Mitsubishi Cable Industries has established a solid reputation as a manufacturer and seller of optical fibers for laser oscillators and other laser-related optical products. These optical fibers, also called laser guides, are specially treated with rare-earth elements and used to amplify the initial energy source to a high-energy state before the beam is produced.
      The company has now developed a new type of laser guide, the Diaguide® SQ Series, that allows the beam to be shaped according to its purpose. Until now, laser guides have produced lasers that are most intense at the center, with energy density gradually decreasing toward the edges. However, Diaguide® SQ can shape the beam into a so-called “top hat” pattern, meaning that the beam is as intense at the outer edges as it is in the center. Top hat beams are often used for industrial purposes, for instance when drilling holes or cutting.
      Not only can the Diaguide® SQ Series produce top hat beam patterns without the need for complex optics, it can also dramatically reduce processing times, since it eliminates the need for overlapping beam spots during processing.
      In January, the new laser guide drew much interest at the Photonics West 2008 industry fair in the U.S. With samples now shipping, Mitsubishi Cable Industries will continue to expand its range of fiber sizes.
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Fires and kilns are a natural match. So, when Millea Holdings, Inc. announced in December 2007 that it would acquire Kiln, Ltd., a major insurance group active in Lloyd’s of London, through its subsidiary Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance, it is only fitting that the move was warmly anticipated by all sides.
      Millea Holdings is actively expanding its international business with the aim of becoming a global top-tier insurer. Over the last few years, the company has focused on entering growing markets such as Brazil, India, China and other Asian countries through strategic options including M&A. In addition, it has steadily expanded its insurance and reinsurance operations in Bermuda and London.
      The acquisition of Kiln through Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance, which was completed in March 2008, will significantly boost the company’s international operations.
      While expanding the scale of business and profits globally, Millea Holdings also gains a position in the Lloyd’s market, one of the most prominent insurance markets in the world. Kiln, a global insurance group, is one of Lloyd’s largest managing agents in terms of underwriting capacity.
      Finally, Kiln’s competitive advantages—strong underwriting discipline and expertise, skilled employees and a strong brand—are a powerful addition to Millea Holdings’ high credit rating, underwriting capacity and global network. The result is a strong platform for international commercial insurance and reinsurance operations.
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The printing industry, always hungry for enhanced quality, certainly got its fill this year at drupa 2008, the world’s largest international graphic art exhibition for this industry. At the show, held May 29–June 11 in Düsseldorf, Germany, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) unveiled three new models for its DIAMOND V Series of sheet-fed offset presses.
      The DIAMOND V Series builds on MHI’s acclaimed DIAMOND Series, and is the first revamp in seven years. The release last fall of the first model V press, DIAMOND V3000, a straight printing offset press for sheet sizes up to 1050 x 750 mm, caused a stir in the industry.
      The new models shown at drupa 2008 have all been designed to minimize maintenance time, warm-up time and waste caused by printing imperfections. The DIAMOND V3000LX is made for high-quality printing over a wide paper thickness range, while the DIAMOND V3000R is a convertible perfector press for both single-side and double-side printing. Finally, DIAMOND V3000TP is a dedicated one-pass perfecting press that applies MHI’s proprietary technologies for full printing on both sides without tumbling the sheet.
      All three also accommodate SimulChanger, the industry’s first fully automatic plate changing system that enables all printing plates to be removed and mounted simultaneously in less than 75 seconds. The presses also accommodate the optional DIAMOND Color Navigator system, which greatly facilitates color adjustment—a task that normally requires a high degree of skill.
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It seems that the days of the halogen lamp, commonly used for product illumination in retail stores and other indoor spotlight applications, are numbered. As concerns over global warming grow, highly energy-efficient lighting fixtures based on LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) are becoming increasingly widespread.
      Entering this increasingly crowded market, Mitsubishi Electric recently introduced its AKARI-LEDs Spotlight Series of in-store LED-based lighting fixtures. The six models in the new series, which are so far only available in Japan, are exceptionally energy-efficient. While the spotlight intensity and focus is fully equivalent to that of halogen lamps, power consumption is only 11 W, less than a third of the electricity used by standard halogen lamps. Also, the service life is over ten times longer—some 40,000 hours for a single light. This performance translates into annual CO2 emissions of around 12.5 kg/m3, equivalent to 32% of the emissions of a 35 W halogen lamp and 22% of the emissions of a 50 W halogen lamp.
      But, it doesn’t stop there—the new lights look good too. The six models, which are available in different combinations of light color and beam angles to meet a variety of in-store presentation requirements, come in a stylish thin-body design that won the prestigious Good Design Award in 2007.
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For the second year straight, NYK and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) have been ranked among the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the world.
The Global 100, launched in 2005, is an annual research and ratings project conducted jointly by Innovest Strategic Value Advisors Inc. and Corporate Knights Inc. The chosen 100 companies, which come from a variety of industries, are announced each year at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
      Innovest Strategic Value Advisors Inc. specializes in analyzing correlations between a company’s shareholder value and “non-traditional,” or non-financial, corporate risk drivers. These include environmental and social issues, as well as matters related to maintaining effective and ethical corporate governance. The company picks the top 100 on the grounds that they surpass their industry peers in their ability to understand and manage such non-financial corporate matters.
      This year, out of about 1,800 candidate companies, the top 100 were from 17 countries, and NYK and MHI were among 13 companies selected from Japan.
      For more information on the Global 100, see http://www.global100.org.
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Mitsubishi Corporation in Food Hygiene Consulting Alliance
In February 2008, BML Food Science Solutions, Inc. (BFS), a joint venture established by BML Inc. and Mitsubishi Corporation, announced a business alliance with CCIC Shanghai Co., Ltd. The new alliance aims at expanding BFS’ food hygiene consulting business in China with high-value services. The two partners have agreed to work together to provide and enhance risk management support services in the food sector amid growing public concern about the food safety of exported Chinese food products. CCIC aims to offer services to foreign companies, especially Japanese-affiliated firms, moving into China, using food inspection and hygiene consulting know-how developed by BFS in Japan.
Mitsubishi Rayon Subsidiary Provides Technology for New Singapore Wastewater Treatment Project
Mitsubishi Rayon Engineering Co., Ltd. (MRE), a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Rayon, and Nitto Denko Corporation (Nitto) have signed a basic agreement with Singapore’s national water agency, the Public Utilities Board (PUB), regarding joint development of wastewater reclamation technologies.
      MRE and Nitto will provide PUB with their membrane bioreactor technology for treating activated sludge, as well as reverse osmosis technology. Provided via Kathyd Technology LLC, a water treatment technology firm established by MRE and Nitto in the U.S. in June 2007, these technologies will be used in a planned large-scale water reclamation facility in Singapore. The two companies will also work with PUB to develop cost-effective technologies for the maintenance, operation and administration of these membrane separation systems.
On April 11, 2008, the American Mitsubishi Public Affairs Committee (AMPAC) convened in New York for its first biannual meeting for this year. The meeting was hosted by Tokio Marine Management, Inc., which manages the operations of the U.S. branch of Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance and its affiliated U.S. insurance companies.
      In addition to status reports detailing continued good performances from a number of member companies, CSR topics featured prominently on the agenda as many member companies are now actively engaged in environmental initiatives.
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