"DM Driving" high-performance electric screwdrivers support people-centric workplace

Tohoku Plant of Ricoh Industry is a manufacturing base for production printers – large printers that produce printed materials for companies and commercial use. The production of these products, which are capable of high-speed, high-precision printing and handling special types of paper that cannot be used by ordinary printers, involves many complicated and delicate processes, making it difficult to automate and requiring manual labor for most of the assembly work.
This work also involves workers other than full-time employees, such as temporary workers and subcontractors. Unlike full-time employees trained by the company, who understand and implement Ricoh's unique manufacturing practices, it is extremely difficult to get all the workers with various backgrounds and values to perform the high-quality work Ricoh demands.
Daiki Saito, Director of the Printer Production Division, and other members of the Technical Innovation Office of the Production Technology Center solved this problem with digital power. Mr. Saito, who played a leading role in implementing DM to the Tohoku Plant, digitally visualized the optimal processes for production and created operation manuals, to assure stable quality regardless of the skill levels of workers.
“To deliver high-quality products, it is essential to stabilize assembly quality at the production site. To achieve this, we first had to visualize the processes digitally. In particular, it was urgent to digitize screw fastening, which would require a lot of labor in the assembly process and be prone to defects in the number of screws to be fastened and torque control.”
So, HIOS's new brushless electric screwdriver “JUKUREN” series was chosen. With its built-in pulse system, the screwdriver counts the number of motor rotational pulses and torque from start to completion of the screw fastening. This makes it possible to detect screw fastening problems in real-time, such as “screws not fastened properly” or “screw size is wrong”.
Mr. Saito says, "At that time, although there were a variety of electric screwdrivers available, it was difficult to find the right one with the performance and specifications required for digital manufacturing that the company was seeking. Then we found JUKUREN of HIOS ".
The catch line adopted by HIOS upon the launch of JUKUREN was "Anyone can be a skilled worker." This perfectly aligned with the vision of the Tohoku Plant of Ricoh Industry to “leveling work by diverse talents”. JUKUREN helped the production technology members of Ricoh Industry to further “sophisticate and digitalize the screw fastening process.”

First, based on Ricoh's unique concept (Ricoh Way Production), Mr. Saito aimed to introduce digital tools to support work and shorten the learning period. Then, he developed "Work Support Navigation System" and "Work Process Assurance System."
The main purposes of the Work Support Navigation System are to shorten the learning period and reduce the workers’ workload. It is used for processes that require a large number of assigned man-hours and are difficult.
Tools such as JUKUREN are connected to a PC. Based on the work steps registered in a database, instructions are given to every worker via text, illustrations, and audio so that he/she can understand the contents of work, cautions, and inspection items by looking at the screen. In addition, the work results of the workers are collected as logs and uploaded to the cloud in real-time. This clarifies the potential for work improvement and optimizes the production with a shorter lead time.
The work process assurance system is used for processes with large production volumes that do not take much time to master. The tools are connected to the control unit based on an inexpensive and highly extensive single-board computer to be used standalone.
This system uses text and audio to communicate the work steps registered in the setting file to the worker when there is a possibility of an outflow of a defective product. In this case, the instructions are minimal, and only the keywords of the work are concisely conveyed. Work results are also uploaded to the cloud.
Mr. Saito says, “Both systems use sensor detection and signal reception from the tools to determine whether the work has been successfully completed. If there is an abnormality, such as skipping any step, an alert is sent immediately and the work cannot proceed to the next step. Detailed screw fastening data provided by JUKUREN is very useful. ”
At the production sites, each worker works accurately and smoothly using monitors. In the screw fastening operation, multiple JUKURENs, color-coded according to screw type and fastening torque, are used to quickly assembling parts.
When we hear from a female worker who is engaged in the assembly work, she says with a smile, "This screwdriver (JUKUREN) is easy to grip and doesn't require a strong grip force, so it's very easy to use. The work support navigation system is easy to understand, too, so mental and physical fatigue are lighter than when I previously used an electric screwdriver at another site. "
Tohoku Plant also serves as the mother plant of the Ricoh Group. The plant's initiatives are fed back to Ricoh Group sites around the world. Following the adoption of more than 200 units at Tohoku Plant, more than 2,600 units of HIOS “JUKUREN Series” have been adopted at Ricoh Group sites in Japan and overseas, contributing to improving productivity at “manufacturing sites where people work.”

The company's production printers use hundreds of screws. In recent years, mechanical joining methods such as caulking and welding have often led to automation and cost reduction in some production processes. However, Ricoh sticks to products with screws. Yasuyoshi Yamaguchi, Group Leader of Production Group 4,　First Production Office, First Manufacturing Center, Printer Production Division, says, “For us, maintenance is as important as manufacturing and selling products. For our printers to function for a longer period of time at customers’ sites, maintenance and service are necessary. Using screws makes it easier to disassemble and replace parts. As a responsible manufacturer, we assume recycle and reuse of machines at the end of their service life. We believe that screws, which are sustainable materials, have been and will continue to be an essential part of our manufacturing processes”.
Ricoh Group is highly environmentally conscious, being the first Japanese company to participate in RE100 (an international initiative to declare that companies will replace the energy they consume in their business activities with 100% renewable energy). Since its foundation, HIOS has emphasized manufacturing that is friendly to people and the environment. HIOS continues developing future-oriented products, and in 2023, received the Encouragement Award at the Eco Pro Award for "contributing to the reduction of environmental impact throughout the product life cycle".
In the universe of Japanese manufacturing, screws have long been referred to as “rice in industry”. Their role has changed from “consumable parts” to key parts that can contribute to the perpetual use of products.