Aisin Takaoka Co., Ltd. Business Report FY ended Mar. 2016
Recent Years
Business Overview (FY ending Mar. 31, 2016)
-Sales reached JPY 275,900 million, an increase of 4.6% year-on-year supported by growth in vehicle production by the Company's major customers.
-Despite the positive result of the Company's profit improvement initiatives, operating profit decreased 18.7% year-on-year to JPY 9,100 million mainly due to an increase in costs like depreciation expenses.
Recent Developments outside Japan
Propose hot stamped components to customers overseas
-In May 2013, the Company announced that it will step up its activities to propose hot stamped components to customers overseas. The company will introduce new equipment to perform trial production of hot stamping parts into its plants in the U.S., China and Thailand, which is the first time for it to install such machines in overseas facilities. New operations are scheduled to begin by the end of this fiscal year, while the company is poised to present its technologies as solutions to make lighter structural parts to automakers and parts suppliers operating in those markets. Up until now, main targets of Aisin Takaoka's overseas business have been Toyota and other Japanese OEMs. By developing a local production structure, the company is now looking to expand business with foreign companies riding on increasing global demand for hot stamped components, its area of expertise. (From an article in the Nikkan Jidosha Shimbun on May. 16, 2013)
Recent Developments in Japan
-In 2011, a foundry plant of AT Tohoku Co., Ltd, a subsidiary of Aisin Takaoka Co., Ltd., will go into operation in Ohira, Miyagi Prefecture in the spring of next year. Blowing-in at the plant was originally scheduled before the end of this year and full operation was planned to start early next year. However, the schedule was disrupted by the earthquake. Completion of the plant will allow AT Tohoku to have a comprehensive production capacity from foundry to fabrication and assembly. Its production capacity is planned to be 2,000 tons per month. AT Tohoku, which was set up in January 2009 to support Central Motor and Kanto Auto Works in enhancing vehicle production in the Tohoku region, manufactures and assembles components related to engines and brakes. (From an article in the Nikkan Jidosha Shimbun on May 26, 2011)
-In 2010, the Company is establishing its comprehensive production network of auto parts in Miyagi Prefecture. Its subsidiary is starting processing and assembly of components related to engines and brakes by the year end. Also in summer next year, it will prepare for constructing a foundry plant so that it may go into operation by 2012. Products will be delivered to Central Motor Company's head-office plant slated to start operations in January next year and the Iwate Plant of Kanto Auto Works. By making efforts to secure product quality as well as cutting production costs, the Company is willing to contribute to increasing production volumes of Toyota vehicles in the northeastern region of Japan. (From an article in the Nikkan Jidosha Shimbun on September. 6, 2010)
-In 2010, the Company announced that the Group will realign its aluminum die-casting business. Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd. began to transfer production of transmission parts and other small aluminum components, which is currently handled at its Higashiura Plant of the Company in Aichi Pref. to the following three facilities: Aisin Seiki's Nishio Die-casting Plant in Aichi Pref.; Aisin Hokkaido Co., Ltd. in Tomakomai, Hokkaido; and Aisin Keikinzoku Co., Ltd. in Toyama, Toyama Pref. The aim of this move is to consolidate the Group's aluminum die-casting business and increase efficiency. The Company will thereafter focus on production of cast-iron components such as bumper reinforcements. (From an article in the Nikkan Jidosha Shimbun on Feb. 9, 2010)
-In late Jan. 2009, the Company decided to establish AT Tohoku Co., Ltd. in Ohira-mura, Kurokawa-gun, Miyagi Pref., for manufacturing cast iron parts for engines and chassis. The new company is capitalized at 490 million yen 100% by Aisin Takaoka. The new plant will start machining operation in May 2009 and casting in Oct. 2010. The total investment is approximately 9 billion yen. The Company decided to shift part of its manufacturing processes to the Tohoku Area of Japan from its old facilities in Aichi Pref. in order to avoid earthquake and disaster risks. The new company's main potential customers include Toyota Motor Tohoku Corporation and Kanto Auto Woks, Ltd. Iwate Plant, as well as manufacturers based in the north Kanto Area such as Hino Motors, Ltd. Nitta Plant and Akebono Brake Industries, Co., Ltd. It also plans to deliver the products to Central Motor Co., Ltd., which is slated to move to Miyagi Pref. in 2010. (From an article in the Nikkan Jidosha Shimbun on Nov. 22, 2008)
R&D Expenditure
|
(in millions of JPY) |
| FY ended Mar. 31, 2016 | FY ended Mar. 31, 2015 | FY ended Mar. 31, 2014 | |
| Total | 1,200 | 1,400 | 1,300 |
R&D Structure
-The Company conducts R&D, production engineering, and designing activities at the Takaoka Advanced Center (TA Center) located within the headquarters facility.
