David Dewhurst Photography
Meet the New Boss
Thirty-three years ago, giant Japanese automaker Toyota selected a flat tract of farmland in rural Scott County as the site of its first manufacturing plant in North America. For the next couple of years, land was acquired, roads and infrastructure were completed, the massive factory was constructed, and more than 1,100 employees—90 percent of them Kentuckians—were hired and trained. All that paid off in May 1988, when the first car, a 1989 Toyota Camry, rolled off the line.
With the opening of the $1.1 billion automobile-manufacturing complex, the city of Georgetown and the Bluegrass region of Kentucky were forever changed.
Fast-forward to 2018, as Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, also known as TMMK, is celebrating 30 years of producing cars. It employs more than 8,000 people, has produced more than 11 million cars and has invested more than $7 billion in the facilities.
In this anniversary year, TMMK also is celebrating a new president. Growing up in rural Indiana, Susan Elkington would not have pictured herself running Toyota’s largest manufacturing plant in America, but today, at 47, that is where she is.
Appointed last January, Elkington is the first woman to head the plant.
“I never thought in my wildest dreams as a kid that I would be here today,” she said. “But if I can get here, there is nothing that any individual cannot do.”
Armed with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, Elkington began working at the Toyota plant in Princeton, Indiana in 1998. She moved up the ranks to vice president of engineering over the next 16 years before being invited to take on a new role at the company headquarters in Japan.
“Prior to that, I had lived in the state of Indiana for all but one year of my life,” she said.
Over the next three years, Elkington became the general manager of production control—the first woman to assume that role. The position was a global assignment in which she supported and visited more than 50 plants around the world.
“I got to see so many cultures and what we can learn from each other,” she said. “When I study processes here, I think about how it is done in other countries.”
In January 2017, she was promoted to senior vice president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky. Just 12 months later, she became president.
Elkington said the green space, pace of life and care that people have for one another in Kentucky remind her of growing up on a farm in Huntingburg, Indiana.
“It is just so beautiful here,” she said. “It is very peaceful, and the people are so friendly.”
While Scott County provides a tranquil, pastoral environment, the Lexington area supplies arts and entertainment.
“I’ve become a foodie, so I love all the local restaurants, breweries and wineries,” she said. “They are so unique. You can’t just find that anywhere.”
JOSEPH REY AU
2019 Toyota Avalon TMMK Georgetown, Kentucky USA Monday, April 16, 2018 Photo by Joseph Rey Au
Change has been a constant in Elkington’s professional life as she has moved up the corporate ladder. She embraces change and uses it to get more from people around her.
“I don’t think anyone should accept what they are doing today as what they will do for the rest of their life,” she said. “I have learned how to challenge people and the organization so that we are not just fixing today’s problems but working strategically for Toyota and Kentucky for the next 30 years.”
Elkington credited the great leaders she has worked with over the years with contributing to her own leadership style.
“One of the blessings of working for Toyota is they hire people not just on their technical aptitude, but also with a heart to really care for the people they work with,” she said. “When you spend your work day with these people, they do become like family.”
She believes listening is an important part of leading as well as making sure opinions are heard from different people.
“And as a woman, growing up in a very male-dominated industry, sometimes your voice was not heard,” she said. “So, because I had those experiences, it has really strengthened that side of me.”
Kaizen, a Japanese business philosophy meaning continuous improvement, is implemented throughout the Georgetown plant at every level. Suggestions by employees in any role are accepted and considered for ways to be more efficient, productive and thorough. In the past year, Elkington has rotated leaders to new positions—roles they never thought they would have.
“Although it causes a little apprehension at the start, the result is they look at things with a whole different point of view,” she said. “It has been really good for everyone.”
Elkington’s hope is to inspire girls and young women to go into the manufacturing sector and remove some of the misconceptions that factories are dark, dirty places.
“It can’t possibly be dirty,” she explained. “Something as small as a hair on the aluminum used to make a car hood could cause an indentation that any customer could see. The same with painting: A speck of dust causes a bump in the finish, and with four layers of coatings, the bump just gets bigger.”
Magnus Lindqvist
In her 30-year career with Toyota, Elkington has seen many changes. Employees learn a trade and can take their careers in many directions at the plant. TMMK’s innovations include technology that has resulted in robots performing some parts of the manufacturing job that do not need a human touch. For positions that could cause strain to muscles, the facility has incorporated exoskeleton vests, for example. This equipment helps support arm muscles when doing overhead tasks and gives an extra boost when the workers are lifting something heavy.
The changes that Elkington has seen over the years are fascinating, but some basics remain the same.
“One thing that has never changed is the pride the team members have for the products we produce and the work that we do,” she said. “The state of Kentucky was the starting point for Toyota in North America. We call it the flagship. It is truly an American company, and our 8,000 employees have a combined 105,000 years of experience. So even after 30 years here, we are just at the beginning.”
New Models with Familiar Names
Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky recently completed a massive overhaul of the Georgetown plant that will result in more efficient production practices.
