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CAT®
is the familiar logo seen on Caterpillar heavy equipment
around the world, and while this “Cat”
is only slightly quieter than your average lawnmower,
in the world of construction machinery, it is “ultra-quiet.”
With its newly launched CAT 313 C CR hydraulic excavator,
Shin Caterpillar Mitsubishi
has made great efforts to improve the working environment
by reducing noise. The machine uses a double-decked
hood, a low-noise muffler and special acoustic insulation
technologies.
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whisper-quiet; the new CAT sets a new
noise level standard for its class |
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In
Japan, where construction projects often take place
in extremely dense urban environments, cutting back
on noise is an important priority. For this reason,
the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and
Transport has set a very low decibel limit, by international
standards, for this type of construction machinery—a
requirement the CAT 313 C CR meets by a good margin.
But quiet doesn’t have to mean
meek. The excavator, which is the sixth in the company’s
lineup of ultra-quiet excavators, still boasts a
79-hp flywheel power. This makes it small enough
to work in confined areas, but still capable of
getting some serious work done.
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| MITSUBISHI
Concept-EZ MIEV |
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| Colt
CZC, which joins the European Colt series |
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At
the 76th Geneva International Motor Show in February,
Mitsubishi Motors
Corporation (MMC) gave the world
another tantalizing look at its advanced small vehicle
technologies with world premieres of the MITSUBISHI
Concept-EZ1 MIEV2 compact
concept vehicle and the Colt CZC coupe-cabriolet.
MITSUBISHI Concept-EZ MIEV is an electric
vehicle with in-wheel motors and a high-energy-density
lithium-ion battery to drive all four wheels. The
concept car uses a compact in-wheel motor on each
wheel to generate a maximum 80 kW (110 PS) of power.
Maximizing the space freed up by this design, which
results in a low, flat floor, MITSUBISHI Concept-EZ
MIEV has a roomy interior and the headroom of a
large mono-box model despite its relatively low
overall height of 1,750 mm.
MMC developed the Colt CZC coupe-cabriolet
with renowned design and coachbuilding firm, Pininfarina
S.p.A. of Italy. Providing space to stow the retractable
hard top in a 2+2 layout, Colt CZC joins the European
Colt series, 5-door hatchback and 3-door hatchback
models. It went into production at Pininfarina in
Italy in March 2006.
The MITSUBISHI Concept-EZ MIEV and Colt
CZC were joined at the show by 15 other models,
including the new L200 pickup truck (built in Thailand,
Thai market name: Triton) now on sale in Europe.
1 EZ: “Easy,”
Gives expression to the easy-to-use nature of the
interior and the vehicle’s leisurely functionality.
2 Mitsubishi In-wheel motor Electric
Vehicle
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It
seems that every issue of the Monitor has an article
about NYK Line
receiving yet another award for quality service.
Well, we are certainly not complaining, and neither
are its customers. In the latest news, DaimlerChrysler
AG, one of the world’s three largest automobile
manufacturers, has presented its Global Supplier
Award to NYK in recognition of NYK’s outstanding
performance over the previous year in the field
of logistics.
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| NYK
Line lands another award for its shipping
services, this time from DaimlerChrysler |
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The Global Supplier
Awards event is held annually by DaimlerChrysler
to honor its best-performing global suppliers
in eight categories. The nominees are judged according
to their performance in the areas of quality,
technology, systems cost and supply.
NYK, which transported 100,000 DaimlerChrysler
vehicles in 2005, was recognized for the high
quality of its global car-carrier services. NYK
continues to expand its business of transporting
finished DaimlerChrysler vehicles and expects
to transport an even larger number of vehicles
in 2006.
Upon receipt of this award, NYK vowed
to continue to make every effort to meet its clients’
needs and continue to improve its finished-vehicle
marine-transport services.
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| The
steel arches of MHI’s Electronic
Road Pricing System (ERPS) are now a common
sight in Singapore |
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Road
pricing is an effective traffic demand management
system that helps to alleviate traffic congestion
in a particular area to benefit public health and
commerce. Mitsubishi
Heavy Industries (MHI) successfully
introduced the world’s first Electronic Road
Pricing System (ERPS) to Singapore in 1998. ERPS
uses secure wireless communication technology between
vehicles and antennas positioned on steel structures
over roads to collect fees automatically from free-flowing
vehicles beneath. Today, large-scale urban road
pricing systems are in operation in Singapore and
London.
