The Shanghai Factory Switched Its Printing Equipment to Laser Markers (Employee Interview)
In this interview, we heard from the Shanghai Factory. They have switched all their printing equipment to laser markers!
We will introduce this initiative through an interview with the people in charge🎤
Interviewee
FUJITSU GENERAL (SHANGHAI) CO., LTD.
Xi Xiaohong: Belongs to the Assembly and Manufacturing Division and is in charge of printing operations and inspection processes. She enjoys reading and painting and often paints portraits♪
Zheng Yang: Belongs to the Manufacturing and Technology Division and is in charge of new equipment installation. He loves hiking and trips into nature. His recommended mountains are Mount Huangshan and Mount Song.
Tang Lixia: Belongs to the Quality Assurance Division and is in charge of certifying parts manufactured at the Shanghai Factory. She enjoys basketball and cooking. Her specialty dish is Hong Shao Rou (braised pork belly)!
FUJITSU GENERAL LIMITED
Kazuhiro Yamamoto: Belongs to the Product Design Department and is in charge of air conditioning equipment. He enjoys going on bike rides with his family, which he recommends for the upcoming season♪
Episode 1: The features of laser markers and silk screen printing
Could you explain what a laser marker is?
Zheng Yang: As the name suggests, it's a method that uses laser beams to draw letters or shapes. When you shine a laser on the target object, only the area hit by the light changes color. We use this discoloration for printing.
We had used laser markers at some Fujitsu General Group factories before. However, this time, we switched all printing equipment at the Shanghai Factory to laser markers.
Switching all printing equipment to laser systems is a first for the Fujitsu General Group, isn't it?
Zheng Yang: That's correct. Shanghai where our factory is located is required to meet high standards of environmental responsiveness. Switching all our printing equipment to laser systems is part of efforts to comply with these standards.
What printing method did you use before?
Xi Xiaohong: We used a method called silk screen printing, which involves the process of pressing ink through a stenciled mesh. However, since laser markers don't use ink, this offers both environmental and cost benefits.
Episode 2: The logos printed on air conditioners
Specifically, what do you print, and where do you print it?
Yamamoto: We print three things on the indoor units, the company logo, the brand logo and text or pictograms that represent functions.
Customers see these parts daily, essentially making them the face of the air conditioner.
Episode 3:
The printing method has changed completely. You must have found a lot of things difficult.
Xi Xiaohong: It wasn't easy!
Zheng Yang: We made many fine adjustments for mass production. We tested numerous settings to get the logos printed beautifully on each material.
Yamamoto: The conventional printing method just involved applying paint, and we could stably achieve the colors we wanted in the design. With lasers, however, the finish color changes depending on the texture and color of the resin that we are shining the laser on. Consequently, we tested countless times, changing the time we shone the laser on the material, the strength of the laser, and the focal distance.
Even after the specifications have been decided, you continue testing, right?
Zheng Yang: Yes, we perform tests on the actual mass production line in the next step. This winter was especially cold, and testing on the line was also a battle against the cold.
Also, we have to create actual samples for the final approval process. We needed to create over 100 types of samples, which was a huge task!
Xi Xiaohong: In the Manufacturing Department, introducing the new equipment drastically changed the content of our work. In order to quickly get used to operating it, we practiced a lot beforehand.
Tang Lixia: In the Quality Assurance Department, we check sample products and decide whether they are acceptable, but it was quite confusing at first.
With conventional silk screen printing, we would lay colors on top of the materials to achieve the desired color development. However, with lasers, the outcome depends on the color of the material itself, so we couldn't judge how much color variation was acceptable.
Yamamoto: We addressed this issue by having designers prepare color samples. By visualizing the range of dark and light hues, everyone could assess the colors using a consistent scale.
Zheng Yang: The process was efficient because Mr. Yamamoto was in Shanghai. This meant that everyone related to the project was on-site in Shanghai to confirm each step of the process.
Xi Xiaohong: It was great that we could move forward with the project with everyone's agreement on each step.
Thank you!
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