• Design & Manufacturing
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.21-27
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• 2023

The mold industry in Japan, an advanced country in the mold industry, is also at a point of great change. The main causes are the Ukraine crisis and the collapse of the global supply chain (parts supply chain) caused by COVID-19. In addition, the prices of overseas products are rising sharply due to rapid exchange rate fluctuations (decrease in the value of the yen). Until now, Japan's monotsukuri industry has been actively pursuing overseas expansion, riding the trend of globalization. However, the trend began to rapidly reverse, and now the monotsukuri industry that had expanded overseas is showing a tendency to return to Japan. Another factor of change is the change in the automobile industry, which is the most demanded product in the mold industry. As the automobile industry evolves from gasoline cars to electric cars, the number of parts that make up a car will drastically decrease. This trend is expected to increase the demand for small-scale production of a variety of products in the mold industry, and furthermore, it is expected that short delivery times will be required in parts development. As in Korea, the production population working in the mold industry is rapidly decreasing in Japan as well. Even if you add up the total population working in manufacturing in Japan, it only accounts for about 15%. Even in Japan, it is judged that it will be difficult to sustain the monotsukuri industry with this small production population. Therefore, since improvement in production efficiency cannot be expected with the same manual dexterity as before, the mold industry is also demanding the development of mold technology at a different level than before to increase productivity. In this paper, I would like to introduce new Japanese mold technology collected through attending the Intermold exhibition. This is an example of applying a dedicated pin (Gastos) to a mold to prevent an increase in internal pressure during plastic injection molding, and a deep drawing press molding technology with an inherent hydraulic function.

• Design & Manufacturing
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.23-28
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• 2024

The automobile industry is a wide range of related industries, including parts manufacturing and vehicle assembly, press processing is an essential element in making automobiles. Press processing is a processing method for metal sheets that has relatively high dimensional and shape precision and is suitable for mass production. It refers to processing by attaching a special tool, a mold, to a press machine. Recently, the automobile industry is attempting to reduce the weight of automobiles in order to reduce carbon emissions due to global warming, and the use of high-strength steel sheets, which are lighter than general structural steel sheets, is a natural trend. Shear processing is required to use high-strength steel, and the shape of the shear surface created by shear processing has a significant impact on the quality of the automobile. Therefore, various methods are being attempted to improve the share surface during shear processing. Among them, shaving processing is a method of shearing the primary shearing area again, and it is difficult to obtain an accurate answer because complex deformation occurs in the microscopic shear area. Therefore, in this study, the effect of machining allowance on shaving processing was analyzed using the finite element method using high-strength steel plate (SPFH590), and the differences were compared and examined through actual experiments under the same conditions.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.191-198
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• 2016

Traceability is essential in modern automotive manufacturing. Among existing technologies, RFID is the most promising choice for this purpose. However, due to the harsh conditions of production lines, especially in the paint shop, automobile OEMs would require expensive dedicated RFID tags and readers, which are incompatible with standard RFID technologies. Unlike the manufacturing industry, the logistics industry uses UHF label tags for track and trace, which provides high performance and a low price. Recently, this technology has improved to the extent that it can be used in harsh conditions such as on metal parts or in liquid. Herein, we assess the technical, operational, and economic feasibility of UHF label-tag technology for seamless end-toend traceability. Based on prototyping, lab/field tests, and cost-benefit analysis, we have proven that the single disposable UHF tags can successfully replace the problematic and expensive tags used in most domestic automobile OEMs today.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.123-136
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• 2012

The validity of the results from observational methods such as RULA, REBA, OWAS has been one of major concerns due to their subjective characteristics in determining the posture of interests. There have been many studies regarding validity of the results from each checklist. However, most studies provided only fragmentary rather than comprehensive results in nature. This study specifically tried to analyze consistency of novice user based on intra-observer consistency and sensitivity of industrial types during MSDs(Musculoskekltal Disorders) evaluation with major checklists. In this study, twenty two novice subjects were participated to conduct MSDs evaluation for the forty five jobs from three types of industries(automobile, electronics, hospital). The main results for this study were summarized as follows; 1) The action level based on RULA was always higher than that from REBA and OWAS for all three types of industries., 2) The order of consistency from novice users was OWAS(72.7%(kappa=0.57)) RULA(54.3%(kappa=0.41)), REBA(41.0%(kappa=0.34))., 3) The percentage of agreement between 2nd and 3rd trials was higher than those between 1st and 2nd trials and between 1st and 3rd trials irrespective of industrial types during using RULA and REBA., 4) The average score of automobile industry was higher than those of hospital and electronics industries., 5) The types of jobs associated with five body parts(A1(Front), A2(Interior), A3(Rear), A4(Lower), A5(Door)) in automobile industry showed statistically significant differences in terms of MSDs scores for the body parts considered in each checklists.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2013.05a
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• pp.471-473
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• 2013

This paper is analyzing the situation of the electric vehicle Industry and draw the policy implications to promote electric vehicle industry. Major automobile makers as GM, BMW, Nissan, Audi produce various electric vehicles. But in recent times, only few electric vehicle sold in the world. So, many automobile makers gave up the production of electric vehicles. and the fuel-cell vehicle will replace the electric vehicle as a environment car in the future. We should take the build up of eco system between vehicle makers and the small parts companies, construction of battery charging infrastructure, promotion of standardization activities, and the government's support to revive the electric vehicle industry.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.20 no.8
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• pp.657-661
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• 2019