Addressing
rising global demand for urban road pricing, MHI,
Mitsubishi Corporation
and MSI Global Pte Ltd, a Singapore government-owned
consultancy, agreed in February 2006 to jointly
promote the Integrated Urban Road Pricing (IURP)
service to heavily congested cities worldwide. This
team will provide governmental agencies with all
services necessary for urban road pricing through
an integrated approach: feasibility study, solution
provision, design, construction, system implementation,
operation and maintenance as well as funding support.
Applying MHI’s
experience and know-how in road pricing and toll
collection systems, the team aims to stimulate potential
demand among prospective clients as the world’s
first “one-stop-shop.” Through this
integrated approach, the IURP team will be able
to tailor road pricing solutions to each client.
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| The
ultimate wide-screen display system! Sadly,
though, it is not on sale yet... |
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The
sales date has yet to be announced, but the Dome
Multi-Projector Imaging System, developed by Mitsubishi
Precision and Mitsubishi
Electric, is already causing a stir.
Unveiled in early 2005 (and previously featured
in the Monitor), the innovation has been named one
of that year’s ten major products by the Japanese
Nikkan newspaper. The paper provides information
on the technology, products, systems and people
who shape Japan’s information industry.
The Dome uses
a so-called Projection Cluster®,
a method involving multiple, preci-sely coordinated
projectors, to project an image onto a dome-shaped
screen with a diameter of three meters. Fully automated,
the system is the world’s most precise, offering
seamless, large-format, high-resolution wide viewing
angle-images. Designed for all types of high-resolution
simulators and wide viewing angle-images, it is
expected to be popular with exhibitions, showrooms
and amusement facilities where large-scale realistic
visualizations are needed.
Moreover,
the Dome accepts computer graphics designed for
conventional flat screens and adjusts them to the
new format automatically without causing any distortion.
This feature greatly increases the system’s
marketability as it becomes easy to integrate it
into an existing image projection setup.
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Mitsubishi
Plastics Builds Advanced R&D Center
Mitsubishi Plastics is constructing a new development
center for next-generation products. The center
will boost R&D capabilities as the company aims
to develop high-performance display technologies
and ultra high-density, multi-layer materials for
IT products, as well as bio-plastics for new environment-friendly
product applications. The latter in particular will
require further research into surface-active and
photoactive materials, as well as so-called nano-materials,
which utilize specially engineered atom-sized particles
to gain unique properties. The company aims to earn
50% of its sales in the next year from new products.
Mitsubishi Paper Uses Sustainable
Wood Chip Sources
As a Japan first, one of Mitsubishi Paper’s
local factories has begun sourcing wood chips from
domestic forests certified by the Forest Stewardship
Council (FSC).
Until now the company has sourced certified
wood chips from company-operated forests in Chile
and other overseas forests. Now, to these supplies
will be added certified wood chips from the forests
of northeastern Iwate Prefecture.
The paper factory in Hachinohe City,
Aomori Prefecture will use approximately 300 tons
in the first year, but the amount may increase if
materials can be sourced from other certified forests
in northeastern Japan.
The FSC, an international non-profit
organization based in Germany, promotes responsible
forest management throughout the world. Over the
past decade, some 50 million hectares of forest
in more than 60 countries has been FSC-certified
as being well managed. To date, thousands of wood
products ranging from pens to furniture also carry
the trademark, increasing their appeal with environment-conscious
consumers.
Diamond Lease Contributes
US$10,000,000 to Clean Energy Fund
Diamond Lease has committed to contribute US$10
million to the FE Global-Asia Clean Energy Services
Fund, an environmental investment fund offering
financing to efficient energy service companies
(ESCOs) and renewable energy projects, primarily
in Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines and India.
In 2001, Diamond Lease became the first
leasing company to earn ISO14001 certification.
The company is known for its environment-conscious
policies, such as acquiring environmentally designed
buildings and promoting recycling programs. Contributing
to the FE Global-Asia Clean Energy Services Fund
will deepen the company’s environmental involvement,
and expand its business activities.
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