Please welcome close to 30 co-ops and interns to DENSO Manufacturing Tennessee, Inc. Students from across the United States will help develop and advance the next generation of products for our company. We wish you great success during your time with DENSO! 

Pictured front (L to R) are: Sheridan Monroe, Suzan Assal, Reagan Toll, Lauren Hunter, Cally Link and Ruma Deb. Middle (L to R): Zac Wesner, Kate Blake, Donovan Briley, Olivia Lazar, Nicholas Singleton, Baibhav Kamar Panda, Tyler Sussmane and Victor Diniz. Back (L to R): Abanoub Aziz, Joseph Anderson, Theoren Moore, Carter Dunlap, Hubert Mikulski, Alex Glaza, Zach DeGuira and Collin Lowery. Not pictured: Caroline Arze, Riley Farnsworth, John McElroy, Clamon Moody, Eva Nates and Benjamin Pottinger. 

On February 17, the Body Electronics (BE) Division (203) held a ceremony to celebrate winning the FORD World Excellence Award for Phone as a Key (PaaK). More than 100 production and support associates social gathered to accept the award.

BE Director Mike Peevy began the celebration by thanking everyone involved for the success of the PaaK product. Ford invited 115 of their top suppliers to the ceremony and DENSO came out on top winning two of the twelve awards delivered. DMTN PaaK award was for the Connected Service pillar and (DMMI) Thermal groups was in the EV Technologies pillar. DENSO was also one of seven suppliers recognized for their contributions during the COVID pandemic for our support on Powered Air Purifying Respirators (PAPR’s).

DMTN President Sean Nakamizo talked about the strict quality requirements from FORD. “Because of your strong effort to respond with quality and speed we were able to succeed. We have many opportunities to be the CASE hub in North America. Let’s be a pioneer of technology and challenge ourselves to create new business.”

Senior Vice President Chuntao Ye wrapped up the celebration by sharing how the PaaK product was essential in winning the trust of our customer. “We have the best solutions for quality and speed and are a model for CASE products. Thank you for doing your jobs precisely – this secures our future business.”

PaaK Team Leader Josh Hilbert and Engineer Brian Koozer accepted the award on behalf of the team and everyone signed a banner commemorating the award. “We have worked closely with production engineering to ensure PaaK would function the best it could and that’s been our key to success,” said Hilbert. “What all of us worked hard for has finally paid off for DENSO. Great job!”

Associates sign the banner recognizing the FORD Excellence Award for PaaK.

The PaaK team accepts the FORD Excellence Award.

As anyone who commutes on Robert C. Jackson (RCJ) Drive knows, two items you can count on are traffic and construction, Several associates have asked for an update on the project to make RCJ safer.

The RCJ improvement project is in part a response by the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) and the City of Maryville to an anticipated traffic increase due to DMTN’s expansion announced in 2017 and the completed extension of RCJ Drive on the south side of Highway 321. The project will align RCJ Drive’s lane structure to the newly built RCJ Drive extension, which includes four vehicle lanes and multiple turn lane areas. Much of the current digging being performed is for relocation of water, sewer, gas and other utility lines.

The project is expected to be complete by early 2023. When complete, RCJ Drive will have four lanes, a center turn lane, two traffic signals, a pedestrian bridge and sidewalks on both sides of the road. Each of these new features will enhance safety and overall traffic movement.

The bridge is being constructed at State of Tennessee expense and will become City of Maryville property. It will span RCJ Drive near the 101 main parking lot and the 201/202 main parking lot and allow anyone walking, running or biking on RCJ Drive sidewalks to cross the road safely. The RCJ Drive bridge will look similar to the bridge over Alcoa Highway near Anderson Lumber (view animation).

While it is not confirmed for the future, there is potential that the new sidewalks could connect with the local greenway system. This would be welcomed by many walkers, runners and bicycle riders in our community.

If you have additional questions about the project, please contact DMTN Facilities Engineering Manager Eric Fields at x3330 or by email at eric.fields@na.denso.com.

Some would agree there have not been many benefits to come out of the COVID pandemic. If there is a shining star, the crisis has increased our speed and ability to communicate across campus, the nation and even the world. DENSO Manufacturing Tennessee (DMTN) demonstrated that overwhelmingly last week.

On Wednesday, August 19 (Thursday, August 20 in Japan), DMTN became the first DENSO company location to “virtually” host Global President and CEO Koji “Jack” Arima. And it couldn’t have gone better.

“It was very exciting to see our CEO and his reaction to all the hard work our associates have accomplished in preparation for his visit,” said DMTN President Sean Nakamizo. “Our location is poised for tremendous growth over the next several years and President Arima was excited to see the passion and confidence of our associates.”

Twelve specific GENBA stops across campus joined the tour via Zoom and shared challenge improvements, action plans and associate voices, all structured around five core pillars: Safety, Quality, Fixed Cost Reduction, Plant Reform and our actions to prevent COVID.

“This tour demonstrated our commitment to a ONE DMTN mindset,” said Senior Vice President Chuntao Ye. “We cannot survive working as individual units. We have to work more closely together to remove obstacles and borders that can hinder our growth.”

