ILEA000687793: Manufacturing process of hydraulic equipment at Konno Manufacturing

Small RFID reader developed by Toppan Forms

Toyota's Distribution Information Improvement Department has already introduced Toppan Forms' IC tags for location management to improve the efficiency of new car warehousing and inspection. It will be easier to increase the number of readers used in the vast new car yard, leading to further improvement in operational efficiency. The system can also be used as a stationary reader. The company expects to use the tags in office operations such as product lending/returning and tallying operations, and is aware that the tags will be adopted not only at manufacturing sites but also at dealerships. The photo shows a small RFID reader and an IC tag for location management (left) installed in the new car yard of Toyota's Distribution Information Improvement Department. (Photo taken on March 31, 2020, location unknown, credit: Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun / Kyodo News Images)

Musashi Seimitsu Kogyo's AI Visual Inspection System

Currently, the company is introducing the inspection machine in the mass production line of its own plant, and when it sells the machine externally, it intends to make the price of the machine equivalent to the labor cost for inspection. In the future, Musashi Seimitsu will further improve the versatility of the AI algorithm so that multiple types of parts can be inspected with a single device. Musashi Seimitsu's mainstay products are gears, ball joints and other automotive drive components. In recent years, the company has been focusing on new businesses and is accelerating its efforts in the AI field, including the establishment of a joint venture with an Israeli AI venture in 2019. In the future, the company aims to achieve sales of 100 billion yen through new businesses. Photo taken on February 21, 2020, location unknown, credit: Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun / Kyodo News Images

Production line for On-Awa, a solid bath salt sold by Earth Chemical Co.

Each line is equipped with one robot that collects the correct number of bath salts and transfers them to the boxing process. The collecting robots are made by Kawasaki Heavy Industries, and in front of each of the four robots, bath salts produced in its own line are placed. If a problem occurs in the production line and bath salts do not flow, the robots automatically determine the problem and accumulate the stored bath salts. If the stoppage is for a short time, it will not affect the accumulation work. Shigekazu Terada, plant manager of the Ako Plant in Ako City, Hyogo Prefecture, says, 'We are also using robots in the process of stacking product cases on pallets, and both types of robots are contributing to efficiency. (Photo taken on January 29, 2020, location unknown, credit: Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun / Kyodo News Images)

Ushio Lighting's stereoscopic view with VR

The development of virtual space (VR) technology for business-to-business (B-to-B) is active. USHIO LIGHTING (Chuo-ku, Tokyo) has developed the world's first system that allows two people to experience stereoscopic vision through VR at the same time. Two major printing companies have released VR systems that are linked to CAD data of houses and condominiums. With the newly developed system, a special program generates a total of four types of images necessary for VR stereoscopic viewing for two people according to the location information grasped by the sensor, and when projected on the wall, floor, or side using three 240 Hz projectors, highly immersive images can be experienced simultaneously from two directions. Image taken on November 29, 2019, credit: Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun / Kyodo News Images

The second factory of Okada Shell Manufacturing introducing IT production control system.

Okada Shell Manufacturing (Awaji City, Hyogo Prefecture) will introducean IT production management system to its No. 2 plant by December 2020. The investment will amount to about 20 million yen. The plant is the main production base near the main plant. The production plan will be reflected directly from the office to the production facilities in the plant, and the progress will be monitored in real time. Okada Shell Manufacturing Co., Ltd. is engaged in the production of cores, which are sand molds used to create cavities inside castings. Conventional paper-based production records have been prone to errors, but the company will automatically accumulate production data from its facilities and use the data to extract production conditions that realize high quality and to train young workers. In addition to the use of simulation equipment to analyze the core manufacturing method, the defect rate will be reduced from 5% to 2%. Credit: Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun / Kyodo News Images

Electrical discharge machine introduced by Nagatsu Manufacturing as part of its work automation efforts.

