Archelis was Featured in “For Your Success No. 8 2020
Archelis was featured in “For Your Success”, an overseas magazine of Amada Corporation, a comprehensive manufacturer of sheet metal working machines, in an article about Nitto Corporation and Archelis development.
Raising Our Corporate Value Through Our Own Products
An Integrated Manufacturing Structure Formed Through Three M&As
NITTO co., Ltd.
An Integrated Manufacturing Structure
Formed Through Three M&As
Ever since its founding in 1967, Nitto has been engaged in mold manufacturing for automobiles and electrical machinery. Since 2004, it has taken over a mass-production pressing firm whose business had stagnated (2004), a firm that handles aluminum sheet metal work and welding (2005), and a thick board press working firm (2008) through mergers and acquisitions. It inherited processing techniques and know-how that had been disappearing and fused the strengths of the four companies to create an integrated system that can handle design, prototype manufacture, prototype verification, mass production investigation, mold manufacture, mass production verification, quality control, and mass production. In 2012, it developed even further from integrated production and began planning, developing, manufacturing, and selling its own products. The “Trick Cover” iPhone case, known affectionate as the “nunchaku case,” garnered attention as Japan’s first example of a small- to mid-sized manufacturing company applying crowdfunding to its own products. It gathered attention overseas through the website, and 40,000 units total (as of January 2019) were shipped to 43 different countries.
Wearable Chair for Medical Facilities
“archelis,” the world’s first wearable chair for medical facilities released in 2018, was jointly developed with Dr. Kawahira, an endoscopic surgery specialist, marking a medical-engineering collaboration. Endoscopic surgery is a minimally invasive treatment method that places a low burden on the patient, but it takes three times as long as conventional abdominal operations. Chairs cannot be placed in the operating room, placing a large burden on surgeons. By wearing “archelis,” one’s weight is supported by one’s shanks and thighs, allowing one to “sit” in a half-sitting posture. In addition, this stabilizes the trunk of the body and allows fine surgical procedures to be performed with ease, improving surgical performance. Taking advantage of the integrated system, everything except for the cloth and resin parts is created in-house. The leg parts are created through sheet metal and press working, and the rest of the machining and assembly is done in-house as well. Just like the “iPhone Trick Cover,” the company searched for a method of “open product development,” in which information would be revealed online from the development stages, and marketing and promotions were performed at the same time. It was frequently picked up by the media, and the video that was made public was shared around the world. “Create new value, convey it, and have it receive a positive reception—I want to repeat this process to increase our corporate value,” says President Hideyuki Fujisawa.
AMDA : www.amada.com