IRVINE, Calif., (Sept. 16, 2009) - Toyota Industries Corporation's (TICO) Yuichi Mori won the bronze medal in the Welding category of the 40th WorldSkills Competition, which was held in Calgary, Canada in September 2009. Mori, a TICO associate since 2005, works in the TICO Materials Handling Equipment Division manufacturing Toyota lift trucks at the Takahama Plant in Japan. He was chosen to represent Japan after winning the gold medal for two years running in the National Competitions. He entered this competition with the aim of becoming best in the world in the welding field.

The WorldSkills Competition is open to young skilled technicians aged 22 and under, and is held once every two years. In this year's competition, approximately 870 people from 46 different countries competed in the 45 different categories. Within these categories, Welding, which is a core skill required for manufacturing, sees the largest number of contestants from around the world and is one of the most fiercely competed. This year, contestants from 20 countries entered this category, and Mori competed for a total of 22 hours over four days against other welders.

"Yuichi Mori and Toyota share the same passion for quality," stated Brett Wood, president of Toyota Material Handling, U.S.A., Inc. "He is an amazing welder and a shining example of the benefits of Toyota training. This is a reflection of why Toyota lift trucks continue to lead the industry in quality."

"I would like to express my gratitude to all of the people that gave me the opportunity to compete at a worldwide level, and to all of my colleagues for their continued support," said Mori.

TICO has been participating in the Skills Competition since 2000 with the aim of passing on high level technical skills and manufacturing expertise to future generations. Welding is an extremely important skill in lift truck production. The philosophy of kaizen, or continuous improvement, drives Toyota to strive for constantly improving welding skills to ensure production of the very highest quality lift trucks to customers worldwide.

About the Welding Competition

In the competition to melt and join stainless steel, aluminum, and mild steel materials using welding skills, contestants must complete 4 exercises within the competition time. Judging points include dimension accuracy and strength, the external appearance and shape of the accumulated metal known as the weld bead, and the presence of defects inside the weld bead. As the metal expands and contracts due to the heat of welding, the product can become skewed very easily, making it difficult to maintain accuracy. Therefore, contenders must master many technical abilities and skills, and must also have sound knowledge of metal materials.