Nagatsu Seisakusho will begin automating its main plant to improve the efficiencyof machining die parts. The company will introduce work changers for 5-axis machining centers (MC) and other equipment to replace processed parts. The company plans to introduce several 5-axis MCs and work changers as a set if they are utilized smoothly. The installation cost is about 10 million yen. Workers without machining skills only need to take the workpiece and electrodes in and out of the shelves at the site. The company's domestic sales are about 1.6 billion yen. However, the domestic mold market is shrinking. Rather than expanding sales, this automation initiative is aimed at strengthening cost competitiveness and promoting work style reform. Once the automation at the head office plant gets going, the company plans to start automation at the Niigata plant in Mitsuke City, Niigata Prefecture in two to three years. (= September 18, 2019, photo credit: Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun / Kyodo News Images)

Large-scale vacuum brazing furnace installed by Pureron Japan.

Pureron Japan (Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture) started operation of "the fourth factory" that manufactures the metal processing precision parts. The production system is strengthened by investing 2 billion yen. Pureron Japan manufactures filters and other products, mainly sensors for semiconductor manufacturing equipment. Semiconductor-related products account for 80% of the company's sales, and industrial and medical equipment accounts for 20%. It was judged that the market of the precision equipment related to the semiconductor would grow in the world, and it was decided to strengthen the production system greatly together with the medical equipment to be strengthened from now on. The fourth plant has a floor space of 2,100 square meters. (September 2, 2019, Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture; Credit: Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun / Kyodo News Images)

Forest Sea's long-range wireless terminal "Geochat".

Forest Sea (Koto-ku, Tokyo) will launch a long-range wireless terminal called "Geochat" this fall to prevent mountain climbers and forestry workers from getting lost. It is capable of two-way communication of up to 200 kilometers in a clear environment with no obstacles. Even when cell phones are out of range, such as in mountainous areas, workers can carry the terminal to send location information and emergency requests. The company is aiming for sales of more than 5 billion yen in the communication terminal business in five years. 920 megahertz (mega means one million) band radio waves with an output of 250 milliwatts will be transmitted over a long distance. It can reach more than 200 kilometers in a clear environment. Three repeaters were able to cover the mountainous area of Hakone, sending text of about 30 characters and location information from the Global Positioning System (GPS). Photo taken on July 18, 2019, credit: Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun / Kyodo News Images

Picking solution robot that Nippon Express aims to put to practical use

Nippon Express will commercialize a collaborative picking solutionfor logistics warehouses by the end of fiscal 2019, using robots (photo) from Rapyuta Robotics (Chuo-ku, Tokyo; Rapyuta Robotics). The company conducted a demonstration at its own distribution warehouse in June. Another demonstration experiment will be conducted in September with the aim of putting the system into practical use. The Laputa robot is an autonomous mobile robot (AMR) that assists people in their picking work. The core of the technology is the control and management of multiple robots in accordance with the progress of the work. The robots move along the aisles of the product shelves, show the workers the items to be removed from the shelves, and then transport the removed items. This reduces the range of movement for the worker, leading to reduced workload and time savings. (= July 12, 2019, photo location unknown, credit: Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun / Kyodo News Images)

WEMO, a wearable memo in the shape of a smartphone case

Cosmotec (Tachikawa City, Tokyo) has started test sales of "WEMO," a wearable memo in the shape of a smartphone case. This is the third in a series of products that won the "Tokyo Business Design Award for Excellence". The product is sold only through Amazon.com, but the company aims to sell 100,000 units as soon as possible by cultivating mass retailers and overseas sales channels. Since smartphones are excellent as items that can be taken out at a moment's notice and there is a strong demand for them, we developed a smartphone "case" type with business design company kenma (Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo). "Two types, one for iPhone 7/8 and the other for iPhone X/XS, are available at a price of 2,000 yen per unit (excluding consumption tax). "Wemo is a hit product of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's project to promote industry by matching small and medium enterprises with designers.(= July 1, 2019, photo location unknown, credit: Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun / Kyodo News Images)

Manufacturing process of hydraulic equipment at Konno Manufacturing

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