Painting Line at Okazaki Plant
Inspection Line at Okazaki Plant
Assembly Line at Mizushima Plant
Assembly Line at Mizushima Plant
MMC employee shows cut model of EV
MMC employee provides company profile before tour
Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) welcomes elementary school pupils for plant tour at plants in Japan with precautions against COVID-19 infection. Every year, the fifth-grade pupils usually visit us from September to December when they are supposed to learn about the automotive industry during the social studies class. This year, many pupils began to visit us for the plant tour since October when the emergency state declaration and other priority measures such as epidemic prevention measures is lifted. The plant tour is very popular because the plant tour enables pupils to see in person various kinds of machines and robots work as well as many people who work on the assembly lines. It lets them feel the first-hand experience of automotive manufacturing.
MMC intends to continue to help children learn even in the situation where cautions against COVID-19 infection is necessary through such means as remote plant tour using online web meeting system and establishment of virtual plant tour and so on.
■Feedback from the Pupils
- Okazaki Plant
Thank you for the tour. The actual tour of the plant got me interested in automobiles. I want people at MMC keep doing the good job.
- Mizushima Plant
It was good that I could see details that I would not have been able to learn in the classroom. For example, I was amazed to see the workers wearing different protective gears for each process so that the workers will not get hurt.
- Kyoto Plant
I learned that they divide processes such as the ones to be performed by machines and the ones to be manually performed by human beings. In the process where machines are used, they can turn out many engines quickly. I also found that it was also important to proceed cautiously when human beings inspect products for safety.
■Comments from MMC employees who guided the plant tours
- Okazaki Plant
MMC plant offers a valuable opportunity to see painting process which few other car manufacturers do. As you will be able to see all the five processes of automobile manufacturing here starting from pressing to welding, painting, assembly and inspection, we want as many visitors as possible to watch the lines. In 2020, we started offering remote plant tour for elementary school pupils for whom it is difficult to visit the plant. We want not only the pupils in the neighborhood community but also those living afar to have a plant tour remotely or on site, so that children gain deeper understanding of the automotive industry and know the attraction of automotive manufacturing and vehicles of MMC.
- Mizushima Plant
At Mizushima Plant, we manufacture such cars as Kei-cars and environment-friendly 100% electric cars. This is one of the few integrated production plants in the world that contains an engine assembly plant and a casting plant, where the entire car manufacturing process is carried out from the press shop to the final assembly plant. We want as many as possible pupils come and see the line, you will be able to closely watch the whole process from shaping a sheet of steel into the shape of a car to the process where EVs and gasoline-fueled vehicles are assembled on the same line in mixed production.
- Kyoto Plant
At Kyoto Plant, we manufacture engines. At the plant, you will be able to see the three processes of from casting to machining and assembling. As there are some processes where it is not easy to imagine the production flow, we prepare and show videos and try to provide easy-to-understand explanations so that elementary school pupils can understand. We feel quite happy when they ask a variety of questions or say that they really enjoy the tour. We intend to continue to help children have first-hand experience of manufacturing only the on-site tour can give.
■"Virtual plant tour" in the "Why? Why? Car Development Research Kids" website for children *Japanese only