For more than 70 years, Toyoda Iron Works Co. Ltd. (TIW) has supplied steel-plate body frame components, chassis elements and other auto parts to numerous automakers worldwide. TIW is headquartered in Toyota City and manufactures parts in three plants in Japan and 10 plants overseas. Seventy-five percent of its production is for Toyota Motor Corp. (TMC).
Nearly 20 years ago, TIW part designers transitioned from 2D to 3D CAD software. Several years later, certain departments within the company began using 3D CAD and computer-aided engineering (CAE) software. Unfortunately, the lack of companywide standards often led to unnecessary rework in the late stages of design and production planning by engineers in those departments.