Likened to the way that athletes build their core strength to maximize their performance, Toyota New Global Architecture is a way to improve car core components, allowing them to accentuate each model’s unique features.
Toyota has assumed the challenge of “making ever-better cars” and has broken down the core components that are incorporated into every model:
• Driving quality
• Comfort
• User-friendliness
• Pride of ownership
• Security
Toyota New Global Architecture factories are opening all over the world to make the company more efficient and flexible.
Armed with a $1.3-billion investment from Toyota, the Georgetown facility—Toyota’s largest in the world—essentially built a new factory within the factory. While constructing new assembly lines to incorporate the New Global Architecture, the company kept the original lines for current models moving. Simultaneously, TMMK focused on retraining employees, incorporating new parts and implementing new processes. The investment also introduced a new paint shop, engine line and aluminum stamping operation.
“TMMK was the first plant in North America to build a vehicle under Global Architecture,” plant President Susan Elkington said.
The 2018 Camry was the first model built in the Commonwealth using Global Architecture, but the 2019 Avalon and the 2019 Lexus ES also are being manufactured this way.
This was no small undertaking. Elkington explained that to produce the 2019 Lexus ES, 2,000 of the parts and 90 percent of the processes were modified in some way or were completely new.
“We did this on three different models, on three different lines, plus two different engine lines, and we did it all in just 14 months,” she said. “It is so exciting, and it has opened up new opportunities for the future.”
The 2018 Camry
The Camry has been the best-selling sedan in America for the last 15 years, so it might be tough to up its game, but Toyota always has a plan.
This eighth-generation sedan has gone through a complete evolution, retaining all of Toyota’s traditional amenities and incorporating a sleek new exterior design along with driving dynamics that include enhanced handling capabilities.
“The great thing about this Camry is that it has two distinct personalities,” Elkington said. “It comes in a fun sports edition or the traditional, prestigious edition.”
The 2019 Avalon
Elkington calls Toyota’s full-sized luxury sedan, the Avalon, “a truly American car.” It was designed in California, engineered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and manufactured in Georgetown.
This new Avalon features a new Global Architecture powertrain and a variable suspension system that enhances controllability. Apple CarPlay comes standard.
The 2019 Lexus ES 350
Just about everything about the 2019 model is new, including an aluminum hood and fenders. Also new are the eight-speed direct shift automatic transmission, upgraded safety systems and Apple CarPlay.
“It is about engaging all the senses of the customers—how the engine sounds, how the seats feel,” Elkington said. “There is nothing simple about it. It is true luxury.”
Toyota Tours
Georgetown welcomes visitors to explore its charming downtown area, historic sites, surrounding farms and stately Georgetown College. But another attraction, one that is unique to this area, tops the list: Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky.
“People come to Kentucky for horses and bourbon, but when they find out that we have the largest Toyota plant in the world, it is an added bonus to their trip,” said Natalie Partin, communications manager at the Georgetown/Scott County Tourism Office & Visitor Center. “Toyota has an awesome tour, with something to interest everyone in your group.”
Since 1990, TMMK has welcomed more than 800,000 visitors to the factory that spans 1,300 acres, in a building that is 8.3 million square feet. In 2017, more than 32,000 people took one of the weekday tours.
The tour starts in the Toyota Visitor Center, where guests can see new versions of the cars being made there: the Camry, Avalon and Lexus ES 350. There also is a vintage model that catches the eye.
“People are always excited to see the very first car we ever made here, the white 1989 Camry,” said Keith Clifford, team leader and tour guide. “It has 96 miles on it.”
Guests are invited to watch a short introduction video featuring Susan Elkington, president of TMMK, before they are assigned to their group and tour guide. It is a short walk to the comfortable open-top tram that takes visitors all over the plant. At the tram, each guest receives protective eye coverings and a wireless audio headset to hear the tour guides.
For the next hour, the tour introduces the components of car building, and the knowledgeable tour guide reveals surprising facts along the way.
The first area is called Stamping. After passing giant rolls of steel that weigh tons, guests see pieces of steel laid flat, then hit with massive dies, which produce car parts.
The tour then moves into Body Weld and on to Assembly, where guests can see a familiar-looking car chassis moving slowly along the line as employees add parts. The tour guide points out the processes that Toyota adds to ensure quality standards for each vehicle as well as procedures to enhance safety for every employee.
From start to finish, it takes about 20 hours to produce one car, which includes a full 10 hours in the paint shop. Last year, TMMK produced about 550,000 cars and 600,000 engines.
“Our tour program gives us the opportunity to showcase Kentucky’s workforce,” said Rick Hesterberg, manager of external affairs. “Our plant has about 8,000 talented and hard-working team members who make some of the best products in our industry, and to see them and the process up close really makes people come away amazed.”
Another benefit of the tour is that it might attract new employees.
