From garage company to world leader

From garage company to world leader in cold forming

In the production of precision dies for cold forming, the NICHIDAI ­Corporation occupies one of the world’s leading positions. Thanks to its skilled use of ­electric discharge machining, the company handles the production of dies and formed parts, as required primarily in the automotive industry, and is ­now ­making inroads into the fields of automotive component assembly and the production of industrial filters. We were interested to learn about the mindset behind the company’s technological development.

Skilled use of EDM

The beginnings of NICHIDAI go back to 1959. The founder and former boss Yoshiaki Tanaka rented a ­garage in Osaka, had his business registered as “­Tanaka Gokin Seisakusho” meaning “Tanaka Alloy Works”, and  ­produced drawing plates – dies for drawing and constricting wires – with his three employees: a garage business in the literal sense. From the moment of setting up his business, Tanaka pioneered the development of his own technology. The first Japanese EDM machine came onto the market in 1954, but for the working of cemented carbide, the material from which the drawing plates were made, Tanaka developed his own system from a converted horizontal boring machine, basing his ideas on the work of the Lazarenkos, the inventors of electric discharge machining. This EDM was superior in performance to the commercially available machines of its day and probably contributed considerably to the company’s high sales with drawing plates.

Production Manager Masato Ito (right) and Mitsubishi Electric’s West branch EDM section manager Satoshi Aoki (left).

Greater scope for action due to deeper knowledge

The NICHIDAI CORPORATION was founded in 1967. A 660 m² shop in Neyagawa in Osaka Prefecture became the new headquarters. The name “NICHIDAI” is in fact the acronym for the company founder’s aspiration to become “Japan’s No. One die manufacturer”. This was also the period in which cold forming techniques were just being introduced in the production of Japanese car components. However, tools made of cemented carbide, as required in cold forming, had to be imported at great expense – so automotive manufacturers and ­component suppliers were on the look-out for firms capable of producing suitable tools in Japan. They chose NICHIDAI as it was already familiar with the working of cemented carbide. This prompted the company to shift its focus to the production of dies for the cold forming of automot­ive parts and, together with the expanding automotive ­industry, the company’s business prospered.

Outstanding results in oil – the MX600 in action.

Precision expands room for manoeuvre

In 1971 the parent plant was moved to Kyotanabe in Kyoto Prefecture, where today’s headquarters are also located. In 1988, it was joined by the Ujitawara plant in the eponymous locality in Kyoto Prefecture and, by introducing its triple-action hydraulic press, the company extended its business to include precision-formed products, enabling the company to conduct its own direct research into forming techniques. ­NICHIDAI’s President and ­CEO Motonobu Furuya explains: “If you handle all the upstream and downstream processes yourself, you can develop your own technology in close consultation with the customer. This way you can deepen your knowledge and expand your room for ­manoeuvre. For our company, this marked a turning point.”

Hall 3 in Ujitawara: where the machine tools are.

Today, the company produces a wide range of dies for chassis and engine components and manufactures formed parts – both as prototypes and mass-produced items – entirely in accordance with the needs of the ­automotive and component supply industries. The history of automotive component suppliers is also a ­history of reducing costs by switching from cutting to forming. NICHIDAI has had a large hand in these cost ­reductions, as Furuya is well aware: “We were soon able to mass-produce bevel gears and also cross joints that were previously expensively machined with dedicated equipment.”

The dies produced with the use of EDM systems are ­subsequently checked with the coordinate measuring ­device.

In addition to its net-shape business, i.e. the production of dies for cold forming and precision-formed parts, NICHIDA recently extended its business to include filter business and the assembly of components for turbochargers in diesel engines. Of its sales of 14,264 Yen, 51.2 per cent is generated by net-shape business, 34.2 per cent by assembly business and 14.6 per cent by filter business (consolidated, March 2016).

Working with manufacturers to maximise performance

In its initial years, the company resorted to internally built EDM systems, but with growth in output, the strategy was modified and mass-produced machines were adopted. At the end of the Sixties – at the time of the Neyagawa plant – NICHIDAI finally started to use machines from Mitsubishi Electric. At present, dozens of wire-cutting and die-sinking machines are in operation. Production Manager Masato Ito is aware of the benefits: “To meet the high quality aspirations of our customers, we have to push the machines to their ­performance limits. This is where we depend on ­being able to work together with machine manufacturers. Our expectations of Mitsubishi Electric are often extremely high – but are always met.”

Concentrated EDM power line-up

Improved productivity thanks to expert assistance

In 2005, Ito – in cooperation with Mitsubishi Electric, among others – was responsible for the development of an automation system consisting of three ­wire-cutting machines of the EA12V model, a handling robot from Mitsubishi Electric and a coordinate measuring device, all of which are in operation around the clock. The robot loads the EDM systems with workpieces and electrodes. When cutting has been completed, the machined item is transferred by the robot to the coordinate measuring device, where the accuracy of shape is tested and the process autonomously optimised before the workpiece is passed on to the next process step. However, this was no easy task, as it involved ­uncharted technological territory to some extent: “­During the test phase I occasionally requested visits at unsocial hours from the technicians at Mitsubishi Electric and at the manufacturer of the coordinate measuring ­device.

The company’s baseball team founded in 1997 has grown into a serious contender and today is even bringing forth professional players.

Improved productivity thanks to expert assistance

The adjustments were also very time-consuming, but our colleagues from ­Mitsubishi Electric patiently helped us. Thanks to this support, everything runs smoothly today and our productivity has been boosted ­enormously,” says Ito.

“VSOP”: Vitality, Speciality, Originality and Passion

And when Mitsubishi Electric launched its new MX600 with oil-bath machining in 2015, Ito again often called on the after-sales service. “Wire-cutting is usually performed in water, but machining in oil yields surfaces with an even smoother finish. With oil as the dielectric, ­wire-cutting takes two to three times longer than with water, thus reducing productivity. “We jokingly suggested simply trying to double the speed, and then we obtained a modified machine that was at least significantly faster without us having to compromise on process ­accuracy.”

New technologies for superior performance

NICHDAI Corporation

Interview