TECHNOLOGY – kotobukiya-fronte

QUALITY & TECHNOLOGY

DESIGN

DESIGN TECHNOLOGY

DESIGN WORK (product design)

Upon receiving the specifications and drawings of the ordered parts from the customer, we will promptly proceed with product design.
We will repeatedly conduct design reviews within the company to complete high-quality drawings and CAD data, and submit them to the customer.
The design know-how gained in the past and recurrence prevention measures are immediately incorporated into the design manual and design procedure documents.
Standardized design reviews are conducted before in-house arrangement and before mold start-up, and we complete drawings and 3D data incorporating all the measures.

IMPROVING DESIGN QUALITY (design standardization and design review)

To create high-quality designs and reflect the design items in drawings and 3D data, we repeat design reviews (design reviews) many times.
The basic design, which is the basis of the design review, updates the design standards every year.

DEVELOPMENT PROGRESS MANAGEMENT

All parts for which orders have been received are managed for development progress at the “Comprehensive Progress Meeting” (Soshin) hosted by the Project Management Department. At each milestone, decisions regarding subsequent processes are made from the perspectives of Q (Quality/Performance), C (Cost/Profit), and T (Schedule Adherence).
We plan and manage in-house development schedules that match the customer’s development schedule.

Experiment / ANALYSIS TECHNOLOGY

EXPERIMENTAL EQUIPMENT

Customer demands for performance and quality tend to increase every year, and in order to submit appropriate evidence showing that we are meeting these demands, we constantly update our testing equipment to the latest specifications.
In addition, we are also maintaining peripheral equipment such as the latest slicers and 3D printers to speed up experiments and improve work efficiency in experiment preparation and test piece production.
The accuracy of these experimental methods and results has earned us high trust from our customers.

General physical property testing machine

Reverberation room method sound absorption coefficient / sound transmission loss measurement system

ANALYSIS / SIMULATION

We are actively working on analysis and simulation technologies to shorten product development time and reduce development costs.
Analysis methods and technologies are progressing every year, and it is essential to introduce and update the latest software.
It is necessary to improve the accuracy of the analysis model, which is the basis of the calculation data, as well as the software for calculating the results.
In addition to the analysis and simulation of our own products, we also create a model of a complete vehicle, including products from other companies, calculate the impact on people riding in the vehicle as a whole, and provide feedback and proposals to our customers.

Vehicle performance analysis using Hybrid SEA (Statistical Energy Analysis) model

PROTOTYPE / PREDICTION TECHNOLOGY

PROTOTYPE EQUIPMENT

Within our Development Technology Center, we have facilities to conduct various prototypes.
Prototyping and Prediction Technology: When customers need to confirm products before mass production molds and equipment are available, we manufacture prototype parts.
In the prototyping department, we not only create prototypes, but also acquire data on various product characteristics, mold characteristics, and equipment characteristics. This allows us to understand the characteristics of the product itself before ordering mass production molds and equipment, and we can provide feedback on the optimal conditions for mass production molds and equipment.

PRODUCT PERFORMANCE PREDICTION TECHNOLOGY
(correlation between actual machine data and analysis results)

In the analysis group within the Advanced Development Department, we are shifting from the conventional method of measuring performance after sample production and guaranteeing it with actual data to a method of predicting performance and guaranteeing it through analysis and simulation without actual products.
To guarantee product performance, it is necessary to specify the median and variation of the required specifications for materials, design, molds, and equipment, and to translate this into a control plan managed in the factory from the design FMEA.
However, in order to determine these appropriate values, a huge amount of data is required, and the conventional method of making actual products is time-consuming.
To solve this problem, we are working to improve analysis and simulation technology.

MANUFACTURING / QUALITY

MANUFACTURING IMPROVEMENT

As part of our manufacturing improvement activities, we have been promoting “Monozukuri 1/2 Activities” at all of our production plants, both in Japan and overseas, for the past 10 years, with the slogan of thoroughly eliminating 10 keywords of waste (don’t walk, don’t touch, don’t wait, etc.). There is no end to on-site improvement! We continue to accumulate improvements and strengthen our manufacturing competitiveness.

QUALITY IMPROVEMENT

To improve quality, we review design and production standards and on-site management methods using past trend analysis and D/P FMEA for new products during production preparation, and for current products, we implement rapid containment and countermeasures using QRQC for daily new issues and deploy them horizontally to similar processes and other sites, striving daily to build a robust quality control system that prevents defects from being created or escaping.