Oil, sweat and grease: Inside the Toyota School of Technology

There are no shortcuts to success. Those who’ve made a name for themselves in the automotive industry know this by heart.

Whether they’d be from the sales, engineering, design, after-sales or management sides, a career dedicated to one of man’s most complex and constantly evolving creations entails hours upon hours of putting in the necessary training and retraining, learning and relearning (at times unlearning).

Burning the proverbial midnight oil could, at times, be taken literally when studying the many intricacies of automobiles.

Now, combine this with the pressure involved when an automotive career involves working with the world’s top automaker Toyota. The world’s best takes in only the best, of course.

It is this philosophy that motivated Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) to establish the TMP School of Technology three years ago to hone automotive professionals whose skills and aptitudes would best fit a career spent with Toyota, not just in the Philippines, but worldwide.

Before the TMP School of Technology came about, TMP merely gathered the top graduates from different automotive schools in the country, such as what happened in 2011, when 26 Filipino graduates of automotive courses from known vocational and technology schools such as Technological University of the Philippines-Manila and Don  Bosco Technical Institute in Makati were tapped by TMP to be deployed in a Toyota distributor company in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

In 2013, TMP established its own school in its sprawling plant in Santa Rosa City in Laguna, run by Japan-trained instructors and equipped with modern facilities and training equipment.

Its pioneering batch of students enrolled for the two-year General Job Course (specializing in engine, transmission, drivetrain, suspension, and electrical systems) graduated mid-2015.

Last June 3, TMP School of Technology graduated its second batch for the General Job Automotive Servicing Course—131 students now transitioning into automotive professionals in the after-sales servicing of Toyota’s leading distributor in Saudi Arabia, and TMP dealerships in Luzon and the Visayas regions, as announced by TMP during the school’s commencement exercises at its Santa Rosa grounds.

Some of the graduates had also expressed interest to enroll in the six-month “Diagnosis Technician” training under the Specialized Toyota Automotive Training Program and be gainfully employed by Abdul Latif Jameel Import and Distribution Co. Ltd. in Saudi Arabia.

“With the graduation of our Batch 2, we are able to effectively maintain the fulfillment of Toyota Motor Corp.’s technology transfer to future Filipino Toyota technicians. On the part of TMP, it is able to sustain its social contribution toward national development through technical education,” said TMP Tech president David Go.

“The Toyota global community has high regard for Filipino automotive technicians. I am very confident that you can truly stand out and develop in the workplace,” said TMP president Satoru Suzuki.

TMP Tech was founded in 2013 by Dr. Shoichiro Toyoda and Dr. George SK Ty with the mission to create opportunities through technical education, to harness skills and to help build a better future for the Filipinos.

With employment opportunities waiting for them at Toyota dealerships in the Philippines and abroad, the new Toyota technicians will soon become part of the industry’s after-sales workforce.

“You had the privilege of experiencing the real-life scenario of the automotive industry in the best dealer network in the country,” said Toyota Dealers Association president Rene So to the graduates.

In 2015, So lauded the automaker for putting up the school, thereby making the company “support the country’s technical industry by providing an advanced technical education program.”

TMP Tech designed a fast-track two-year curriculum to optimally combine Technical Education and Skills Development Authority’s required competencies with Toyota’s global training standards and distinguished value for excellence, reliability and continuous improvement.

On top of the topnotch facilities and training equipment, TMP Tech instructors are mentored by a Japanese trainer with solid experience from TMC to upgrade their knowledge and skills in Toyota advanced technologies, aligned with Japan’s modern practice in automotive servicing.

Students of the General Job course render an extensive eight-month on-the-job training at local Toyota dealerships, strongly linking their academic learning to the industry’s actual practice.