Toshiba 1998 Annual Report Download - page 19

Toshiba Corporation Annual Report 1998 17.
rein forcin g ties with General Electric, the world leader
in this area, to develop new tech n ologies for Tosh iba.
Orders for coal-fired plan ts are being aggressively pursued.
Toshiba captured new busin ess durin g fiscal 1997 in
Thailand, Taiwan and other coun tries. In Japan, con-
struction is un der way at Unit No. 2 of th e Nanao-Ota
Therm al Power Station of Hokuriku Electric Power.
Toshiba received several n otable orders for h ydro-
electric power facilities in fiscal 1997. Among th em were
equipm en t for power stations in Pakistan, Vietn am,
Nepal an d In don esia.
INDUSTRIAL ELECTRICAL APPARATUS AND MACHINERY
Sales of products in this sector were gen erally weak as
com petition forced prices down wh ile th e Asian curren cy
crisis held down exports of Japan ese m ach inery suppliers.
Toshiba concen trated on power electron ics devices such
as inverters and UPS, all products where dem and is grow-
ing. Sales of the VF-S7/S7e series of com pact gen eral-use
inverters posted particularly strong growth . Th e in verter
lin eup was enhanced with a h igh -performan ce 400V
series featurin g internal filters to reduce n oise.
In th e control system s sector, users prefer cost-efficient
open system s built aroun d such standardized platform s
as PCs an d workstation s. For large-scale plants, Tosh iba
offers th e CIEMAC-DS in tegrated control system with a
100Mbps Ethern et con trol LAN, an industry first.
Factory autom ation equipm ent is relying in creasingly
on PCs, while m ach ine tools in corporate panel com -
puters. Tosh iba has respon ded to th ese tren ds with th e
FA3100MX series of in dustrial-use PCs, wh ich boast th e
high est speeds in their class, togeth er with the FP3100
series pan el com puters.
TRANSPORTATION EQUIPMENT, ELEVATORS AND
ESCALATORS
A stagnan t econom y m eant fewer passengers for Japan ’s
railway com panies. Con sequen tly, capital spendin g
decreased. In th is difficult en vironm en t, Tosh iba aggres-
sively pursued orders for electrical equipm ent for rolling
stock used in the Shin kansen (bullet train) and by private
railways, an d public and m un icipal transportation system s.
There were several major orders for this equipm en t for
Series 300 Shin kansen trains of Central Japan Railway
Com pany, Series 500 Shin kan sen trains of West Japan
Railway Com pany, and No. 12 subway lin e in Tokyo.
Outside Japan, similar orders were received from the state
railways of Egypt and Ven ezuela.
In th e elevator and escalator field, sm all-scale projects
are accoun tin g for a risin g share of sales in Japan. Overall,
dem and was strong. The upgradin g and expansion of
station buildings and sh opping centers, alon g with con -
struction of public welfare facilities, gen erated m any
orders. Tosh iba captured orders from large redevelopm en t
projects at railway station s in the cities of Sakai and
Kitakyushu. Work continues on en han cin g performan ce.
Toshiba built a 150-m eter-tall elevator research tower at
its Fuchu plan t. Th is n ew facility will accelerate th e devel-
opm ent of ultra-high speed and double-deck elevators.
Power & Industrial Systems
Having earned the trust
of customers world-
wide, small, general-use
VF-S7/S7e inverters are
in increasing demand.
Towering over suburban Tokyo,
Toshiba’s new 150-meter-tall,
ultra-high-speed elevator
tower covers research themes
as diverse as technology for
deep underground structures
and models designed for the
needs of Asian customers.
Toshiba’s work on
linear-motor trains
spans more than three
decades. Achievements
include the develop-
ment of superconduct-
ing magnets, roadbed
coils, power switching
equipment and train
drive control systems.
Anoth er objective is th e
design an d testing of
m odels created specifically
for fast-growing m arkets,
such as those in Ch ina
an d South east Asia.