It’s that kind of mantra that has earned Toyota a reputation for quality and safety. And, in many ways, TABC is responsible for this good standing.

What is now TABC started out in 1972 as Atlas Fabricators, a contracted manufacturing facility for Toyota truck beds.

At that time, Toyota was importing readymade trucks to the United States, but doing so meant being slapped with a hefty 25 percent tax. That liability fell to 2.5 percent if the truck beds were assembled stateside.

So two years later – with demand and sales rising – Toyota purchased the small plant and turned it into the company’s first manufacturing investment in North America, building stamped parts, catalytic systems and steering columns, among other things, primarily for Tacoma and Corolla models.

TABC now occupies nearly 30 acres and 570,000 square feet of building space. It has the best safety record of any Toyota plant in North America for three years running. And its employees come from all walks of life, with 39 different nationalities represented and 29 different languages spoken among team members.

But recent challenges have put Bafan and TABC to the test.

The economic free fall of 2008 shook the automobile industry to its core. Bailouts of major American manufacturers – including General Motors, where Bafan worked for 22 years prior to joining Toyota – ensued, bringing a measure of stability to the market. Though Toyota weathered the recession better than most of its competitors, it has felt the strain of a slow global recovery.

Then came the controversy over the Prius. Although the allegations about unintended acceleration problems in the hybrid vehicles were proved to be false, the Toyota brand took a hit to its image.

“We know, and we knew it then, that there was no merit to it,” Bafan said of the controversy. “But it was a very difficult proposition for us when people were talking about our safety.”

TABC was forced to shutter operations for about a week as the media swarmed to the story and recalls were issued.

“We basically brought everything to a halt,” Bafan said. “It was a hard pill to swallow for us.”

As if that weren’t enough, in 2011 a massive earthquake off the coast of Japan sent a tsunami crashing into the island nation, cutting off key supply lines and making it difficult for TABC to import certain materials and parts.