Motion Control & Drives


How Toyota SA navigated severe flooding

July 2023 Motion Control & Drives

On 18 April 2022, President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a national state of disaster when heavy rainfall led to severe flooding and landslides in KwaZulu-Natal, causing the death of 448 people and destroying over 12 000 houses, while displacing a further 40 000 people. Many businesses also suffered from the damage, including leading car manufacturer, Toyota South Africa Motors.

On 12 April at 5:30 a.m., Toyota management breathed a short-lived sigh of relief when staff on site sent pictures of no damage from the reported flooding, with the rain beginning to subside at its Durban production plant, which produces popular vehicles like the Corolla Cross and Quest, Hilux, Fortuner, and Hino.

By 6:20 a.m., the plant was under 1,5 metres of mud. “When the Shongweni Dam sluice gates released at capacity, they sent a deluge of water all the way down the Umlazi River, which broke through its banks as it wasn’t able to cope with that volume of water,” explains Andrew Kirby, CEO of Toyota SA. “That then hit nearby empty container yards, sending containers down the N2 in the flood water.”

The financial impact was severe, with extensive damage to electrical, mechanical and IT equipment across the 87 hectare site. “Toyota had to order just over 100 000 new equipment parts to replace the damaged ones, while around 4300 flood-damaged vehicles had to be crushed,” says Kirby. Despite a top disaster management executive stating that it was the most extensive damage to any production facility within Toyota globally, swift action from both Toyota and its partner’s management teams enabled the plant to bounce back to production in a mere three months.

Toyota’s industrial robotics partner, Yaskawa Southern Africa worked closely with Toyota to establish a priority list of repairs. “We brought every available person from all Yaskawa branches throughout South Africa to our Durban branch to assist,” recalls Andrew Crackett, managing director of Yaskawa Southern Africa. “Temporary and casual labour, along with an international team of Yaskawa experts were also sent to Durban. Members comprised colleagues from the UK, Germany and Japan”.

There wereno immediate spares on hand as they first needed to be expedited around the globe, and there was no user manual for repairing damage to this extent. The members of Yaskawa’s team were required to think on their feet and consistently come up with new ideas to be successful. In the end, approximately 400 robot controllers and 600 welding devices were successfully repaired, a noteworthy feat for a team that had never dealt with a project of this magnitude before.

Crackett noted that Yaskawa Southern Africa learnt helpful lessons from the disaster. “We now know how to recover flooded equipment and what type of facility is required. We also learnt by hard experience what worked and did not work when it came to money and time. One of the other key lessons was maintaining open and honest communication with the customer, whose understanding of our progress was key to everyone’s planning and expectations.”

Similar sentiments were echoed by Toyota, with Kirby stating that “while it is not something we would ever wish on anyone, the challenges helped us to grow and develop our capabilities and resilience as an organisation to be able to survive, and even flourish.”

The leading car company’s new internal slogan is ‘Rebuilding Better Together’. This philosophy speaks to working together as a team, while using crisis situations to improve future site planning.

As of September 2022, Toyota’s Durban plant has regained its full production.


Credit(s)



Share this article:
Share via emailShare via LinkedInPrint this page

Further reading:

Smart features increase crane safety
Motion Control & Drives
The newly launched Konecranes S series hoist offers a large bouquet of smart features which not only increase lifting device safety but also deliver a higher level of operator protection.

Read more...
Compact, powerful hexapod for high-precision applications
Motion Control & Drives
With the HEX150-125HL, Aerotech is launching the latest generation of its hexapod technology. The compact six-axis positioner combines precise movements with high load capacity and simple integration.

Read more...
Hexagon Electrical services electric motor sector
Motion Control & Drives
Hexagon Electrical has expanded its manufacturing and service capabilities to meet the growing demand for customised, high-performance specialised electric motors in heavy engineering, and hazardous industrial and mining applications.

Read more...
NORD modular drives for frequently changing motor speeds
Bearing Man Group t/a BMG Motion Control & Drives
BMG has made a substantial investment over the years to ensure assembly, stockholdings and technical support for the Nord range are in line with stringent international quality, safety and environmental standards.

Read more...
Cutting-edge robotics and smart manufacturing solutions
Yaskawa Southern Africa Motion Control & Drives
Yaskawa Southern Africa made a compelling impact at this year’s Africa Automation and Technology Fair

Read more...
Medium voltage drive for enhanced energy efficiency and process optimisation
Schneider Electric South Africa Motion Control & Drives
Schneider Electric South Africa has unveiled its cutting-edge Altivar Process ATV6100 medium voltage (MV) drive range, designed to enhance energy efficiency and operational reliability across various industries.

Read more...
Powerful high-precision hexapod
Motion Control & Drives
With the HEX150-125HL, Aerotech is launching the latest generation of its hexapod technology. The compact six-axis positioner combines precise movements with high load capacity and simple integration.

Read more...
Servicing the electric motor sector
Motion Control & Drives
Hexagon Electrical has expanded its manufacturing and service capabilities to meet the growing demand for customised, high-performance specialised electric motors in heavy engineering, and hazardous industrial and mining applications.

Read more...
Control system for deep antenna
Rockwell Automation Motion Control & Drives
When a major university in South Korea set out to build a 21-metre deep space antenna, the researchers needed a control system that could track celestial objects with pinpoint accuracy, a level of precision they thought was out of reach. By partnering with Rockwell Automation, they discovered that the right technology and support could turn their vision into reality.

Read more...
Cutting-edge robotics and smart manufacturing solutions
Yaskawa Southern Africa Editor's Choice
Yaskawa Southern Africa made a compelling impact at this year’s Africa Automation and Technology Fair.

Read more...