Initiatives

Product Initiatives

Beneﬁts of high-performance products	ROBOSHOT's high molding performance reduces plastic molding defects, and its function to support the automation of production setup will reduce downtime between production lots, and reduces losses of materials. In addition, we will help reduce the amount of plastic waste by increasing the yield rate when using recycled materials from plastic scraps and waste.
By designing products in small size, we reduce weight and number of components	We have reduced the use of resources for CNC by designing products in small sizes and with fewer components. We apply modular designs to standardize parts, thereby reducing the variety of procured components, as well as maintenance components.
Proper maintenance	Grease and oil can be replaced at the most appropriate time with the intelligent grease change reminder function, reducing the amount of grease and oil waste.

Production Initiatives

Reducing failure rate	We have made efforts to optimize solder printing settings and to reduce scratch defects. It has improved the failure rate of CNC equipment from 0.0073 to 0.0066 per unit. Automatization of robot assembling has enabled 24-hour continuous operation and achieved labor savings and reduction of failures arising from handling errors.
Productivity improvement	We are working to improve productivity using FANUC know-how in material processing, including unmanned operation on holidays through robotization.
Reduction of paint used	We have reduced paint waste by precisely calculating the amount of paint used per each type of paint robots.
Reduction of waste oil	We are replacing release agents for die casting machines from water-soluble ones to oil-based ones. The replacement of release agents for flanges was completed for all machines and that for rotors is currently underway. This replacement has contributed to prevention of oil dripping and reduction of the waste oil. We have adopted distillation equipment to treat water-soluble waste oil, which has resulted in reducing the amount of discharged waste oil. The Tsukuba Machining Department is reducing the amount of cutting fluid used by collecting the fluid that adheres to the parts. We are focusing on preventive maintenance and reducing the amount of hydraulic oil used.
Reduction of man-hours for unpacking	For the packaging used when transporting parts between our factories and between our factories and suppliers, we ceased to individually pack gear parts, etc. with plastic packages in cardboard boxes and adopted circulate boxes without individual packaging, which has significantly reduced man-hours for unpacking and contributed to labor savings.

Initiatives in Packaging Materials

Signiﬁcant reduction in the use of steel cases	In transporting ROBOTs and ROBOMACHINEs in containers directly from a port to a warehouse, we used to pack them in steel cases before loading them into containers. However, we are now able to signiﬁcantly reduce the use of steel cases by changing our packing method to utilize the containers themselves as packing cases. This means that we are directly packing ROBOTs and ROBOMACHINEs onto steel skids as much as possible.
Reducing weight and increasing density	We have changed the shipping packaging of SCARA Robots from steel skids to cardboard packaging to improve transport efﬁciency. We also introduced recyclable cardboard packaging for the new collaborative robot CRX. The new Genkotsu robot model has a more compact cargo form by removing some of the links, which significantly reduces the amount of steel required to transport the robot compared to previous models. Tier stacking is now also possible, thereby improving transportation efficiency.
Saving resources	We have changed the shape of steel skids used in transporting, while maintaining their strength, to reduce the amount of steel used. We have started to consider whether it is possible to reduce the thickness of the skid steel and the thickness of the bolts for the packaging materials used for exporting ROBOTs.
Reducing use of cardboard	We have stopped using cardboard in the delivery of eyebolts from suppliers, and introduced reusable mesh pallets. This has led to an estimated annual waste reduction (paper waste) of 120 kg.
Adopting reusable shipping boxes	We have stopped using packing materials in the delivery of sheet metal covers, and adopted reusable shipping boxes with interior padding. This has led to an estimated annual waste reduction (paper waste) of 99.6 kg.

Initiatives for Reuse

Transport packaging, pallets	We also send the steel skids, which are the packing material used when importing castings, back to the foundry for reuse.
Waste liquid	We reduce the amount of waste liquid from ma chine tools by using waste-liquid-recycling devices. This has resulted in an estimated annual reduction of waste liquid of 852 t. At our Headquarters Factories, Tsukuba Factory, and Mibu Factory, we are promoting the reduction of waste liquid by using long-life cutting ﬂuids. In addition, at our Headquarters Factories and Tsukuba Factory, we are reducing waste liquid by reusing the cutting ﬂuid adhered to chips (metal chips) generated during machining. Die-casting factories in Headquarters and Mibu are promoting the reduction of waste liquid by using mold release materials.
Chips and cutting tools	We hand over chips produced during cutting at our factories, as well as cutting tools that have become unusable due to heavy wear to recyclers, so that they can be reused as raw materials.

Initiatives in Offices

Reduction of paper consumption	We reduce the use of paper by digitizing company documents. We used to send order forms and other documents for purchasing by fax, but in May 2023 we introduced a WEB-EDI system (FANUC EDI) for transmitting electronic data. This has made it possible to go paperless for order forms and other documents on the supplier side. We have also applied this function within FANUC to go paperless for some internal documents, reducing our paper consumption by about 300,000 sheets per year.
LED lighting	We promote the use of LED lighting, which does not use the mercury, lead, or cadmium contained in ﬂuorescent lamps, etc., thereby facilitating reduction in disposal of lighting.
Converting waste into valuable resources	At the Hamamatsu Service Center, we have been working to recycle waste paper, scrap metal, and waste cables since 2023, and have been reducing the amount of industrial waste we produce.