In December 2009, Kyokuyo introduced a new jib crane of 120-ton capacity. It is the biggest investment in our plant in 4 years.

Since several years ago, when other ship builders started to seek for production efficiency by way of making their building blocks bigger, we have been contemplating to replace our aging No.1 60t crane. We had to sort out some physical problems to draw maximum benefits from crane replacement, though, as upstream facilities like block-assembly and blasting factories are optimized for 60t blocks.

In 2006, we started to review our whole production process. For as long as 1 year, extensive discussions were held within task force about how to redesign our manufacturing flow to obtain optimal efficiency. Members' efforts resulted in a proposal to the company's management, involving remodeling of the block assembly factory, redeployment of various surface tables, reworking of material flows, and, replacement of the No.1 crane. It was approved and voilà, here we have the 120t crane, which is the final touch of the project.

After "Lehman shock" last year, business environment surrounding the shipbuilding industry has drastically changed. With the production-driven paradigm being no more valid, the builders have to compete to make profit without competing to increase production. Despite the paradigm shift, we are still able to fully benefit from the replacement of the crane, which was conceived to optimize the manufacturing efficiency and the manpower distribution, rather than to expand our production capacity.

Our challenges continue : next year, we will try the tandem shipbuilding process for our first time ; Know-how must be accumulated through the process of trial and error about how to effectively mount large blocks. We believe that efficient operation of the new 120t crane will be a key step toward the optimal hull construction process - the fundament of shipbuilding technology.

We keep on running!

[2009/12/15]