CNC Brand Profile

Toyoda and the Machine Tool Builder That Split From Toyota

Toyoda started inside Toyota and has built machine tools on its own since 1941. The name now sits under JTEKT, next to Koyo bearings, and covers horizontals, verticals and grinders. Here is what a used buyer should know about where the machines came from and what they are.

Toyoda at a Glance

1941: The Machine Tool Shop That Left Toyota

JTEKT's own account is short: Toyoda Machine Works started in 1941 after separating from Toyota Motor. The spelling with a d is the family name the Toyota companies came from, and the machine tool company kept it.

The early timeline JTEKT publishes reads like a company learning its trade from the inside out. In 1955 it formed a technical tie-up to build cylindrical grinders and completed what it calls the first transfer machine in Japan. In 1956 it formed a tie-up with Meehanite for casting technology. In 1961 it added a tie-up to build Z-type milling machines. In 1968 it began producing machining centers, the same year it began producing automotive power steering.

That last pairing is the thread through the whole company. Toyoda built machines that make car parts and car parts at the same time. In 1980 it began producing CNC and CBN cylindrical grinders, and in 1985 it won the Deming Application Prize for quality.

Why Toyoda Built Its Own Controller

In 1972, four years after its first machining centers, Toyoda began selling its own programmable controllers under the name TOYOPUC. JTEKT still sells TOYOPUC today.

On a modern Toyoda machining center you will usually find a Fanuc CNC running the axes and spindle, with TOYOPUC handling the machine logic. Toyoda's FH5000S horizontal, announced at the end of 2022, uses a TOYOPUC-Touch operator panel. Toyoda's grinders have often used Toyoda's own control; a 2007 Toyoda GE4P-50 grinder is listed with a Toyoda GC32 control.

For a used buyer, that means two things to confirm: which Fanuc control is on the machine, and which TOYOPUC generation is running the logic behind it. For more on the control half of the story, see our FANUC brand profile.

2006: Toyoda Becomes JTEKT

In January 2006, Koyo Seiko and Toyoda Machine Works combined to form JTEKT. Koyo Seiko had started in Osaka in 1921 as a bearing maker. In a December 2011 announcement, JTEKT laid out the three brands it would use: JTEKT for automotive parts such as steering, KOYO for bearings and TOYODA for machine tools.

That is why a used Toyoda can carry either name. Older machines read Toyoda. Newer listings sometimes read JTEKT, including the 2023 JTEKT FH5000S-i on our floor. It is the same machine tool line.

The Lineup in Shop Language

Toyoda's current North American lineup includes FH horizontals, FV verticals, the Stealth verticals, bridge mills, VTC turning centers and grinders. Here is how the main families read to a buyer.

One detail worth knowing: the box-way rigidity story belongs to specific Toyoda machines, not the whole brand. The FA1050 uses hand-scraped box ways, and when Toyoda introduced the Stealth verticals in 2010 it described them as keeping the FV line's rigid box-way design. JTEKT's engineering journal lists roller guides among the key features of the FH630SX-i horizontal. Check the way system on the machine you are buying rather than assuming it from the badge.

Toyoda-Wele and the Taiwan Connection

Some Toyoda machines carry a second name: Toyoda-Wele. WELE Mechatronics of Taiwan is described as a Toyoda strategic alliance company, and some Toyoda-branded machines are built there. On our floor, the 2012 Stealth-1165 is badged Toyoda-Wele and the 2025 SB316Z double-column machine is listed as Toyoda/WELE. Read the plate so you know where the machine was built and which support path applies.

Toyoda in the United States

Toyoda Machinery USA was established in Illinois in 1977. The company later operated as JTEKT Toyoda Americas and today is JTEKT Machinery Americas Corporation, based in Arlington Heights, Illinois. JTEKT also lists a remanufacturing operation in Wixom, Michigan, and in 2024 Koyo Machinery USA merged into JTEKT Machinery's Wixom facility.

Machinists who run Toyoda horizontals have mostly good things to say on the eMastercam forum. In a 2016 thread, one described a 30-pallet Toyoda cell as very rigid and accurate across temperature swings. Another, in 2003, called an FA400 very well built. The same 2016 thread flagged way covers wearing out every six to eight months when cutting aluminum chips, which is worth checking on any used machine that came out of aluminum work.

On Our Floor

Inventory changes, so check the Toyoda brand page for what is available today.

What to Check When Buying a Used Toyoda

Read the plate. Toyoda, JTEKT or Toyoda-Wele, and the full model with its suffix.

Confirm the control and TOYOPUC. The Fanuc model, the TOYOPUC generation and any Toyoda-specific grinder control.

Check the ways. Box ways or roller guides, depending on the model, and the condition of the way covers, especially on machines that cut aluminum.

Run the spindle and the pallets. On FH and FA horizontals, cycle every pallet and the full tool magazine.

On grinders, check the wheelhead and the dressing. And confirm what the machine was set up to grind: a camshaft or crankshaft grinder is built for that part.

Call JTEKT Machinery Americas with the serial number. Ask what parts and service are available for that build.

Built Inside the Toyota Group

Toyoda has spent more than 80 years building the machines that make automotive parts, while building automotive parts itself. Our Okuma brand profile covers another Japanese builder that makes its own control. For other horizontals on our floor, see our Mazak HCN-6000 and HCN-6800 breakdown.

Resell CNC Take

Toyoda, JTEKT and Toyoda-Wele are three names on one family tree, and the plate tells you which branch you are buying. Read it, confirm the Fanuc and TOYOPUC generation, and check the way system on that specific model before you compare it with anything else.

Frequently Asked Questions