YANMAR Technical Review

Abstract

Yanmar Holdings held its 3rd Yanmar Technical Symposium 2016 (Ytec 2016) to recognize the achievements of its excellent engineers during 2015, to share R&D strategy, to facilitate networking, and to expose participants to new ways of thinking.

1.Technical Symposium for Yanmar Engineers

The Yanmar Technical Symposium 2016 (Ytec 2016) was held in Fukuoka City over two days on October 20 and 21.

This symposium has started in 2014 and is now in its third year. The objective of holding it is to organize "gathering of knowledge" in which engineers from throughout the Yanmar Group are able to share their know-how and views in ways that transcend boundaries within the group.

The 2016 symposium brought together 101 people in total, including eight engineers from seven overseas research and development divisions at YRE, YKRC, YNC, YSP, YAMINDO, YA, and YCEE, and 58 engineers chosen from operational divisions and subsidiaries in Japan. Activities included presentations on A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE and future directions for technology strategy, notable inventions , technical papers, internal industrial standards in FY2015, and a lecture on business models. There was also a workshop on new business incubation that looked ahead to 2020.

2.Presentation on New Brand Statement: A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

Opening remarks from Hiroshi Kanda, a Representative Director of Yanmar Holdings Co., Ltd. (YHD), were followed by presentations on the new Ytec logo created this year, on the new “A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE” brand statement, and on each division's vision for how to implement it by the Technology Strategy Division of YHD.

3.Lecture and Workshop on Business Model Innovation

On the opening day, Sadao Hirose, a Director of Yanmar Holdings, gave a lecture entitled, "Business Model Innovation – Creating Value: Challenges and Formulation of Business Model Innovation" that explained the importance of innovating practices throughout the business by combining elements such as superior technologies and superior business models. The lecture was followed by a "Business Model Innovation" workshop, to which Ryusuke Koyama of Bloom Concept, Inc. was invited to act as facilitator.

The participants first divided into 16 four-person teams. After taking a lecture on ways of generating ideas, they undertook activities relating to Yanmar's future business that extended to generating ideas, business concept formulation, and business model construction from picture of the future. Business presentations were then given for five themes chosen from the business ideas that each team had devised through the assessment of documentation by managers and executives attending the symposium. Following the enthusiastic presentations and lively questions and answers sessions, the managers and executives invested virtual currency to determine the winning team. While the short intensive workshop resulted in some participants being bewildered by methods that differed from conventional way of thinking, it was conducted with vigor.

4.Presentation on Yanmar Holdings Technology Management

On the second day, three engineering divisions, the YHD Technology Strategy Division, Open Innovation Center, and Market Driven Business Development Center, gave presentations about themselves and what they are doing about technology strategy. This provided a forum for a vibrant exchange of views, with questions and comments from the attendants regarding the future directions for technology strategy.

5.Presentations on "Good Technology"

The symposium included presentations on 25 notable instances of "Good Technology" in FY2015 chosen from five categories, namely inventions, technical papers, standards (YIS-YGL), posters, and technical reviews. All of the winners were presented with mementos in recognition of their selection as "Good Technology" in their respective categories and asked to comment on their work.

Moreover, for the poster category, break times were used to hold free discussions alongside the posters which were displayed at the back of the venue, prompting a vibrant exchange of views that exceeded beyond the bounds of divisions.

6. Presentation of Technical Papers by Winners of Technical Creativity Award

Presentations were given by the three winners of the Technical Creativity Award chosen by the Research & Development Center from among technical papers presented outside the company during the previous fiscal year.

Transfer Path Analysis and Construction of Sound Source Model Using Inverse-Numerical Acoustic Analysis

Masahiro Akei, Industrial Power Products Management Division, Engine Development Division (submitted to The Japanese Society of Agricultural Machinery and Food Engineers)
Synopsis: Describes a transfer path analysis technique that uses a sound source model developed using inverse-numerical acoustic analysis, and the effectiveness that the technique provides.

Development of Low Fuel Consumption Technology for Medium Speed Diesel Engines

Yoshinori Fukui, Large Power Products Management Division, Development Division (submitted to the International Council on Combustion Engines (CIMAC))
Synopsis: Low-fuel-consumption technologies that take maximum advantage of techniques for complying with environmental regulations, including two-stage supercharging systems and electronically controlled FIE etc.

Elastoplastic Analysis by Complete Implicit Stress-Update Algorithm Based on the Extended Subloading Surface Model

Takuya Anjiki, Research & Development Center, Fundamental Technology Research Division (submitted to The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers)
Synopsis: Structural analysis by proposing and introducing a customization method for large, high-speed FEM software that can reproduce metal deformation behavior with high accuracy.

7.Presentation of "Project X" Training Program for New Engineering Employees

The "Project X" program that forms part of the training for this year's new engineering employees was introduced. "Project X" focuses on successful in-house technologies chosen by the development divisions and involves activities such as searching for and studying patents or interviewing the inventors. Reproducing successful processes by those activities will be of benefit in future work. This year, five employees from Yanmar Agricultural Machinery Mfg Co., Ltd. were chosen for the top awards and invited to attend Ytec 2016.

8.Conclusions

YHD Technology Strategy Division intends to continue providing opportunities for company-wide technical and personnel exchange through Ytec events by presenting information required by engineering staff and new ways of generating ideas, and explaining group-wide technology strategy and discussion between engineers.

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The original technical report is written in Japanese.

This document was translated by Research & Development Management Division.