Nissan unveiled a production line at its Tochigi Plant featuring the Nissan Intelligent Factory initiative. This unique initiative supports the manufacture of next-generation vehicles using innovative technologies and contributes to the realization of carbon neutrality. Nissan also announced a roadmap to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 at its production plants around the world.
Hideyuki Sakamoto, Nissan’s executive vice president for manufacturing and supply chain management, said, “The automotive industry is in a period of great change, and solving the global challenge of climate change is urgent. We see this as an opportunity to build the strength of monozukuri (manufacturing), a part of our DNA, to develop and apply innovative technologies to overcome the challenges we face.”
Nissan Intelligent Factory
Since its foundation, Nissan has honed its ability to manufacture vehicles through high quality and highly efficient production processes and the superb skills of the company’s takumi (master technicians). However, the business environment surrounding manufacturing is undergoing major changes. In Japan, there is a need to break away from conventional labor-intensive manufacturing to cope with an aging society and serious labor shortage. Unforeseen situations, such as climate change and pandemics, also need to be managed. At the same time, industry trends in electrification, vehicle intelligence and connected technologies are making vehicle structure and functionality more advanced and complex.
