Taking on a new mission as a leading high-tensile press work provider from the new Karida Factory
Karida Factory, Topre Kyushu Corporation
Address: 9-66 Shinhama-cho, Kanda-machi, Miyako-gun, Fukuoka (Japan)
Website：https://toprekyushu.jp/
YouTube：https://youtu.be/szhwxmqoctM
Topre Kyushu Corporation was founded in Kurume, Fukuoka in April 2001 as an affiliate of Topre Corporation with the group’s strong technological competencies.
With the engineering center established in October 2015, the company has established an integrated production scheme from development through production.
For further growth, the company opened the Karida Factory in the Karida area of Miyako-gun, Fukuoka in January 2019.
By tirelessly endeavoring to enhance technological development, the company is constantly taking on challenges in new markets.
Strengths of Topre Kyushu
Topre’s core competencies lie in press work technologies for high-tensile steel plates.
The company has been a global leader in the high-tensile press work since its foundation.
In the automotive industry, having experienced the advancement of collision safety and fuel efficiency, etc. in recent years, the company’s expertise in handling light and high-tensile steel is highly sought after now more than ever.
Besides the excellent expertise in high-tensile steel processing, low-cost production lines are another strength of Topre Kyushu.
Since its foundation, the company has exerted its world-leading efficiency in high-tensile steel processing at Kurume Factory with its excellent engineering competencies and accumulated know-how in press working.
Mr. Fujiwara, Representative Director & President
Inauguration of the new Karida Factory
The first mission was to introduce Topre’s first large-scale facilities for hot press work based on the increasing demand for greater tensile properties in high-tensile steel members.
The second mission was to shorten takt time in all respects to achieve excellent productivity beyond the level of the Kurume Factory.
Given those missions, the introduction of AGV system was already considered at the initial phase of planning to minimize lifting operations and increase overall competitiveness.
However, AGV requirements among parts processing and manufacturing companies were so high that existing AGVs did not meet the required specifications.
In response, HEADS developed custom AGVs that meet the quality requirements of the Topre Kyushu project.
For operations, superior system efficiency was achieved by flexibly allocating AGVs in pairs to all lines.
Overall, factory productivity was 30-40% superior to that of Kurume Factory with a shorter takt time.
Toward the future
For the future, our vision is for AGVs to be used to carry press components into an automated warehouse and to pick only the necessary components. Currently, 70-80% of lift operations have been automated, and actions will be taken to automate the remaining 20-30%.
