Oh What a Feeling, Toyota!

The popular Camry

The redesigned Avalon

I work part-time at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky in Georgetown. TMMK is like a small city. There is a pharmacy, credit union, day care facility, full gym, several cafeterias and there is even a test track out back. I work in bodyweld. We make parts for the frame of the car. Some of the jobs I am trained on are: front floor cross, radiator, apron, cross #1, cross #2, rocker and rear member rear. Our group makes parts for both the Avalon and Camry. Some of the parts are specific for one car or the other, while others are common to both cars. The jobs can be divided by car type and also by right and left side. Obviously, the right and left side parts almost mirror each other usually with a few differences. It's a good job with good benefits (at least for full-time employees), but it is also a difficult job. There are always people getting injuried from pains and strains to more serious back and joint problems. TMMK tries to emphasize stretching before work, but there are still regular injuries. The environment is the only other downside to my job. The temperature was not bad inside the factory during the winter, but now in the heat of the summer bodyweld gets hot. There are fans and coolers full of water everywhere you look, but you're going to be doing some serious sweating, especially with the kevlar sleeves and gloves you are required to wear. Bodyweld requires full body protective gear. A bump cap, safety glasses, ear plugs and no exposed skin below the neckline. And there are many times when you really have to hump in order to keep up with your "customer". Our customer is another area in bodyweld 1 that takes our parts and begins to assemble them into the body of the car. No photos are allowed inside the plant (sorry Phil), but tours are available if you want an inside look at how cars are built. We generally make from 460 to 590 cars a shift. There are 2 plants and 2 shifts a day, so that comes out to be 1850 to 2400 cars every production day. The web site keeps a running total of how many cars are produced at the facility and is over 6 million and counting. Sometimes I get frustrated at being at work at 4 am, but for the most part I like my job. The one real perk I have is that I can come in on my days off if I want to earn some extra cash. I am only scheduled on Monday and Friday (along with any production Saturdays). It can make for difficult Tuesday mornings (like today), but overall it's a schedule that allows me to concentrate on school during the week and still have some change in my pocket. So next time you see a Camry or Avalon roll by, think Brett may have had a hand in that.