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DENSO is the world leader in managing large electrical currents for making things happen in automobiles. "Making things happen" can mean starting the engine or converting engine torque into electrical power for various vehicle systems. We have been the world's largest supplier of starters and alternators since the 1980s and now have a global market share of about 20% in both those products.
Making things happen in an automobile also can mean managing an antilock braking system or an airbag sensing system. And we are a leading supplier of sensors and actuators for those applications.
Increasingly, making things happen on the road means powering vehicles with electric or gasoline/electric hybrid power. We are the world's largest supplier of inverters for converting direct current from batteries into alternating current to power motors in electric vehicles.
Better. And more affordable
"Our segment conductor alternators," says Dr. Kazuo Matsumoto, managing director responsible for the Electric Systems Group, "have established a new global benchmark for performance. We put the new alternators, which we call SC alternators, into mass production in early 2000. Safety and environmental technologies consume growing amounts of electricity in automobiles. Our SC alternators satisfy vehicles' escalating appetite for electrical power. We also continue working on next-generation alternators to provide even greater power."
An important part of creating value through new technologies is making those technologies widely affordable. A good example is the antilock braking actuator that we introduced in 1999 for minivehicles. Those vehicles, which have engine displacements of only 660 cubic centimeters or less, are a favorite choice for economical transport in Japan. Our design for the affordable new actuator dispenses with the traditional pump. It helps make the safety-enhancing benefits of antilock braking available to car buyers on any budget.
Raising productivity in the factory...
"We continue to tweak our manufacturing processes to raise productivity while ensuring quality," explains Matsumoto. "In the past year, we took a big step with a new generation of mobile robots. The new robots are working initially on Japanese production lines for starters and some other products. But we will use them around the world and for a growing range of products."
Lean manufacturing depends on flexibility in allocating production resources. Manufacturers train their people to handle a broad range of jobs. That allows for reassigning people as necessary to the processes where demand is heaviest. It therefore permits the manufacturers to cope with fluctuations in demand for different items with an overall minimum of personnel.
That kind of flexibility traditionally has been all but impossible to emulate with sophisticated equipment. The mobility of our new robots, however, overcomes that traditional problem. It creates exciting new possibilities in flexible manufacturing.
And raising efficiency globally
Along with raising productivity in each plant, we are raising efficiency worldwide. We are doing that by building networks to serve customers through globally integrated R&D, production, and marketing. That includes equipping each product group with solid manufacturing capabilities in Japan, other Asian nations, North America, and Europe. Our Electric Systems Group has well-established manufacturing operations in the first three of those regions but had lacked a strong manufacturing presence in Europe. We remedied that lack with our acquisition of the Rotating Machines Division of Magnetti Marelli in early 1999.
"Our European customers have demanding expectations of DENSO products in performance and quality," notes Matsumoto. "I am proud of the way our new employees have worked hard and well to fulfill those expectations." |
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An SC alternator--our latest answer to automotive systems-- escalating appetite for electrical power
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