Toyota Industries Corporation launches global autonomous vehicle software development company

To meet the increasing demands of its customers, Toyota Industries Corporation (TICO) will bundle its software development in autonomous vehicles (AVs), increase its global investments and establish T-Hive B.V. as a new center of excellence.

By combining the software products, partnerships and innovations from TICO’s main Group companies, Toyota L&F, Toyota Material Handling, Toyota Material Handling Europe, Raymond, Bastian and Vanderlande, and respective brands, the organization will significantly strengthen and expand TICO’s main brands solution portfolio, according to the group.

“The new portfolio will consist of existing solutions within TICO, ensuring that our loyal customers can benefit throughout their automation journey,” said Yojiro Mizuno, TICO Senior Executive Officer responsible for TICO’s material handling solutions business, stressing the importance of being close to customers while benefitting from global developments. “Our strong customer organizations support such developments while managing smooth project implementation on the customer side.”

In recent years, the demand for AVs has been increasing in line with the rapid growth of the e-commerce market, labor shortages in general and the need for flexibility. Flexibility in operations, application areas and vehicle type have become increasingly important, as well as the potential to deploy AV solutions worldwide. With this in mind, T-Hive has been established to centrally coordinate all developments, leverage existing solutions for new market segments and accelerate innovations globally to support TICO’s customer-facing companies.

“Due to the increasing demand for software development in all industries, securing personnel is also becoming a global challenge,” said Norio Wakabayashi, TICO Executive Officer. “Our new company, T-Hive, will create opportunities for us to work together across the Toyota Industries Group network. This decision highlights TICO’s commitment to remaining a leading player in the AV business and its investments accordingly.”

The new company will operate from Ede in The Netherlands from April 2021 and be led by Léon Jansen, serving as T-Hive CEO and Managing Director. T-Hive’s main focus will be to provide a seamless control system encompassing all AVs within TICO, such as automated guided forklifts (AGFs), automated guided vehicles (AGVs) and autonomous mobile robots (AMRs).

“Modern software developers experience the fine balance between making great quality software and meeting delivery deadlines every day,” Jansen said. “Our combined solution portfolio will be introduced at logistics sites around the world, enabling TICO’s customers to enjoy the seamless movement, storage and distribution of goods throughout their entire supply chains.”