Our Works
Manufacturing/Production Technology
Manufacturing
Mori Seiki has built three manufacturing hubs: the Iga Campus in Iga City, Mie Prefecture; the Nara Campus at Yamato-Koriyama City, Nara Prefecture; and the Chiba Campus at Funabashi City, Chiba Prefecture. In addition, our subsidiary Taiyo Koki has its manufacturing hub at Nagaoka City, Niigata Prefecture, DIXI Machines has its at Le Locle in Switzerland, and Tobler S.A.S. has its at Louvres in France.
The Iga Campus is our biggest campus, and it manufactures mainly medium-sized and large lathes and machining centers. There is also a plant for the in-house manufacture of the spindles, ball screws, etc. that are key components of machine tools, and Iga also supplies parts to the other campuses. This is a hub that we can certainly call Mori Seiki's mother plant.
The Nara Campus manufactures compact lathes and vertical machining centers, 5-axis vertical machining centers, and machines suited to production lines for the automobile industry. It also manufactures loaders and other peripheral equipment for automation.
The Chiba Campus started operation in 2003. It manufactures mainly the multi-axis machines for which demand has been rapidly growing in recent years.
| Campus | Items manufactured |
|---|---|
| Iga Campus | Multi-axis turning centers, CNC lathes, 5-axis control vertical machining centers, 5-axis control horizontal machining centers, Vertical machining centers, Horizontal machining centers |
| Nara Campus | 5-axis control vertical machining centers, CNC lathes, Compact CNC lathes, Compact machining centers, Loaders/Peripheral equipment |
| Chiba Campus | Multi-axis turning centers, Super integrated machining cell, 2-axis control vertical CNC lathes |
| TAIYO KOKI | CNC vertical grinding machines, CNC internal grinding machines, CNC cylindrical grinding machines |
| DIXI machines | High-precision horizontal machining centers, 5-axis control vertical machining centers, Vertical machining centers |
| TOBLER S.A.S | Standard expanding mandrels, Face drivers, Special chucks |
In our previous medium-term management plan, the "Mori-568PLAN", Mori Seiki set about building a system with a manufacturing capacity of 800 units per month, and at the peak in March 2007 we achieved a monthly production of 832 units.
In the first half of FY 2008, because we had the remainder of the orders from FY 2007 and the new incoming orders were relatively steady, our progress was very favorable, with production from April to September averaging 622 units per month. However, from mid-October onward, incoming orders dropped substantially due to the rapid deterioration of the economy, and with customers cancelling previously ordered machines, the manufacturing departments were quite adversely affected. As a result, the production from October to March in the next year was halved compared to that in the first half, to an average of 331 units per month. The total number of units manufactured in FY 2008 was 5,717, which was down 30% from the previous year's total of 8,134.
In this environment, the Iga, Nara and Chiba Campuses are dedicating two to three days a week to training the manufacturing-related staff. The purpose of continuing with training rather than making these non-business days was to increase the number of staff members who are capable of cell production, and to diversify and improve the skills of the individual staff members, for example by having them learn how to operate machines that they don't usually work on.
In the next period of growth we will be able to station staff members flexibly, and improve production efficiency through the improved individual skills, allowing us to successfully provide high quality machines with short delivery terms, taking the lead over rival companies.
From this fiscal year, we are working on strengthening our production technology capability by converting the Production Technology Department to the Production Technology HQ. Encompassing preparation for trial production of newly developed machines, planning for introduction of machinery and equipment, development and manufacture of fixtures for machining and assembly, and preventive maintenance of equipment and machinery, production technology work is very diversified and plays a very important role. From the development stage, production technicians engage in thorough debate with the personnel responsible for development of machining equipment, the tools and fixtures to be used, assembly procedures and so on, with a vision to improving machining efficiency and assembly efficiency during mass production. In April 2009, a new production management system started. It compensates for the weaknesses of the production management system that had been used up till then, and by realizing daily MRP (Material Requirements Planning) processing and improving the visibility of the progress of part and product manufacture, it manages to reduce the quantity of part inventory and to shorten production lead time.
Investment in plant and equipment
Mori Seiki had planned the construction of a new assembly plant for large machines at the Iga Campus and other facilities, within FY 2008, but construction has been postponed in line with changes in the economic environment. However, we are ready to start construction immediately once demand has started to recover.
Regarding equipment and machinery, we plan to introduce machines for large bearings, which we are planning to manufacture in-house, as well as acquire other equipment including large coordinate measuring machines, and washing booths. In this way, Mori Seiki is continuing to undertake the investment in machinery and equipment that is necessary to secure our future production and quality.
In-house manufacture of parts
Mori Seiki is carrying on the in-house manufacture of spindles, ball screws, castings, heat treated parts, sheet metal parts, curvic couplings and other components within the Iga Campus. As part of this, in FY 2008 we installed two more vacuum carburizing furnace systems, further reinforcing our shift to in-house handling of heat treatment. The operating rate of the in-house manufacturing plants for each of the key components dropped in line with a fall in production volumes, but in FY 2009, as part of our collaboration with the German company GILDEMEISTER AG (DMG), we plan to start supplying key components manufactured in-house to them. We think that both sides can see merit in this, with Mori Seiki increasing the operating rate in its in-house manufacturing plants, and DMG becoming able to procure high-quality components at low prices.
Curvic coupling
Ball screws