Increasing Efficiency and Reducing Lead Time
Production lead time is the period from when an order is placed to the delivery and completion of the product. Trimming the lead time will minimise the amount of waste, and the consumption of paper and power, thus protecting the environment. Kobelco are rationalising our production lines, improving their efficiency, elaborating production technologies to reduce the duration and number of production processes, and adopting automatic processing machines to increase unmanned operation and reduce work shift, all to reduce the lead time.
Quality assurance during production
Customer satisfaction and environmental protection can be achieved by ensuring product quality. Defects in cranes and other large machines can result in a significant waste of labour and materials if discovered only after assembly. Therefore, Kobelco implements comprehensive quality control at the parts manufacturers' level to minimise parts defects, and to conduct strict examinations of components before assembly, including contamination testing, to ensure that the product is free of contaminants. These measures can reduce unnecessary production processes, waste oil, and other forms of waste.
Green procurement, and examination of chemical substances contained in typical models
Kobelco collaborates with its suppliers to practice green procurement, by acquiring components that are environmentally friendly and ones that contain fewer regulated toxic materials. In addition, they conduct rigorous inspections of their products before delivery to prevent environmental pollution and promote a recycling-oriented society. For instance, Kobelco scrutinizes all chemical substances present in the parts of common models meant for the European market, ensuring that Kobelco machines do not contain toxic substances surpassing the levels stipulated by the stringent European REACH standard.