Innovations in manufacturing processes to achieve the goal of CO2 reduction  (Ricoh Group/Global)
To achieve the goal of reducing CO2 emissions in Japan by 12% of the fiscal 1990 level by fiscal 2010, the Ricoh Group's energy-saving production process committee, which is made up of people in charge of the Group's major production sites in Japan, checks the manufacturing processes of those production sites, identifies energy losses, and assigns a quota to each on reducing CO2 emissions.
Focusing on innovations in manufacturing processes may save energy at downsized production lines and also have a spillover effect on associated equipment, such as air conditioners and air compressors, at production lines.
To date, downsized production lines for organic photoconductors have been put in operation, while the size of toner filling devices has been dramatically reduced. In addition, innovative processes have been realized, including changes in the toner crush lines and thermal sheet painting methods.
These technologies are being successively introduced into production lines outside Japan, aiming to achieve the ambitious goal of reducing total CO2 emissions by 10% (compared to the fiscal 1998 level) at manufacturing subsidiaries outside of Japan.
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Energy-saving manufacturing process and spillover effects
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Horizontal expansion of organic photoconductor compact lines
(Ricoh RS (Reprographic Supply) Products Division/Global)
When organic photoconductors used for copiers and printers are manufactured, they have to be handled in clean circumstances with little dust. Traditional large lines required large energy for clean air conditioning, which required significant investment and caused much environmental impact.
So the idea of a traditional production line where several organic photoconductors were put on a pallet was thoroughly reviewed, and a new production line was developed.
This line adopts a method that sees the flow of one to two organic photoconductors at a time so that only part of the line requires clean air conditioning. In addition, the hot blast drying process, which required vast amounts of energy,
was abandoned and new drying technology adopting an IH heating method was developed. This has led to far shorter start-up times and has significantly reduced energy consumption in the drying process.
As a result of these efforts, a microminiature organic photoconductor production line was developed: the line length was shortened to one sixth of the previous model, while the installation space was reduced to one sixteenth and the area needing clean air conditioning to only one ninety-second.
Not only were the space and energy required reduced but facility costs and line start-up times have dropped significantly, while production efficiency improved by about 100%. By the end of March 2009, organic photoconductor compact lines had been installed at seven bases in Japan, China, the United Kingdom and Thailand.
This has led to annual reductions in CO2 emissions of about 1,100 tons, electricity consumption of about 3,000 MWh, and costs of about ¥500 million. As this is a successful example of innovative manufacturing process improvement which led to significant reductions in environmental and cost burdens,
it was awarded the grand prize in the 2008 Ricoh Group Sustainable Development Award (Process Technology Innovation Segment).
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Achievement of compact line development
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Improvement of clean air conditioning of semiconductor production line  (Ricoh Yashiro Plant, Ricoh Electronic Devices Company/Japan)
Clean circumstances strictly controlled by air conditioning are necessary for the production of semiconductors. With clean air conditioning, fresh air from outside is let into the air-conditioning system, which is mixed with air inside the system,
so that air of a certain temperature, humidity, and purity can be introduced into the clean room. The energy necessary for this clean air conditioning accounts for half of the energy required for semiconductor production. At Ricoh Yashiro Plant,
improvement efforts have been promoted, including the introduction of local clean air conditioning. Moreover in fiscal 2008, the air-conditioning system was optimized after being fully reviewed and checked.
As a result of careful use in consideration of seasonal changes in temperature and reuse of heat from the production site, CO2 emissions were reduced by about 410 tons a year.
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