At the beginning of 2nd quarter 2010, Murata Machinery USA, Inc. announced a few changes to the MW120 machine line. The primary objective of these changes is Murata's response to ever increasing customer requirements for tighter dimensional and geometric tolerances on turned production parts.
 
Changes have been made on the MW120 to improve the dissipation of heat generated by the machine and inclusion of thermal couples to monitor the change in temperature at critical locations of the machine.  With information from the thermal couples, Murata engineering has developed advanced algorithms for automatic thermal compensation in a real time mode.
 
With these improvements, Murata Machinery can offer customers optimum results on initial machine qualification and long-term production on tolerances rarely considered in the past.
 
One other, less technical change to the machine, is paint color. Murata Machinery has  adopted a new color scheme of gray blue and light gray. This bold but aesthetic new color will be the standard color scheme for all future Murata Machinery turning machines.

Oftentimes the simplest improvement initiatives have the most positive and lasting impact on the workplace environment.  At Muratec, we recognize that our employees are our greatest resource, and so naturally, a fundamental concern is providing our associates with a safe, clean, organized and efficient workplace.  After implementing and embracing our 5S Philosophy Program, our heightened workplace organization efforts are paying off in ways that we believe benefit our customers as well.

Essentially, 5S Philosophy programs are geared towards improving and maintaining effective workplace organization and are based on five Japanese words:

1. Seir                 Sort
2. Seiton             Set in Order   
   
3. Seiso              Shine
4. Seiketsu         Standardize    
   
5. Shitsuke         Sustain            
   

By evaluating the effectiveness of our workplace environment on an ongoing basis, not only are we able to improve working conditions, but all of our associates are better prepared and equipped to perform daily job functions efficiently and safely. We are finding that the merits of maintaining our 5S Philosophy Program are inherently creeping into everything we do. In the end, efficiency improves across the board, factory throughput is optimized and on-time customer commitments are realized.
Muratec's 5S Philosophy Program is a very basic, no frills and fundamentally-sound workplace improvement initiative as is evidenced by the simple nature of the five words from which it takes its name, but the impact this simple outlook has on employee, as well as customer satisfaction, is simply dazzling. 

 

 

 

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