At the end of every automotive brochure there is always a “specifications” section with a variety of data, such as vehicle dimensions (length, width, wheelbase and weight), and engine details (total engine displacement, compression ratio, maximum output and maximum torque). These specifications are what determine the car’s basic performance and shape its “personality.” There is also an “equipment list” section that indicates various equipments on the vehicle responsible for its driving performance, safety performance, comfort and handling, such as air-conditioner, power-steering, and navigation systems.
Basic performance, equipment and functions are generally called “specs.” If a vehicle were a meal, then the specs would be the ingredients. However, just throwing ingredients together according to a recipe does not make a finished meal; it needs “seasoning” to be complete.
At GAZOO.com we agree with the philosophy of Toyota’s Master Test Driver Hiromu Naruse that “just as in cuisine, the ‘flavor’ of a car is quite important,” and we went searching with him to find the “perfect automotive seasoning.”
Thus, in July 2008 we hosted the “First Round-table Discussion on Seasoning” in Tokyo and invited the “taste-makers” of Nissin Food Products Co., Ltd. and Suntory Ltd. - two of Japan’s major food and beverage manufacturers - to come and take part. All of the participants in the discussion were well known faces appearing frequently in the media.
From Toyota, there was Hiromu Naruse and Ikutomo Sakai, General Manager of the Vehicle Evaluation and Engineering Division 1. The roughly two-and-a-half-hour discussion featured a lively exchange of opinions on topics that included: “Differences between human senses and values measurable by machines”; “Transferring technical knowledge and methods for training junior fellow employees”; and “Approaches to manufacturing in an era of matured consumption.”
Despite the difference in the products that they make - whether instant foods, whiskey, beer, coffee or cars - each member of the round-table discussion is a leader as well as a “taste-maker,” who represents each respective company at the front-lines of business. There was much that the participants shared in common regarding the topic of “seasoning” and the discussion amongst them was both highly stimulating and particularly fruitful.
Nissin Food Products and Suntory are both similar to Toyota in that they are mass manufacturers that incorporate “seasoning” into their products. At the same time, they are all companies that target not only the domestic market in Japan but the global market as well. For those reasons, we invited the “taste-makers” of both Nissin Food Products and Suntory to join in the discussion regarding “Attention to details in seasoning and manufacturing,” “Transferring technical knowledge (human resource building)” and other topics. For GAZOO.com, this direct exchange of opinion was a tremendous learning experience, offering us the perfect opportunity to reaffirm our initiatives. “What we have been working to accomplish is not a mistake.” This round-table discussion was a great source of encouragement for both Naruse and us.