During the first pillar, Arima saw how technology is helping create a safer work environment for associates in CWH and 102. The second pillar highlighted how DMTN is breaking down barriers to reach ZERO customer returns and A-rank defects. President Arima learned how Digital Asaichi has strengthened collaboration during the third pillar GENBA and at the fourth pillar, four key business that are transforming our future were showcased: Global B, EHV, SMD and GSP2. Finally, Arima saw how associates are utilizing the five CORE safety actions to reduce COVID risk.

“Thank you for your videos and plant tours today,” said President Arima during his wrap up comments. “It has been two years since my last visit and was very nice to see a lot of passion and confidence.”

Arima emphasized the importance of continued improvements. “Today’s activity was good, but it is now essential to stop, think, review and act through Reborn-21 to make significant changes to survive and grow for the future.”

During a special moment at the closing, President Arima officially presented DMTN with the DENSO President’s Award for CARE – the first for our location. Bob Booker, Corporate Functions, Patrice Brooks, Electrification Systems, and Taylor Ellison, Information Safety, were on-hand to accept the award. DMTN was recognized for maximizing its national and state voice thru strong government relationships and developing a future workforce through training, school and work based programs. The DENSO Face Shield project was also part of the application.

“We applaud the efforts of every associate in DMTN,” said NA President and CEO Kenichiro Ito during the ceremony. “DMTN has a strong commitment to government and society and continues to be a strong ambassador for DENSO.”

“I cannot thank our associates enough,” continued Nakamizo. “This was a great opportunity to showcase DMTN to our global president and prove how COVID has not hindered the DENSO spirit. Congratulations to everyone!”

A complete photo gallery of the visit can be found on the DMTN Connection (accessible on DMTN campus).

Director Chris Ramsey presents during the DMTN virtual tour from CWH. Joining Ramsey are Seiya Dharmadasa and Luke Moore.

Manager Nathan Large demonstrates how forklift separation is protecting associates in Building 102.

Section Leader Chris Adams talks about PQ Time in Building 202 during the DMTN virtual visit with President Arima.

Manager Brent Farmer and Senior Manager Jim McDaniel talk about the fully automated line at Global B in Building 204 during the virtual visit.

DMTN President Sean Nakamizo kicks off the virtual visit from Building 204. More than 100 attendees around the world joined the GENBA tour of our location.

DENSO Corporation President and CEO Koji Arima participates in the DMTN virtual visit via Zoom.

Electrification System’s Patrice Brooks (left), Corporate Functions’ Bob Booker (center) and Information Safety’s Taylor Allison accepted the Global President’s CARE Award on behalf of DMTN during a special ceremony following the virtual visit.

DMTN leadership and award representatives accept our location’s first DENSO Global President’s CARE award and pose for a photo with global leadership joining virtually in the background.

Two groups of DMTN associates were on track to finish the first leg of their Technical Skills Trades Program (TSTP) Apprenticeships this past spring. Both teams had just begun their Special Team Project when the Coronavirus pandemic hit and began affecting schedules everywhere.

The apprentices were given the task of building a troubleshooting machine that could be used at DENSO with a $1,000 budget. Normally this project would take three weeks, but the teams had to adjust to a pause in operations. “One of our biggest challenges was picking up where we left off after COVID-19 put us on hold for a while,” said Elijah White.

Travis Fontaine agreed that working on this project during a pandemic created more challenges, but “just like on the plant floor, failure is not an option.”

Despite the obstacles in their path, both teams completed successful projects and one of the troubleshooting machines has already been field tested with DMTN Maintenance. The apprentices will go on to finish a year of on-the-job training on the plant floor before they graduate next spring.

Pictured L to R: Trevor Gilliam, Jason Talbott, Elijah White and Paul Smith present their Special Team Project to leaders in the Technical Training Center’s new shop area.

Pictured L to R: Travis Fontaine, Brad Trout, Kyle Jones, Kody Buechler, and Josh Clarkson present their group’s Special Team Project.

Last Friday, DMTN hosted the grand opening of the Central Technical Training Center located at Building 105. As snow fell across campus, community members and DENSO executives arrived to dedicate the new facility and demonstrate what it means for DENSO’s future.

DENSO North America CEO Kenichiro Ito was the first to speak at the podium, sharing his vision for the training center. “We believe human cultivation is key…collaboration between craftsmen and engineers is extremely important for success.”

Other speakers included TN Economic and Community Development  Commissioner Bob Rolfe and Blount County Mayor Ed Mitchell. Although the weather prevented former United States Ambassador to Japan Bill Hagerty from attending, he delivered a speech to the audience via live phone message.

“DENSO is a flagship corporate citizen here in Tennessee, critical to the fabric of our state economy and our culture,” said Hagerty. Consul-General of Japan Kayako Fukushima was also in attendance.

After Hagerty’s message, United Way of Blount County CEO Jennifer Wackerhagen presented DENSO with the Community Impact Award as a result of DENSO’s philanthropic contributions to the community.

The ceremony ended with an official ribbon cutting led by Mr. Ito. Both community members and DENSO associates then toured the training center for an up close look at opportunities the facility provides.

Check out the video recap: