Toyoda Shrinks World's Biggest Carmaker for Quality Control

Published by Keith Flight on 09/02/2010

Akio Toyoda, who took over Toyota Motor Corp. less than a year ago, is shrinking the world's largest carmaker to regain control over quality as record recalls give General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. an opportunity to win back customers.

Toyota's decision to stop U.S. production and sales of eight models to fix defective accelerator pedals may cost the company as much as 100 billion yen ($1.1 billion) in operating profit a month, according to Koji Endo, managing director of Advanced Research Japan in Tokyo. The models accounted for about 1 million deliveries last year, more than half of Toyota's 1.5 million vehicle sales edge over Volkswagen AG.

Read more at Business Week

Do you comply with the legislation governing air conditioning?

Published by Keith Flight on 18/01/2010

It is now a legal requirement that air conditioning systems containing more than 3KG of ozone-depleting substances are tested for leaks at least annually, and more frequently for larger systems.

If your stationary refrigeration and air-conditioning system, of any type, contains 30kg or more of ODS you must test for leaks at least once every six months.

If your stationary refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment contains 300kg or more of ODS you must test for leaks at least once every three months.

If you find a leak you must repair it within 14 days. You must re-check your system for leaks within one month of repairing a leak.