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Innovation, quality improvement hallmark of Sharp's plant

The Kameyama unit integrates production of LCD televisions in a single facility

— PHOTO: M. SOUNDARIYA PREETHA

BRAND ADVANTAGE: One of the AQUOS televisions of Sharp Corporation displayed at a press conference in Osaka recently.

AS WE enter the Kameyama Plant No. 2 of Sharp Corporation in Japan, rows of living room settings with AQUOS television sets greet us. The eighth generation glass substrate the plant uses to make Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) panels is also on display. Moving further, one can see through a glass window a manufacturing robot silently moving with a huge glass panel.

Sharp's Kameyama Plant No. 2 integrates production of LCD televisions in a single facility — from fabricating LCD panels to final assembly of the television sets, thereby eliminating the risk of transport damage to the panels and reducing the lead time in supply to meet the growing demand for LCD televisions across the world, says Toshihiko Hirobe, Group General Manager of AVC LCD Group of Sharp.

Expertise

A group of 20 journalists from seven countries visited the plant, located about 160 km from Osaka, recently as part of a press tour.

The plant that started operations last August is said to be emerging into a brand by itself ("Made in Kameyama"), thus enhancing the brand image of the AQUOS televisions made there. "This is a culmination of LCD and television," says Mr. Hirobe. "It's the factory that makes the difference."

What makes the plant special are "manufacturing innovations, quality improvement and environment-friendly systems."

The long experience and expertise available with Sharp for LCD technology and television production, availability of LCD experts, integrated production facility and power back-up and shock absorbing systems are some of the strengths of the plant.

The eighth generation mother glass is 2.46 m by 2.16 m and is just 0.7 mm thick. It is 2,000 times smoother than ordinary glass. It can provide six panels for 52-inch television sets.

Cost cutting

The Kameyama Plant No. 1 of Sharp uses sixth generation glass substrates, which can yield only three panels of that size. By integrating production and having the vendors near the facility, the plant is able to achieve cost cutting and be competitive.

"The great advantage of having LCD experts and TV design specialists working side-by-side at every stage of design and development is that they can easily meet and discuss technological issues and draw on one another's expertise," says Mr. Hirobe.

The company uses over 80 per cent of the panels made at the plants in Kameyama for its television sets.

The plant has also adopted progressive steps, such as setting up a 5,150 kW photovoltaic power generation system and a 14,400 kW co-generation system.

About one-third of the power used in the factory is from these systems.

Sharp insists on making LCDs in Japan because the related industries are all concentrated in the country and helps avoid the risk of leakage of technologies, says Mr. Hirobe. Sharp recently developed a 108V-inch LCD television that features a full-spec high definition LCD panel manufactured at the Kameyama Plant No. 2.

M. Soundariya Preetha

Recently in Osaka (Japan)

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