Daikin established the Kashima Integrated Production Center

The completion ceremony was conducted, but it was limited to a Shinto Ritual by Kashima Shrine and a sneak preview, minimizing the number of participants as a measure against COVID-19.

Left image: Shinto Ritual by Kashima Shrine (at the cafeteria in Kashima Plant)

Right image: Commemorative photo at the IPC (front: our construction partners, back: Daikin management and participants)

*They removed their surgical masks temporarily only when shooting.

We start by learning from a chemical company, Daicel Corporation, about production innovation, and work on three stages: stabilization, standardization, and integration, with the aim of achieving both a safe and stable supply and improving productivity of fluorochemical products. As the applications of fluorochemical products diversify and the market expands, it is essential to supply products that desired by customers in a timely manner in order to achieve business growth globally. The establishment of the IPC will promote the "integration" that incorporates our cooperate culture, thereby realizing the improvement of quality and productivity.

Integrating People and Organization:

Previously, we divided the processes from raw materials to the completion of the product into four production forms. Now we have reorganized the plant's operating system, each of which had been managed, to integrate the operations into two product lines, fluoropolymers and specialty products. The reorganization has enabled us to consistently grasp information from upstream to downstream of the production process of our products, and to monitor, operate and judge quickly in response to variations in production loads and warning signs. In addition, the operational control, facility control, and production control units that had been dispersed in seven workplaces are centralized in one large room office in the IPC. This enables them to accelerate the improvements with wisdom by face to face meeting.

Integration of information :

A newly installed system will collect, accumulate, extract, and process information related to operations, thereby accelerating improvements and optimizing production planning. Furthermore, we will share and collaborate with other sites to build a system on a global basis that enables flexible production with market needs.

Through these initiatives, we aim to increase the production volume per employee involved in the manufacturing of the Kashima Plant by 50% by FY2025 compared to FY2018, when we began integrating efforts before the spread of COVID-19.

The IPC aims to make an environment in which employees create knowledge and cooperate across divisions to achieve improving the quality of work and productivity.In Assessment Certification in “CASBEE (Comprehensive Assessment System for Built Environment Efficiency) for Wellness Office”, which evaluates the specifications, performances, and efforts of buildings that support the maintenance and enhancement of user health and comfort, we obtained the highest S-ranking in Japan which is the first time to be rated as an in-plant office. Our manufacturing aims to create new values while realizing the "health and comfort" of our employees.

Left image: Control room 

Right image: Office room