Industrialists and engineers from all over the UK are being invited to take advantage of a chance to learn the secrets of Japanese manufacturing first hand in a “learn from the best” initiative run by the Birmingham-based Industry Forum.
The visit to Japan from November 21 to December 5 will be the ninth in a programme of Best Practice visits. Delegates – industry executives from a wide range of sectors – will visit some of Japan’s top manufacturing companies.
In the five years that visits have been running delegates from the automotive, aerospace, pharmaceutical, food processing, white goods and other sectors have been given unprecedented access to manufacturing processes which are the envy of the world and rarely duplicated outside Japan with total effectiveness.
The ground-breaking visit has been made possible by contacts made by Industry Forum director Arthur David, who formerly worked for Nissan and General Motors, and Industry Forum executive co-ordinator Koji Wanaka, who was a senior official at Honda.
The visit will include detailed briefings by senior management at Nissan, Honda and Toyota and their major suppliers, as well as non-automotive companies.
Delegates will also attend detailed lectures from world-renowned Japanese experts on quality and total productive maintenance, as well as a presentation and reception at the British Embassy in Tokyo. Delegates on last year’s visit said it was a real eye-opener. Chris Taylor, lean change manager at Siemens, said: “This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience to see world-class production really taking place.”
Peter Jones, specialist manufacturing adviser at the West Midlands Manufacturing Advisory Service, said: “Seeing and touching has put all the theory into real perspective and is the greatest motivational experience possible.”
The cost of the programme is £7,800 plus VAT which includes accommodation at a Tokyo hotel, flights, internal transport, all visits, interpreters and support from Industry Forum staff.
Mr David said previous visits had a “life-changing effect” on some delegates.
“The Japanese never stay still in business and all of the latest thinking in terms of lean manufacturing, quality, waste elimination, cost, efficiency and delivery originates in Japan,” he said. “There’s no better way than learning first hand from the best in the world.
“It is often claimed in the UK and western Europe that we can’t compete with Far Eastern countries because our labour costs are high.
“But Japan has some of the highest labour costs in the world and still leads the way in manufacturing efficiency.
“Japanese industry has spent decades refining their approach to manufacturing process control and people productivity and has deservedly gained worldwide recognition.
“This programme allows delegates to experience first hand what Japanese companies are doing and how they are maintaining their international reputation. In the past the Japanese have been protective of their secrets so opportunities like this are very rare indeed.”
The Industry Forum – based at Birmingham Business Park – was set up in 1996 by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders to improve competitiveness in the UK-based vehicle and components industry. Its practical programmes have led to major improvements by automotive suppliers across the UK and are being used in other industry sectors including aerospace, food processing and the construction equipment industry.
For further details of the Japanese visit call Arthur David at the SMMT Industry Forum on 0121 717 6613.
A recent Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Spectrum article reveals that organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology may not be the successor to liquid crystal display technology (LCD) after all. New research funded by the Ford Motor Corporation demonstrates the creation, assembly, and connection of inorganic light-emitting diodes (LEDs) on a flexible substrate, opening up the possibility for the miniaturization of the technology. Given that inorganic LEDs surpass OLEDs in brightness, energy efficiency, durability, and moisture resistance, printed compound semiconductors may soon be the replacement technology of choice for small, pixel-dense displays.
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LED pioneer honoured
June 30, 2009When the history of technological development in the late 20th Century is written, the name of Dr. Isamu Akasaki is sure to figure prominently. Everyone who relies on modern communication technology owes a great debt of gratitude to this elderly Japanese professor, and yet publically, he remains a little-known. But hopefully, that may be about to change thanks to an award honouring Dr. Akasaki’s achievements.
What was Dr. Akasaki’s contribution to our modern world? Simply, he was the man that made the blue LED possible. Thanks in large part to his work, we now have high-speed internet communications, high-density data storage (hence the trade name “Blu-Ray”), and a cornucopia of other technological marvels – not to mention today’s full-colour LED screens.
The Inamori Foundation has announced that Dr. Isamu Akasaki will be awarded the Kyoto Prize in Advanced Technology for 2009. Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, the annual Kyoto Prize is an international award honouring “significant contributions to the scientific, cultural and spiritual betterment of mankind.” The award is presented on November 10 each year in three categories.
Dr. Akasaki, 80, will receive the award for his pioneering work that led to the development of the blue LED. A semiconductor scientist, Dr. Akasaki serves both as a university professor at Nagoya University and professor at Meijo University in Japan.
The story of the development of the blue LED is the real stuff of legend: Once generally regarded as impossible, Dr. Akasaki persisted in his research for decades – long after others had given-up, and was eventually rewarded with success; his GaN-based positive-negative (p-n) junctions, making the blue LED practically possible for the first time. This achievement stimulated research on blue LEDs worldwide, and served as the first step toward their eventual commercialisation in the 1990s.
According to the Kyoto Prize press release, Dr. Akasaki’s pioneering research has not only led to numerous and diverse new applications in electronic equipment, but also offers great promise for protecting the global environment as blue LEDs are adopted for general-purpose lighting with superior energy-conserving qualities.
LEDs Magazine – Isamu Akasaki awarded Kyoto Prize for LED work