nir-vana innovation network

This Japanese company has over 50 years of experience as an ultra-precision parts manufacturer. Their specialty is primarily in grinding, and they have continued to supply their technology and parts in the Nagoya area, the heartland of the Japanese industry. The company doesn’t shy away from difficult design requirements and specifications, and takes on a variety of custom jobs using advanced machinery operated by their skilled and experienced craftsmen.

The majority of these custom requests cannot be done by CNC (Computer Numerical Control) machining, particularly in the case of external and internal grinding. This also applies to taper grinding, which is known for its extreme difficulty. For example, the technology controls the distortion due to factors such as heat resulting in long and thin shafts and thin plates, and brings the geometrical tolerance close to zero.

The company is also available as a consultant for design development of manufacturers who are not familiar with part processing. Forty experienced craftsmen complete the required parts using about 80 machines. Finally, three inspectors measure all parts in a temperature-controlled measurement room at 20 degrees.

Their customers in Japan are manufacturers of machine tools, involved in the aerospace, automotive, healthcare, and formula 1 racing industries. These industries often require the grinding of very fine elongated objects. Therefore, the Japanese company is able to support a wide range of industries, going from prototyping, manufacturing consulting, material arrangements to machining, grinding, and finally providing a finished product with a quality inspection evidence attachment. Abroad, the company has enjoyed a reliable partnership with a German company for more than five years.

The company strives to support manufacturers, designers, and researchers who want to order parts that cannot be processed by CNC available in the EU market. They are ready to answer any inquiry or single piece order. Their multiple services such as consultation, designing and production by well experienced engineers and their investment in machinery allows them to provide precise engineering technology that is flexible to fit customers’ needs.

The company can guarantee ground materials to a precision of one micrometre. They test all their custom ordered products at their in-house laboratory, using a large variety of performance tests before being sent out to customers. Their factory holds fifty precision machines that can grind cylinders, interior surfaces, and machine parts. In 2011, the company was recognized as a certified medical manufacturing facility by a Japanese certification granting authority.

The company is looking for EU partners of all size in need of sophisticated and challenging technology components that cannot be manufactured in a conventional factory. They understand how a top-quality manufactured prototype is crucial for the development of a customers’ product design process. They would like to do this in the form of a manufacturing agreement. The company has the benefit of not only being able to design and deliver rapid prototypes but additionally to be able to manufacture low to medium volumes of products (1s-100s) if required.

They offer to simplify their customers’ outsourcing process reducing the number of suppliers during the manufacturing process. Besides, as grinding is typically one of the final stages of production for most parts, they can warranty top-quality in the final outcome of the order, meeting all needed requirements. The company is also willing to dispatch support staff and display their samples from Japan as they regularly exhibit in Europe.

Advantages & innovations

The Japanese company prides itself in always striving to achieve what the customer requests, no matter how difficult. To ensure their quality control, the company installed the very latest measuring equipment, ultra-high precision cylindrical parts and ultra-flat aluminium. The cylindricity is 0.001mm and the flatness and squareness are 0.001mm respectively. The company has a track record of high customer satisfaction with the finished parts and the inspection documents they made. Their advantage compared to competitors is that they take orders from as little as one unit, which is rare according to their customer in Germany. Carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) is a particularly interesting material in that it is many times stronger than steel and much lighter than aluminium, making it useful for a wide number of industrial applications, from medical equipment, X-ray technology, to aerospace engineering. Because of its hardness and vulnerability, it has been labelled as an unsuitable material for grinding. However, the company’s research team wrestled with the idea of working with CFRP, and are now capable to take requests for grinding of the product on demand. The company also has over 10 years of experience in the aerospace industry, and has obtained important certification standards for this purpose.

Stage of development

JAPAN

Partner sought

The Japanese company is seeking a direct partnership with manufacturers and R&D institutes. They want to work with EU companies in need of small to medium volumes of products (1s-100s) or even single unit manufacturing. The EU companies in need of these kind of services would ideally be active in industries similar to their domestic customer base. For example: aerospace, automotive (formula 1 racing), healthcare, and more.