Pursuit of Value
Creating Value to Benefit Low-Carbon Societies
Alps Electric is making company-wide efforts to cultivate its “green device” business in order to benefit low-carbon societies. A part of these efforts has lead to the formation of Alps Green Devices Co., Ltd., a corporation established on May 17th, 2010 with the Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ) to develop compact power control devices and highly efficient power conversion devices. By applying the magnetic powder material Liqualloy™ and thin-film process technology, the company has developed unique reactors and power inductors with low power loss. It also offers uniquely structured compact current sensors that can be used in smart meters and hybrid / electric vehicles. The new green devices company will seek open innovation as the entire Alps Electric Group aims to become the global standard in green devices.
Creating New Value
The electronics industry is ever-changing; and to remain competitive, companies must constantly develop and market cutting-edge products. Customers have diverse requirements, and among them, consistent quality is especially important. Minimal lead times in product development are also essential in order to remain competitive in markets that change so often. However, insufficient time allocation to designing and testing may also result in products of inadequate quality being released into the market.
To solve this dilemma, Alps Electric in fiscal 2002, created a development process termed “ippatsu-kando” which conceptualizes manufacturing products that work perfectly the first time. In short ippastu-kando means to provide products consistent in quality. To implement this concept Alps Electric employs various methods which utilize Quality Engineering (QE).
Anticipating the needs of customers comes first. With the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) method, Alps Electric looks at customer needs and resources, then sets up projects to create products which are sure to be in demand in the near future. Next, while utilizing IT as much as possible, and with the subsequent aid of 3-Dimensional Computer Aided Design (3D-CAD) and Computer Aided Engineering (CAE), Alps Electric develops functions and product quality on a digital basis. This process minimizes costs and time used for creating and testing prototypes. Product evaluations are implemented early on from product development phases through utilizing QE to check on quality and reliability, preventing inferior-quality products from entering the market.
The introduction of these methods for evaluation allows Alps Electric to swiftly produce reliable and high-quality products, along with creating products which the market will need in the future. Alps will continue to perfect these methods with the aim of shortening the time used in developing and producing more reliable products of consistent quality.
Initiatives in Fiscal 2008
Evaluating Product Performance off the Production Line
Evaluating reliability through designated tools
During the final phases of development that precede mass-production, quality assurance departments need to carry out evaluations. The departments must examine products thoroughly for reliability in the shortest time possible to make sure that all customers will be satisfied. In the past, Alps Electric used a conventional “Specification Evaluation” method which tested whether products conformed to certain specifications. However, we have recently introduced a new “Functionality Evaluation” system which tests the functional reliability of products. This new method lets Alps Electric evaluate products based on the actual way customers would use them. Additionally, the new method takes less than one third of the time than the previous method of evaluation.
Realizing Ippatsu-Kando in Molds
Grinding process in mold manufacture
In the past, the conventional process for manufacturing molds relied upon continual modification of prototypes until the desired shape was eventually achieved. Now however, when Alps Electric develops new molds, a new manufacturing process based on the “ippatsu-kando” concept is utilized. This method also has the added benefit of keeping processing costs down. In introducing a new approval system for molds and while improving process precision, we use digital design methods, Computer Aided Engineering (CAE), and Quality Engineering (QE) to verify functional stability in the development phases. As a result of these steps for increasing accuracy, Alps was able to bring manufacturing time down while achieving a significant improvement in quality.
Shortening Product Development Time and Realizing Functional Stability
3D-CAD diagram of a switch
One of Alps Electric’s major products is the switch. However, the market for switches changes rapidly, and in order to respond to customer needs the company has to develop new and reliable products with speed, along with high precision technologies that allow smaller product dimensions. Alps Electric's unique Digital Manufacturing (DM) initiative helps the company stay competitive in this changing market. DM is used in designing products with functions the market is expected to demand, before raising their functional consistency through multiple simulations. Alps Electric applies this method to every process in product development from design phases, to manufacture preparation, to mass production itself. Applying the DM Initiative has made it possible for Alps Electric to shorten product development timeframes considerably, thereby allowing the company to provide reliable products with speed.
