Sensory Development Training Helps Build a Better Lexus

By adpock - April 21, 2016

lexus es georgetown plant

If you think robots are going to replace all the factory workers building quality Lexus products, think again. As displayed at Toyota’s Georgetown, Kentucky plant, these beautifully crafted cars require a human touch.

Along with the lesser built Carmrys, Avalons, and Venzas, the flagship 8.1 million square foot Georgetown plant is also where the Lexus ES350 has been made since last October, when Toyota unveiled the $360 million investment. Out of the 7,500 employees at the plant, 750 were hand-selected to build Lexus’s best-selling sedan. And boy did they up the training regiment in order to do so properly.

Check out Forbes‘ video below, which outlines the rigors and innovation involved in the unique training program for Lexus’s Georgetown team. Take all the training your average Toyota worker receives, and tack on an additional 1.5 million hours.

But it’s not just the time commitment that makes the training so special, it’s the approach. All of the Lexus workers are trained by master craftsmen known as Takumi, the Japanese word meaning “artisan.” These masters put the Lexus workers through sensory development, so as to become one with their surroundings. So they can actually feel the tiniest of imperfections in a sheet of metal, or the difference between a one-milimiter and a two-milimeter gap.

Now that’s attention to detail, and the reason Lexus keeps selling all those ES350 sedans.