Reducing the Burden of Grinding Wheel Transportation
Takakura Kogyo Co., Ltd.
Takakura Kogyo Co., Ltd. is a company that manufactures and sells grinding wheels. It is based in Kasugai City, Aichi Prefecture. The company mainly manufactures industrial grinding stones, which are essential for manufacturing needles, machine parts, and blades. More than 50% of the employees are women, and many female and senior employees support the manufacturing sites. In recent years, with young people leaving the manufacturing industry, creating a work environment that does not rely on specific workers has become an important issue, and as one of the solutions, the company has been considering assistive devices that can reduce the burden of transporting heavy objects and enable safe transportation.
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Issues
Transporting Grinding Wheels over 50 kg
Takakura Kogyo manufactures various sizes of grinding wheels in small quantities and multiple varieties, and some grinding wheels can weigh over 50 kg. However, it has been difficult to automate the transportation process, and in many cases, it has to be done manually one by one. This has been a long-standing issue of "reducing the burden on workers."
Reasons for Adoption
Using One Assistive Device in Multiple Locations
I learned about our PowerArm through an internet search and received an inquiry. Takakura Kogyo has multiple work sites, and heavy object assistance was needed at different locations depending on the day. Our PowerArm, with the dolly-type option, can be moved freely around the installation location. This feature, "being able to use one assistive device by moving it," became one of the deciding factors for adoption.
Assistance from Below
The general type of assistive device is a ceiling suspension type, but Takakura Kogyo was concerned about the condition of the ceiling, which made it difficult to install this type of assistive device. However, our PowerArm is a new type of balancer that can be approached from below and from the front. Therefore, ceiling work is unnecessary, and "it can be installed even in places with low ceilings," which was the deciding factor for its adoption.
Results after introduction
Contributing to Workload Reduction
The PowerArm has been implemented to transport manufactured grinding wheels to the next process. On-site workers have commented that "the burden of transporting heavy objects has been reduced, and work has become easier." This is contributing to labor saving in the transport process. The PowerArm is easy to use and does not require any special qualifications, allowing on-site workers to become accustomed to it quickly and proceed with work efficiently.
Enabling One-Person Operation
Previously, two people were required to transport the grindstone, but after the introduction of the PowerArm, it is now possible to transport it with only one person, which contributes to labor-saving at the site. To enable their female and senior employees to play an active role as much as possible, the company will continue to create an environment that allows them to safely transport heavy objects, reducing the burden on workers, and promote labor saving by enabling them to carry out tasks that were previously done by two people alone.