you want a great place to stay before/after your tour. Very pricey, but worth every cent!
The tour guides (retired teachers) were well informed and didn't rush the tour, explaining every step of the process. I was amazed at the automation in the plant, robots do almost all the heavy work. The quality checks that are built into the process are also extremely extensive. These are very well built cars!
I'm not sure how US owners get on the tour but there was an American couple there, I didn't get a chance to ask them.