We’ve Introduced New Equipment!
On March 19, we shipped in and installed new equipment (a turret-type CNC internal grinder) in our No. 2 Factory!
Amid the gentle weather of early spring, moving the device in went very smoothly.
The spread of the novel coronavirus infection has caused economic turmoil on a level comparable to the 2008 financial crisis.
While there has thus far been no direct impact on our company, with the excessive-seeming cancelation of various activities and voluntary restrictions, it is believed that we will eventually experience the effects from the aftermath in no small way.
The other day, we visited the manufacturer of the new machine to inspect it, and there were some machines that, even though complete, could not be shipped due to the on-site inspections being delayed as a result of the ordering companies’ self-bans on business trips.
Others may be wondering: why on earth is Morikawa Gauge continuing to make investments in such an environment?Aren’t you going to stop?
The equipment investment and kaizen activities that we are engaging in at present are critical to our company’s continued existence, and include work reforms based on making repetitive, mundane tasks more automated, unmanned, standardized, equalized, and consolidated in their processes: we consider them to be key to the building of our future, and will not be changing just because of the novel coronavirus.
The above initiatives, in a small business like ours that must aim to produce a wide range of products in small quantities, have yet to result in many success stories. We believe that it is not a simple thing that anyone could do, and is quite difficult.
If it were something that anyone would have trouble doing, then we’d like to take action as soon as possible, go through trial and error, and build up our know-how.
We decided that, rather than stopping, we should keep on moving forward now, while we can.
We are truly grateful for the support of our business partners, and while we are acting with a great deal of anxiety, we are nevertheless pushing forward with all of our might.We hope that we can rely on your continued guidance!
We’ve Introduced New Equipment!
On August 5, we shipped in and installed new equipment (an angular-type CNC cylindrical grinder) in our No. 2 Factory!
We also took the opportunity to change the layout of the existing grinding process area.
Of course, this manufacturer, specializing in grinding machines that work with micron-level precision on a daily basis, handles machines with great care, and the tools on hand for carrying objects in are different from those of a manufacturer specializing in cutting and machining.
In the last few years, most of our investments have been intended for continuous operation through process consolidation and strengthening our operational systems with a small crew.
We have installed this new equipment with the aim of achieving this same concept. It will serve not only to allow continuous operation of multiple machines that had been used for separate processes, but also replacing general-purpose machines with CNC machines, thereby allowing extended unmanned operation and efforts to operate multiple units in parallel.
As of the on-site inspection, the target workpiece’s machining time has already been reduced by half.There’s still plenty of room for kaizen, so we’re looking forward to the future!
We Made the List of “Vibrant HABATAKU Small and Medium Enterprises 300”!
The other day, on June 4, in the auditorium on the 2nd basement floor of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry’s main building,an award ceremony was held for the Vibrant HABATAKU Small and Medium Enterprises 300, and Morikawa Gauge Works was selected in the “productivity enhancement” category!
President Masahide Morikawa attended the ceremony as a representative of the company.
It was quite a privilege, as only two companies from Kagawa (the other being Hirono Farm, also located in Miki), and 10 from all four prefectures of Shikoku, were honored in this way.
We believe this award to have been a mark of the high regard in which the public hold our efforts to automate, unman, and streamline repetitive and mundane tasks, while giving people the more sophisticated and respectable work of creating added value. But what we are attempting to accomplish is not easy, and we still cannot afford to take pride by taking its success for granted, as there is still a long road ahead.
Of course, representatives of the “Vibrant HABATAKU Small and Medium Enterprises” were gathered at the venue.
The enthusiasm and eagerness for improvement of the people in the room was so intense you could feel it!
And as can be expected of a government office, the A/C was off to save energy, so it was literally hot!
A booklet giving case studies of initiatives by the companies was also handed out,
and it seems like “Habataku” here does not mean “taking flight” (its normal meaning in Japanese) but rather “making efforts with the goal of taking flight.”
It really felt like the national government was encouraging these small and medium enterprises to take on their challenges.
And so, while our company still has a long road ahead of it, the fact that we are striving to overcome it is itself something that we can be proud of.
Taking this award as a source of inspiration, we will continue to face the challenges that lie before us with a simple sincerity, while maintaining a positive attitude and rejecting pessimism.
We hope that we can rely on your continued patronage and guidance!
We’ve Introduced New Equipment!
Today, March 29, in the D Building of our No. 2 Factory, we removed the equipment that we’d been using for roughly 30 years and brought in all-new equipment!
Starting at the beginning of next week, we will begin full-fledged installation adjustment and operation guidance.First and most important is that it run safely.
This time, the machine is very large.
For a company like ours, which primarily produces precision products that are small enough to hold in one’s hands, these are the largest of their kind that we have.
With our narrow entryways, would we really be able to fit these through?
We were worried about that, but they brought them in with great care, and so we were able to get the devices in safely.
We are always really impressed with the wonderful techniques used by our usual heavy machinery supplier.For this we are truly grateful.
Thankfully, we’ve been blessed with many orders from our customers, and all of our processes continue to operate at high levels.
Under current circumstances, we are experiencing particular trouble meeting customers’ deadlines.
But we are working hard to resolve this, and the new machinery we’ve just introduced will surely go a long way toward that end.
We will do our very best, so we hope that we can rely on your continued patronage!