R&D Activities
-In the fiscal year that ended March 2016, the Company worked on developing new casting technologies in order to meet various customer requirements including lighter and high-strength products for automobiles. Its major development achievements include hybrid dissolution technologies.
-In the fiscal year that ended March 2015, the Company conducted R&D on technology to manufacture die-casted automotive parts. The major achievement the Company accomplished during the fiscal year that ended March 2015 was to develop a die cast turbine housings.
-In 2011, Mazda Motor Corporation announced that it will use the 1,800 MPa high-strength steel with the world's highest tensile force on its vehicles for the first time. Bumper beams made from the ultra-high tensile steel will be mounted on both the front and rear of the new Mazda "CX-5" crossover scheduled for release in early 2012. The material is 20 percent stronger and 20 percent lighter compared with the previous technology. Mazda collaborated with several materials and parts manufacturers in the development project. It worked with Sumitomo Metal Industries, Ltd. to develop the material, cooperated with Aisin Takaoka Co., Ltd. to engineer its processing method, and teamed up with a stamped metal parts supplier, Futaba Kogyo Co., Ltd., to design the welding process. (From an article in the Nikkan Jidosha Shimbun on October 5, 2011)
Product Development
SUS exhaust manifold
-In 2008, the Company developed SUS exhaust manifold, which offers improved cost efficiency through its simple design with an independent long branch and a single pipe. The new product is used in the "Noah" and "Voxy" manufactured by Toyota.
Capital Expenditure |
(in millions of JPY) |
| FY ended Mar. 31, 2016 | FY ended Mar. 31, 2015 | FY ended Mar. 31, 2014 | |
| Overall | 23,077 | 21,190 | 25,377 |
Planned Capital Investment
-The Company plans to invest JPY 16,800 million in casting equipment (as of March 31, 2016).
Investment Outside Japan
-In February 2016, the Company announced that it has established a new manufacturing subsidiary in Guanajuato, Mexico. The new company, Aisin Takaoka Mexico, S.A. de C.V., is capitalized at USD 4.11 million (approximately JPY 500 million) and has a land area of 92,000 square meters. It has established an integrated production structure, which covers everything from casting to processing of automotive suspension parts such as disc rotors and knuckles. (From a press release on February 15, 2016)
Accelerate the use of compact casting line
-In May 2013, the Company announced that it is accelerating the use of compact casting line, whose production capacity is one-fourth of that of a conventional line. Utilizing compact facilities will allow the company to make its investment decisions easily even under fluctuating demand estimates. The compact casting lines have already been introduced at some of its subsidiaries in Japan, and another line is expected to be introduced at a new Indian plant which is planned for construction within 2014. Aisin Takaoka will basically use the compact casting lines when they tap into emerging countries where the estimates for demand are not easy. Meanwhile, for Japanese plants, the company plans to switch the conventional casting lines to the compact casting lines when renewing the facilities, aiming to raise the operation rate. (From an article in the Nikkan Jidosha Shimbun on May 31, 2013)
-On May 11, 2011, the Company established its third production facility in China "Takaoka Lioho (Yunfu) Industries Co., Ltd.". The new plant in the South China will have capacity of producing 30,000 tons of disc rotors and other auto parts and is slated to go into operation in January 2013. Aisin Takaoka, which already has casting and processing facilities in Tianjin and Guangzhou, has decided to set up a new plant in Yunfu in Guangdong in the south in order to meet growing demand from automakers. It is initially serving Toyota, but also intending to expand its business to other customers. The new subsidiary with a capital of 120 million yuan (approx. 1.5 billion yen) will be invested 34.8 percent by Aisin Takaoka, 55.2 percent by the local subsidiary in Tianjin and 10.0 percent by the subsidiary in Guangzhou, respectively. The new plant will be engaged in manufacture and sales of casting and plastic working products employing 200 workers. It expects to generate 2 billion yen in sales in 2013. (From an article in the Nikkan Jidosha Shimbun on May 27, 2011)