The automobile industry is representative industry of complex characteristics, which employing 10 million people, the largest manufacturing industry over $1 trillion in sales and assembling with 20,000 parts to make complete automobile and automobile assembly processes have a lower automation rate than other processes, which is labor intensive processes of assembling to painted body with 3,000 components such as seats, built-in, instrument panel, glass, engine, transmission units. However, the current assembly process does not have real-time monitoring. If a tool position tracking system is adapted to assembly process for directing consistent work order and checking for missing work, the productivity and quality improvement of the assembly process can be achieved by preemptively preventing possible defects in the assembly process. So, this paper aims to develop a Tool Position tracking system using UWB(Ultra Wide Band) with trilateration and proves their effectiveness for real-time monitoring of automotive assembly process.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapy
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.9-20
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• 2013

Background: This study was conducted to provide preventive measure for the musculoskeletal disorders in automobile parts manufacturing workers. Method: The author surveyed to the musculoskeletal symptoms prevalence and its related factors from 10th to 17th April 2011 with structured self administered questionnaires. 223 out of 225 collected questionnaires were used for final analysis, excluding 2 questionnaires with no valid response. Based on the diagnostic criteria of NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational and Health), an investigation was made into the prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms as well as into the factors related to individual items. Results: The prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms according to the criteria of NIOSH was the highest in the shoulder (52.9%), followed by the neck (39.%), the hand/wrist (35%), the waist (29.6%), the arm/elbow (24.7%), and the leg/food (23.8%). One-way analysis showed that among general characteristics, age was the musculoskeletal risk factor with the greatest effect. Whereas among work-related characteristics, significant risk factor didn't find. Yet it was shown that among ergonomic work postures, high degree of musculoskeletal risk was shown by the posture involving frequent and repetitive movement of the arm and the hand/wrist and also by the posture involving standing for a long time. Multiple regression analysis showed that musculoskeletal risk was 1.795 times higher in those age 50 and over than in those under age 50; 1.67 times higher in the high risk stress group than in the low risk stress group; and 1.131 higher in the group involving the repetitive use of the hand/arm than in the other groups (p<.05). Conclusion: The prevalence and stress score of automobile parts manufacturing workers were higher than other occupation workers. Among general characteristics, drinking and smoking were shown to be related to stress score; while age was shown to have significant effect on musculoskeletal risk.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Industry Convergence
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.105-110
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• 2006

Valve-housing parts in car steering system is a part of steering system and then take charge of the main functions for car steering system to reduce driver's handling-force. Recently it is still not developed reliable casting for many cars, so it produce as a Gravity casting which is more than triple for producing cost in Korea. In this research, we had conducted that 350t aluminum die casting is superior to mechanical property from established over 500t or not for Valve-housing, a parts of steering system which were produced as a cast-iron product and the most suitable conditions to extruding as die casting.

• Asian Journal of Innovation and Policy
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.207-234
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• 2018

A manufacturer of a durable good typically purchases supplies, including parts for assembly - that are also useful for repairs - from independent "original equipment suppliers" with which it contracts. The manufacturer is a branded monopolist of its final assembled product. To put into effect also a monopoly of the replacement parts, it must stipulate in its arrangements with independent suppliers of the parts that they not supply such patented parts to any other buyer. Durable good owners would then only be able to obtain their requirements of replacement parts from the same company that supplied the durable. This would amount to a tie-in of replacement parts to the direct purchase of new durables. And that describes the apparently widespread practice of automobile manufacturers in India, as exposed in a recent case before the Competition Commission of India (Samsher Kataria v Honda Siel Cars India Limited and others). Here, I will argue that such tie-in enabled automotive manufacturers to more fully appropriate consumer surplus, which induced them to lower the price of new cars, sell more cars and also sell more repair parts. The tie-in expanded the auto parts industry and promoted new entry. The main restraint on expansion of India's automotive manufacturing is not monopoly. It is government protection in the form of tariffs on automobiles and auto parts.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.700-707
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• 2013

Owing to high oil prices and environmental issues, the automobile industry has conducted considerable research and made large investments to manufacture a high-efficiency automobiles. In the case of automobile wheels in which a lightweight material is used to increase the fuel efficiency a mold is used to increase the production efficiency; however, the use of the molding method for this purpose is very expensive. Therefore an automobile wheel consists of two parts. In this study a two-piece automobile wheel is manufactured by the friction stir welding(FSW) of Al6061-T6 to reduce the manufacturing cost and process complexity. The FSW welding tool geometry and rotational speed, and the feed rate are key factors that significantly affect the weld strength. Therefore tensile tests were conducted on specimens produced using various welding conditions, and the optimal FSW welding conditions were applied to manufacture aluminum wheels. To ensure reliability, prototype aluminum wheels were manufactured and their mechanical reliability and safety were evaluated using a durability test, fatigue durability test, and impact test. Through this study, aluminum wheel production was made possible using the FSW method.