Japan's Toyota Motor Corporation is moving to achieve business innovation through Nutanix's cloud platform.


Nutanix, a leader in private, hybrid, and multi-cloud computing software, announced on the 15th that Toyota Motor Corporation of Japan has adopted the Nutanix Cloud Platform to build a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) environment capable of running 3D CAD software.

Toyota, an automaker with approximately 360,000 employees worldwide, announced a work transformation initiative in 2016 and has implemented an innovative work-from-home system for approximately 13,000 of its employees.

On the other hand, the percentage of employees working from home varied across departments, and the engineering design department struggled to establish a work-from-home system. Workstations and on-site work were essential for design projects using 3D CAD software. Toyota's Digital Transformation (DX) department also faced challenges related to workstation maintenance and procurement costs.

Toyota adopted Nutanix's hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) to create a VDI environment capable of running 3D CAD software and high-performance applications, changing internal policies and improving systemic issues. The reasons for the introduction were the Nutanix cloud platform's specialization in virtual GPU (vGPU) technology required to render 3D graphics in a virtual environment of HCI, and Nutanix's scalability and flexibility to quickly respond to new business requirements.

The Nutanix Cloud Platform deployed a VDI environment on approximately 1,000 devices, enabling Toyota to scale the VDI environment well ahead of its initial implementation schedule. Toyota's engineering design department employees experienced a transformation in their work, enabling them to continue design work without interruption, even when work-from-home recommendations were issued due to the spread of COVID-19.

Additionally, while in the past, designs had to be presented through paper drawings during meetings at manufacturing sites, now, 3D CAD models are used to facilitate smooth communication with customers and other departments. In particular, it has enabled more efficient work by enabling immediate decision-making during meetings.

“Toyota’s future plan is to build such a system not only for Toyota Motor Corporation, but across the Toyota Group,” said Masanobu Takahisa, head of Toyota’s Digital Transformation (DX) division. “We aim to support CAE software in a VDI environment in the future, and we will continue to strengthen the work innovation of our engineering design department.”

After completing its transition to Nutanix, Toyota plans to realize business innovation for its engineering design department and significantly reduce related costs by consolidating previously underutilized workstations into a VDI environment, thereby reducing the total number of workstations by half.

“Toyota, a global leader in manufacturing, is empowering its employees to embrace the future of work,” said Matt Young, Senior Vice President of Nutanix Asia Pacific. “We are pleased to have helped Toyota realize a transformation in the way they work that was previously considered unattainable.”