New technology

 In August 1988, NICHIDAI’s Ujitawara Factory opened. With an area of 20 times as large as Kyotanabe Factory which had been the company’s main production site, this factory carried the weight of expectations as a base ground for the promotion of “diversity” and “sophistication” the company aims at. In the mid-1980s, Japan became a country with high labor costs through rapid yen’s ascent and required the speedy adoption of high-techs and software technologies into its corporate culture as many manufacturers in the country faced their turning point. In such a trend, the new factory tackled various challenges to convert the company from a mere manufacturer to a “technical service company”.
The symbol of that conversion was “HED-800”, a hydraulic double-acting press for development the company introduced by a vast amount of unprecedented investment for die manufacturers of those days. This drastic innovation brought the company its unique forging technology which subsequently developed. For example, the company’s proprietary “enclosed forging die set” was also successfully commercialized by the application of “HED-800”.
For the development of this product, the company adopted an unconventional way where its engineers competed against each other with their ideas. As a result, one of those engineers came up with a breakthrough idea called “pantograph system”. Afterwards, those engineers who used to be rivals cooperated to put together the power of NICHIDAI for the commercialization of the system. The development of this system resulted in the rapid diffusion of cored forging into the market, which drove the shape variation of bevel gears and products.
The development of a company’s representative product, “scrolled forging” could not have been achieved without “HED-800”. NICHIDAI embarked on the development of forged scrolled parts as an alternative construction method to solve problems in forging manufactured by conventional methods. “HED-800” played a key role in the development of forging method with back pressure load as an important factor in production and created the optimum shaping conditions after much trial and error. The company also survived the birth pangs in the establishment of production and die-making technologies for mass production as well as in lubrication problems and succeeded in the adoption of forging process through the highly productive mechanical press that is still used today and the construction of a seamless manufacturing line.
This inquisitive mind and team dynamics for new technologies represent the core of the NICHIDAI’s technological competence which subsequently has generated a wide range of unique technologies driving the industry through collaborations with its customers.