Komatsu Ltd. (hereafter “Komatsu”) (President & CEO: Hiroyuki Ogawa) has built a new factory for seal rings, the parts of an undercarriage component, in its Himi Plant 2 as part of structural reforms for growth, one of the efforts of focus in the mid-term management plan. Komatsu held the completion ceremony today, and will start production in November this year. To strengthen its technology development and facilitate the role of being the global Mother plant of casting materials for the Komatsu Group, Komatsu has transplanted the functions of the former seal ring factory, which was built about 60 years ago, into the new factory, thereby working to dynamically improve productivity, labor savings, and reduce CO2 emissions by 50%. Komatsu is advancing production reforms designed to realize the long-term vision of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.

Komatsu draws its strengths by engaging in in-house development and the manufacture of key components that determine the quality of its construction equipment. By improving the durability and reliability of its key components, for example, Komatsu offers a new service program for construction equipment, which has further prolonged the warranty period of the extended warranty program, thereby striving to further expand the value chain business. Seal rings are high-precision parts which are used to prevent lubricant from leaking inside the undercarriage components, such as final drives*. Seal rings are supplied to other plants of the Komatsu Group, which manufacture the undercarriage components.

For the new factory, Komatsu has taken advantage of its group-wide synergy, for example, by installing high-precision, high-efficiency CBN grinders and has also introduced AI-driven automatic inspection machines, both of which were jointly developed by Komatsu NTC Ltd. As a result, the new factory achieves outstanding labor-saving and productivity improvement. On the occasion of opening this new factory, Komatsu is concerting efforts to develop and introduce next-generation components that incorporate all advantages of in-house development and production.

In its mid-term management plan, Komatsu has defined the targets of reducing CO2 emissions by 50% raising the ratio of renewable energy use to 50% by 2030 from 2010 levels. As an extension to these targets, Komatsu has recently announced a long-term vision of achieving carbon neutrality, i.e., virtually zero carbon emissions, by 2050. As the casting process, including for seal rings, particularly consumes a large amount of energy, high-efficiency casting, by improving its process, will lead to an outstanding reduction of energy consumption. In addition, Komatsu is also working to improve the environmental performance of the new factory, including the reduction of CO2 emissions, by installing energy-saving equipment and improving the airtightness of the factory building.

While remaining committed to Quality and Reliability, Komatsu will work to maximize its corporate value and also achieve safe, highly productive, smart, and clean workplaces of the future by creating DANTOTSU value (solving ESG issues and improving earnings through creation of customer value).

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