Komatsu Limited (hereinafter referred to as Komatsu) is a major construction equipment manufacturer founded in 1921. It manufactures mining machinery for its parent company, Takeuchi Mining Industry, engaged in coal mining and mining.
Demand for construction equipment declined sharply in Japan since the mid-1990s due to reduced government spending. At that time, it was said that the construction equipment business was a declining industry.
What actions did the companies take to remedy it? The strength of Komatsu comes from several aspects: intensive cost reduction; Expansion of its participation in emerging markets; "Manufacturing", which emphasizes the relationship with its suppliers; And after-sales services that use the new technologies. …show more content…
The product life cycle of construction equipment varies from small to medium equipment, such as bulldozers and hydraulic excavators, to larger equipment such as bulk dump trucks used in mines. Newly sold equipment requires review after three to five years. Revision means disassembling parts, washing them, and reassembling them. In doing so, the computer recovers the performance level as a new machine. Large computers are discarded after this review process is repeated twice. By contrast, small to medium teams are often replaced by new ones when the first review is required. As users of rental equipment tend to prefer new machines, leasing companies are encouraged to own new ones. Machines that are no longer used are marketed and then sold to emerging …show more content…
A construction machine can be built by combining all these parts. It usually consists of 30,000 parts of 5,000 different types. If the original price of a complete machine is 1, the total price of those parts would be 3 to 4. In other words, the total price of the pieces would be three to four times more than that of the whole machine. This can be interpreted in two ways. The simple way to see it is that selling parts is more cost effective. However, it may also be interpreted that having a parts supply system is
Demand for construction equipment declined sharply in Japan since the mid-1990s due to reduced government spending. At that time, it was said that the construction equipment business was a declining industry.
What actions did the companies take to remedy it? The strength of Komatsu comes from several aspects: intensive cost reduction; Expansion of its participation in emerging markets; "Manufacturing", which emphasizes the relationship with its suppliers; And after-sales services that use the new technologies. …show more content…
The product life cycle of construction equipment varies from small to medium equipment, such as bulldozers and hydraulic excavators, to larger equipment such as bulk dump trucks used in mines. Newly sold equipment requires review after three to five years. Revision means disassembling parts, washing them, and reassembling them. In doing so, the computer recovers the performance level as a new machine. Large computers are discarded after this review process is repeated twice. By contrast, small to medium teams are often replaced by new ones when the first review is required. As users of rental equipment tend to prefer new machines, leasing companies are encouraged to own new ones. Machines that are no longer used are marketed and then sold to emerging …show more content…
A construction machine can be built by combining all these parts. It usually consists of 30,000 parts of 5,000 different types. If the original price of a complete machine is 1, the total price of those parts would be 3 to 4. In other words, the total price of the pieces would be three to four times more than that of the whole machine. This can be interpreted in two ways. The simple way to see it is that selling parts is more cost effective. However, it may also be interpreted that having a parts supply system is