“For the many students touring the plant, we really focus on the potential career opportunities that exist in manufacturing and engineering,” Hesterberg said. “These students represent our future workforce, so we want to take advantage of the collective audience we have on hand to promote our own industry and company.”
The tour is fun and informative and, best of all, free to visitors, but the payoff to Toyota is big. Hesterberg says that seeing firsthand the quality and efficiency that go into the process sometimes leads to vehicle sales.
“We base that on feedback we get firsthand from folks coming through the plant and from tourism sources like TripAdvisor,” he said.
Ashley Mills
A City Transformed
It was 1985. Scott County’s major employers were shutting their doors. Downtown Georgetown had barely a dozen shops open for business. Schools and churches were fighting leaky roofs. The county was in debt by millions.
“We weren’t growing, and we couldn’t keep up with what we were doing,” said Scott County Judge-Executive George Lusby, who was on the Georgetown City Council at that time.
Then along comes Toyota Motor Manufacturing, and three years later, its first Kentucky-built vehicle rolls off the line at its Georgetown manufacturing plant. The area hasn’t been the same since.
“Today, we are the most thriving county in Kentucky,” said Lusby, who is retiring as judge executive after more than two decades in office. “When I took office in 1990, we were $4 million in debt. Now, our budget is $30 million, and we have $35 million in reserve.
“We don’t owe anything on anything. I’m bragging, but it’s a fact, and it’s not because of me. It’s because of the manufacturing facilities we have here in Scott County.”
Of course, Toyota tops that list of manufacturing facilities. That’s not counting the companies springing up to either support the automaker or as a result of its presence in the community.
With all those businesses, thousands of workers are needed, so much so that the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development reports a Scott County unemployment rate of only 3.7 percent, one of the lowest in the Commonwealth.
In 1990, the Scott County population totaled 23,867. Georgetown’s population measured 11,785. By 2017, those numbers had jumped to 54,873 in the county and 33,660 in the city.
Magnus Lindqvist
With all those workers, the need for new homes and subdivisions increased. According to the Georgetown-Scott County Planning Commission, the number of housing units grew from about 8,000 in 1990 to more than 22,000 today. However, development was not haphazard.
Joe Kane, the commission’s director, said there was careful planning from the beginning.
“Scott County has had a strong planning program in place for a long time,” Kane said. “The 1991 Comprehensive Plan laid out a vision for future growth that has largely been followed.”
The 27-year-old plan allows urban growth only within certain areas and a southern greenbelt that maintains an agricultural stretch of land between Scott and Fayette counties, as well as the promotion of “high-quality residential growth through subdivision regulations that have high standards for stormwater management and infrastructure quality,” Kane said.
As with any explosion in population, the need to accommodate a rising student population increases exponentially.
Scott County Schools Superintendent Dr. Kevin Hub said he’s never bored.
“When you think about it, when you grow by more than 200 kids a year, well, bam, there’s 600 kids. That’s a full elementary school,” Hub said. “So, when you put it in perspective like that, it’s pretty amazing, isn’t it? It’s important for us to be strategic in our thinking—especially when we consider school facilities, because, based on the time that I’ve been here, we are growing at a pace that requires a new elementary school about every three years.”
In the late 1980s, Scott County had six elementary schools, two middle schools and one high school.
Hub, who is in his third year as superintendent, said the county now has eight elementary schools with a new one under construction. But that won’t be enough in a few years.
“We’ve already had discussions with the [school] board that we need to be thinking about elementary 10 and elementary 11,” he said. “We’ve got to be thinking that far. We’re just over capacity at most of our schools, and we’ve got to build.”
The number of middle schools also went from two in the 1980s to three today, and Scott County High School will have a good, old-fashioned in-county rivalry with the 2019 opening of a second school, Great Crossing High School.
“It’s been one band. It’s been one choir. It’s been one JROTC, one French program, one of all the sports teams—changing that to two is going to be tough, although a lot of support is coming in our direction,” Hub said. “We’re going to double the opportunities for students. Now we have twice the number of children that can participate in the spring musical. We’ve got twice the number of girls who can vie for a state championship on the softball team. We’ve got enough talent and student athletes in this community that we’re going to be able to field two sets of competitive athletic teams, plus all the extracurriculars that come associated with high schools.”
Magnus Lindqvist
Managing and planning for the county’s boom can present its challenges, but they are welcomed.
“Some of the challenges with rapid residential growth have been maintenance of the existing infrastructure by city and county government, and increased demand for services such as police, fire protection, garbage pickup, snow removal …” Kane said. “However, the city and county have a strong relationship and history of working well together and sharing resources … The fact there is strong local leadership with broad community support has helped keep the growth going.”
The city and county road systems also have seen significant upgrades.
“Through the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and Toyota and local initiatives, major projects have been undertaken to support regional transit and to make sure the city can grow in a balanced way,” Kane said.
Lusby said he is amazed to see all the changes that have taken place over the last 30 years.
“It’s just a great time to be in Scott County,” he said. “This is my favorite saying: Scott County is the greatest place in the world to live.”