Ricoh 2012 Annual Report Download - page 67

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Ricoh Group Sustainability Report 2012 66
Top Message About us Our Activities
Sustainable Environmental Management
Data
● Cart production line
An eco-friendly production system that can respond flexibly to
production volume and equipment model changes
In this system, multiple carts are lined up in a row and powered by air cylinders. The carts move
along the production line carrying products. Because huge, high-energy consuming conveyors
are not required, this system has brought large reductions in environmental impact and energy
costs;* moreover, because the layout can be freely changed, the formation can be rearranged on
a case-by-case basis to suit equipment models and production volumes. In-process inventory,
lead time, space, and maintenance are all reduced by 70–80%. In addition, because of the
reduction in space, reductions in air-conditioning and lighting costs are also achieved.
* Air cylinders are used to move the carts, enabling a reduction in electricity consumption of 99% compared with conventional
conveyor line motors.
● On-Demand Toner Filling Machine
Small and portable toner-filling machine
To cope with limited production of a wide range of toner products, Ricoh has developed an
“On-Demand Toner Filling Machine” based on conventional machines that is designed to fill a
large amount of toner at high speed. Compared with the conventional toner filler systems, the
new machine takes only 1/40 of the time to switch between product types, requires 1/40 of the
installation space, and uses 1/4 of the electricity. Introducing this toner filling machine into toner
production bases and also into logistics bases and sales companies allows toner cartridges to
be manufactured at and shipped from sites closer to customers in the same manner as at plants.
This has resulted in a reduction in environmental impact from the transportation of cartridges
collected from the market for reuse and a shorter lead time.
● Downsized production lines for a photoconductor
Substantial reduction in air-conditioned clean room space
Production of photoconductors, a component of MFPs and printers, must be conducted in a
clean space containing no dust. Traditional large production lines required large air purifying
and conditioning systems, which inevitably entailed big financial and environmental impacts.
To address this issue, we have developed a new production line system where one or two units
are manufactured at a time and air purifying and conditioning systems are used in that small
area, instead of putting several dozen units on a pallet. The new system requires only about
1/6 of the production line length, 1/16 of the equipment installation space*, 1/92 of the clean,
air-conditioned area, and 1/3 of the capital investment of the conventional lines.
* Ratio of facility area to per-unit production capacity
Small-lot production lines able to meet market demand for multipurpose,
high-quality products
Innovations in manufacturing processes
Conventional toner filling
machine
Newly developed “On-Demand Toner
Filling Machine”