Andrew Logsdon's experience at Toyota's Paint Project Group

Andrew Logsdon, a mechanical engineering major who graduated from Lexington Catholic H.S., spent fall 2006 on his second work session for

Toyota Engineering and Manufacturing North America (TEMA) with

TEMA Body Production Engineering (BPE) – Paint Project Group

Erlanger , KY

Physical Work Location: TMMK Georgetown , KY

Experience in project management  

   I enjoyed this term a lot more than my first because I got the hands on, plant experience I was hoping for. All of my projects were supportive of a $16 Million Top Coat Booth Refurbishment project that was led by my TEMA BPE Paint Projects Group.

  We completed construction and installation of the new robots in Top Coat B (TCB) Booth, and completed the oven extension for TCB that was required by the faster takt time the robots could achieve.

  My first assignment was TCB Punchlist management and major item investigations. I created Investigation Reports on serious issues encountered in this project and followed up on each root cause and countermeasure. Next, I helped our SEIBI (Robot Teaching) team with Quality trials to achieve standard specifications.

  My largest project was TCB Stage 1 Auto Equipment Demolition. I led this project which involved the removal of 15 year old equipment that the new robots were replacing. I complted all the planning and coordination that we would normally pay a General Contractor (GC) to do, and in the process saved $180,000 that our normal GC quoted for the job. This was a perfect example of TEMA's Self Reliance initiative as they aspire to be fully independent in North America from the Japanese assistance of Toyota .

  TEMA's main work is change preparation and execution, whether it is for a major model change or replacement of depreciated equipment; everything comes down to project management. Much of the work is given to a general contractor and as a TEMA employee, you plan, coordinate, and manage the projects from a broad point of view.

    This term really developed my skills in the areas of communication and planning. I met with all the sub-contractors to show them the tasks and in turn, I learned from their expertise about the exact way the work would be executed. I would then plan using standard Toyota documents which would coordinate all required groups (TMMK project team, security, facilities, sub-contractors, etc.) via meetings and walk-thru's for the demolition activities.

In addition to project management, there were numerous examples where experiences related to my past academic studies. A good example was the Oven Extension part of this TC Refurbishment project. The increased capability of the new robots allowed us to shutdown TC C Booth after the new robots were put in TCA and TCB. To meet demand with one less booth meant increasing the conveyor speed. In order to maintain the keep time within the cure window, now that the conveyor was moving faster, the length of the oven needed to be increased. This was understandable from classes on Heat Transfer. During the quality trials for TCB robots for achieving standard film thickness, I used a digital paint thickness gauge that measured the thickness of the paint by passing an eddy current through the paint and into the metal. The strength of the eddy current determined the paint's thickness within +/-1 micron. It was cool to see the theory from Physics classes applied in the real world.

  I continued learning the requirements needed to achieve a quality paint job. This might include the film build, color hiding properties of the Primer and Base Coats, and the effect the robot's high voltage electric fields have on the metal flake behavior in mica colors.

    This TC Refurbishment project is interesting because it is being done while normal production is occurring. This means that our work took place mainly on weekends and between shifts. With this in mind, a typical day for me would start around 6:30AM. Normally there is generous flexibility from TEMA on start times but for this project, we had contractors doing electrical and piping work outside of the paint booths, therefore allowing it to happen during the week. I would get set up for the day then meet the contractors at 7 and 7:30AM. Mainly I would check that they had reviewed their Job Hazard Analysis forms, signed them off, and they would tell me their activities so I could make sure it would have no impact on production. After this I would come back to my desk, check my email, and prepare for coordination meetings that took place on Tuesdays and Wednesdays in preparation for the weekend work. After these meetings at 9 and 10AM, I would spend the majority of the day ironing out plans for upcoming activities. This may include coordinating with contractors or having them bid smaller jobs that would arise. For this project, there always seemed to be something new each day that I needed to support because it was imperative that all the construction and installation activities didn't have any impact on production.

  Of the income I received from this co-op rotation, approximately 1/3 of it went to my actual living expenses. This included a townhouse. Separate from my rent were utilities including electric, water, and gas. I also was enjoying DVR digital-recordable cable with high speed internet, cell phone, and liability insurance on three separate vehicles. My girlfriend and I ate out quite often and for the first time I had no stress from maintaining a positive amount in my checking account. I was able to save enough to pay tuition for two semesters of classes. The savings were a lot more than I anticipated.