Assembly Expansion Program

Through value engineering activities within the assembly and stamping areas, we provided more than $8 million in cost savings to Toyota.

SSOE provided design services for Toyota’s San Antonio plant, which spans more than 2 million SF, and continues to provide services for multiple projects as the facility grows. Our familiarity with the plant, on-site construction support services, and responsiveness make us a valuable asset to Toyota. Based on our intimate knowledge of this facility and our successful long-term working relationship with the client, Toyota selected SSOE as the A/E firm of choice for this program.

A number of factors drove this significant program. Changes to the Toyota Tundra model required a different assembly footprint to accommodate new options. Additionally, Toyota moved Sequoia production from their Indiana plant to San Antonio. This relocation called for alterations in multiple areas to house the new line. SSOE provided all architectural and engineering design services, including on-site representation and permitting for this program.

Our team leveraged technologies such as laser scanning, Cintoo, SharePoint, and Plangrid for file sharing and construction administration.

In total, the program affected eight plant areas including stamping, welding, Forma (an on-site supplier who shares space within the plant), Avanzar (an on-site supplier who feeds the assembly shop), Vuteq (a Tier 1 supplier), assembly shops, the east parking lot, and the dock area. Using a staggered approach with a significant focus on schedule, we coordinated the expansion of multiple areas simultaneously. Our team utilized non-production times to complete work without halting production.

SSOE coordinated a revised process layout for the assembly shop expansion, positioning noncritical spaces to the west and maintaining the roof pitch from the existing area to the new expansion. These value engineering measures eliminated the need for a step-up in the roof, new roof drains in the existing roof, new storm drainage piping, and existing structural member reinforcement to mitigate water ponding. These creative design concepts provided Toyota with savings of approximately $750,000.

For the stamping shop expansion, we began with a compressed air usage study. The results showed the existing system could support the new laser weld process with minor piping modifications. This discovery eliminated the need for a utility building expansion and associated equipment, providing a cost savings of $5 million. We continued value engineering within the stamping shop with our approach to the sheet receiving area. As sheet receiving is critical to the stamping process and cannot be shut down for an extended time, we developed a construction sequencing plan to reconfigure delivery to the area. This plan allowed the area to remain functional, saving Toyota approximately $2.5 million in lost production costs.

SSOE successfully executed this program though the strategic coordination of projects led by an experienced project manager and team with intimate knowledge of the entire facility. Our team collaborated with the client daily and leveraged on-site design reviews with the affected process groups to ensure our designs met their business needs and goals.