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Caterpillar Mitsubishi's wide-ranging presence in
Japan's market for earthmoving equipment soon will
become even wider ranging. That is the result of a
recent agreement between the company's parents, Mitsubishi
Heavy Industries and Caterpillar. The partners have
agreed to shift some of the production of earthmoving
equipment handled at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to
Shin Caterpillar Mitsubishi. |
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Mitsubishi
Heavy Industries has continued to manufacture small models
of earthmoving equipment. Shin Caterpillar Mitsubishi has
manufactured larger models under the Caterpillar brand.
Over the next few years, Mitsubishi Heavy
Industries will relinquish its production of the small models,
except motor graders and some specialty vehicles for steel
mills. Shin Caterpillar Mitsubishi will produce the expanded
line of equipment at its plant near Tokyo.
This reallocation of production resources
will foster economies of scale at Shin Caterpillar Mitsubishi.
By consolidating expertise, it also will promote continuing
improvements in the products.
Showcasing international
cooperation
The production transfer will free space at a Mitsubishi
Heavy Industries plant adjacent to the Shin Caterpillar
Mitsubishi plant near Tokyo. It will use that space to strengthen
its production capacity in materials handling equipment
and engines.
Shin Caterpillar Mitsubishi remains a
showcase of mutually beneficial cooperation between corporate
partners of different nationalities. It is a 50:50 joint
venture, and its senior management team comprises executives
from both parents.
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Here are two examples of
small models of earthmoving equipment for which the
production will shift to Shin Caterpillar Mitsubishi,
from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. |
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Mitsubishi
Research Institute has begun marketing software to ensure
the confidentiality of personal information in genetic research.
The company calls its software the Ethical Guideline-based
Solution System for Genetic Research. It developed the system
in accordance with guidelines promulgated by the Japanese
government.
Tissue
provided by human donors is indispensable in genetic research.
But the research inherently reveals profound insights into
the genetic makeup of the donors and their families. Confidentiality
therefore is a crucial consideration in handling the research
findings.
The software package from Mitsubishi
Research Institute includes a bar code processing function
and allows for two kinds of encryption. One method allows
for determining the identity of a tissue donor by comparing
the encrypted data against separate, supplementary data.
The supplementary data thus functions as a key to the encryption
lock. With the other method of encryption, the identity
of the tissue donor never becomes available.
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Mitsubishi
Electric's laser engineers have been busy. They recently
developed the new solid-state laser described on page 7.
They also have augmented their line of low-power semiconductor
lasers for local area networks.
Lasers for optical communications links
traditionally have required temperature control units to
maintain stable performance. Mitsubishi Electric's new laser,
however, operates reliably at temperatures from E^40 degrees
to +85 degrees centigrade. Eliminating the need for a temperature-control
unit has allowed for simpler, more-compact configurations
and reduced costs. |
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You don't need to adjust
its temperature. |
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Mitsubishi
Plastics and two partners have developed multilayer glass
that is superior to competing products in resisting fire.
They manufacture the composite panes from ordinary glass.
That makes the product less expensive than conventional
fireproof glass, which typically entails specialized glass
manufacturing.
A plastic film supplied by Mitsubishi
Plastics imparts strength and fire resistance to ordinary
glass. One of its partners assembles the composite glass.
The other partner handles the marketing.
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Kirin
Brewery has concluded a joint-development agreement with
the U.S. biotechnology firm Genzyme. The agreement pertains
to work on human antibodies with an eye to identifying possible
technologies for treating cancers. Kirin's working partner
in the collaboration is the Genzyme subsidiary Genzyme Molecular
Oncology.
The partners will work together for two
years. Kirin will pay a contract fee to Genzyme and will
defray the cost of research. It also will make additional
payments on the achievement of concrete research results.
If products emerge from the joint research,
Kirin will hold the marketing rights for Asia and Oceania.
Genzyme will hold the marketing rights
for North America and priority rights in Europe. Both companies
will share equally in any profits from jointly developed
drugs. Genzyme Molecular Oncology specializes in research
and development work on drugs for treating cancer. It has
applied original technology for identifying genes in collecting
extensive data on so-called tumor endothelial markers. Those
are special proteins that appear on the inner surfaces of
blood vessels in tumorous tissue. The joint development
work with Kirin will center on obtaining human antibodies
that act on those proteins.
"To remain viable in the global
pharmaceutical industry, we need to focus our resources
carefully," stresses Kirin's president Koichiro Aramaki.
"Geographically, that means concentrating on Asian
markets. Technologically, it means identifying a small number
of product sectors where we can assert internationally competitive
strengths. Antibodies are one of those sectors.
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Mitsubishi
Electric recently announced an all-solid-state laser
that is the world's most efficient laser of its kind.
The new laser converts 23% of the electrical power
it receives into light energy. That is more efficient
than any other solid-state laser.
The
laser produces an exceedingly high-quality infrared
beam that lenses can focus to a diameter of less than
50 microns (5 one-hundredths of a millimeter). It
generates an average output of 1 kilowatt and a peak
output of up to 10 kilowatts. That powerful output
will make the laser valuable for metalworking and
other applications.
Mitsubishi Electric developed the
laser on behalf of Japan's New Energy and Industrial
Technology Development Organization (NEDO). NEDO is
a semigovernmental organization that operates under
the auspices of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and
Industry.
Solid-state lasers generate light
of shorter wavelengths than gas lasers do. That allows
for concentrating the light in a narrower beam, which
could make the lasers useful in precision metalworking.
The beams of solid-state lasers tend to broaden, however,
at higher power levels. And that has prevented them
from fulfilling their industrial potential.
Metal cutting requires power greater
than 500 watts. But engineers long were unable to
achieve beams narrower than 600 microns from solid-state
lasers at that power level. |
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Turning up the
power
In 2000, Mitsubishi Electric became the first company
in the world to produce a beam narrower than 50 microns
from a solid-state laser at 500 watts while maintaining
an energy efficiency of at least 20%. It accompanied the
high output and narrow beam with a simple configuration,
which is essential in industrial applications.
Mitsubishi Electric's engineers then
faced a new challenge. Five hundred watts is just the threshold
for metalworking. To be competitive in a full range of cutting
and welding applications, the laser would need to be more
powerful still. Mitsubishi Electric needed to increase the
laser's output to one kilowatt while maintaining good beam
quality. Their successful development program culminated
in the one-kilowatt laser.
Manufacturers now will explore ways to
employ Mitsubishi Electric's powerful new laser in welding
robots and other industrial systems. Routing the narrow
beam through optical fiber, for example, would allow for
unprecedented flexibility in metalworking.
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Here are four laser modules in
series. |
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Mitsubishi
companies continue to lead the revitalization of the
Tokyo cityscape. In formerly staid Marunouchi, Mitsubishi
Estate is livening things up by luring fashionable
boutiques and restaurants. And in the already-trendy
heart of youthful Harajuku, Mitsubishi Corporation
has captured attention with a new fashion emporium.
The
building, christened Esquisse, opened in autumn 2001.
It houses boutiques that bear some of the best-known
names in the fashion business: Chanel, Yves Saint
Laurent, and Gucci, among others. The emporium is
just down the street from another fashionable landmark
erected recently by another Mitsubishi company: Meiji
Life.
Esquisse stands five floors above
ground and houses a pair of restaurants and even a
music studio, as well as boutiques. Management at
Mitsubishi Corporation is aiming to attract 1.5 million
shoppers to Esquisse in the building's first year.
And the initial popularity of the tenants bodes well
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Liquefying property
Mitsubishi Corporation's new emporium also is notable
for the innovative financing that the company employed in
the project. Deregulation in Japan's financial markets recently
opened the way for establishing and marketing the shares
of real estate investment trusts (REITs).
Common in the United States, REITs allow
for "securitizing" real estate assets. In other
words, the providers of an REIT set up a company that owns
a property and then offer shares of the company to individual
and institutional investors. That allows investors to purchase
an interest in real estate in modest portions.
By making real estate investment possible
for more investors, REITs increase liquidity in the property
market. That is especially important in Japan, where problems
in the financial sector have produced a logjam of underused
real estate.
Mitsubishi Corporation has established
a joint venture with UBS to create and market REITs. Esquisse
was the third project handled by the joint venture.
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This fashionable site is courtesy
of a real estate investment trust. |
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