Utilizing 20 GLS profile grinders, they can finish grind complicated forms very accurately.

Team of professionals aiming at nano-processing

Technical Center of Nakayama Seimitsu Co., Ltd. at Kumamoto, introduced high-tech processing machines and ecological equipment.Their forte is producing super precision parts which require nano-processing.Since 1972, they have been utilizing GLS profile grinders for super precision mold parts for press molds.The GLS profile grinders produce mirror finish surfaces with a surface roughness of Rmax 0.2 μm or less.The grinders produce very accurate components consisting of complicated forms consisting of intricate lines and curves. These products are made of very hard materials such as cemented carbide and ceramics.

Nakayama Seimitsu Co., Ltd.

①The laboratory in the technical center of Nakayama Seimitsu Co., Ltd. contains X-ray CT and many other precision measuring instruments. ②Industrial X-ray CT. ③Sample of processing paste nozzle with a hole that is ö20 ìm in the tip. ④ Non-destructive inspection with industrial X-ray CT.

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Case Study

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Representative Director, President, Shinichi Nakayama

Expanded to Kumamoto Prefecture in 1984Nakayama Seimitsu started business by drawing process of mold cemented carbide parts and antifriction parts of electronic device and semiconductor manufacturing equipment in 1969. They built the Kumamoto Plant in 1984 in Nishihara village of Aso district, Kumamoto Prefecture. At that time, that area was called the “Japanese Silicon Valley”, and they started production of precision parts for molding and semiconductor related products following the Technopolis Plan for Kumamoto Prefecture,

The technical Center of Nakayama Seimitsu Co., Ltd. opened in February 2013. The Center introduced ecological equipment including solar power generation equipment as well as up-to-date high-tech processing machines.

Comprehensive technical capability of trinity of humanware, software and hardwareNakayama Seimitsu Co., Ltd., established in June 1969, started from processing with draw die and now makes superprecision parts processing in which nano-processing is required, such as superprecision mold parts processing, precision mechanical parts processing, semiconductor device parts, electronic parts manufacturing equipment parts, medical and aerospace related parts. From the foundation of company, “The concept was final finishing process must be made manually! (hand processing)”. New employees are receiving training for filing and scraping about basic hand processing from the factory manager, Toshiyuki Mitsuka who was nationally appointed as “A Great Modern Craftsman” in 1991. The Technical Center which was completed in February this year in the Kikuchi District Kumamoto received Kyushu Economic Industrial Chief of the Bureau Award in 26th Nikkei New Office Award. The Center is an environment-friendly factory that introduce ecological equipment including solar power generation equipment as well as up-to-date high-tech processing machines. We intend to polish our comprehensive technical capability of trinity of “humanware, software and hardware” and pursue further high technology. “In order for us to keep a foundation for living in Japan, we have to keep manufacturing domestically” says President Shinichi Nakayama, and with strong belief, he is “aiming at a firm that can flourish forever and contributes to the society under the principle of ‘customer first’ (President Nakayama)

Main Facilities

Profile grinder: GLS-5T 2 sets, GLS-5P 2 sets, GLS-135AS 3 sets, GLS-130AS 4 sets, GLS-125A 3 sets, GLS-821L1 1 set, GLS-721 3 sets, GLS-580H 1 set, GLS-80A 1 set and others /CNC 5 axis multistage cylinder grinder, /High precision CNC small diameter tool grinder, /Others: Diesinking electric discharge processing machine, Wire electric discharge processing machine, Electrode maker, etc

Company name: Nakayama Seimitsu Co., Ltd.Representative Director, President: Shinichi NakayamaHead office: 801 Shin-Osaka Nishiura building, 2-7-38,

Nishi-miyahara, Yodogawa-Ku OsakaTelephone: 06-4807-1500Kumamoto Plant:

3606, Komori, Nishiharamura Aso-Gun, Kumamoto, Japan

Telephone: 096-279-3737Technical Center:

3802-26, Kamiotani Haramizu, Kikuyo-machi Kikuchi-Gun, Kumamoto, Japan

Telephone: 096-340-5010Establishment: 1969Employees: 179Business Outline:

Design, manufacture and sales of antifriction precision tooling primarily from cemented carbide

URL: http://nakayama-pre.co.jp

Company Profile

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where plans for semiconductor manufacturing equipment were integrating. In 2001, they expanded the Kumamoto Plant and integrated the Osaka Head Office and Plant in Kumamoto. Development test equipment for iPS cell, and cancer cells by Industry-University collaborationPresident Nakayama says, “Processing accuracy was 0.01 mm at the time of foundation. It then became several μm, and now, processing accuracy of nano (1/1000 μm) level is required. We have been making efforts to build the most advanced facilities and technology to correspond to needs of time”. As a result of their activities, local newspapers such as Kumamoto Nichinichi Shimbun wrote in August 7, 2013, “Assistant Professor Kanako Niimori of Life Sciences Research Institute, the Graduate School of Kumamoto University has established a technique that can detect trace proteins included in cells, and jointly developed with Nakayama Seimitsu equipment that automated a series of detecting steps. It enabled analysis of protein specific to cancer, that so far has been difficult to find, and is expected to be applied to early discovery of cancer and drug development”.

President Nakayama says, “Analysis of protein is said to be applied to the medical field, such as tumor markers that tells us about the generation of cancer and curative effect. Professor Niimori proposed to develop detecting equipment last September, and we decided to develop and manufacture the equipment with our manufacturing techniques and by the mechanization and automation of the core technique with which the analysis had been made manually. As we were considering to enter into the medical equipment industry as a new field for utilizing our nano-processing technique, we decided to develop “proteomics equipment” that can reproduce protein with a simple operation. Besides, this endeavor was selected in 2013 “local medium and small-sized business innovation creation assistance business” by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry as “development of proteomics equipment to highly detect new biomarkers from iPS cell, and cancer cell”, and received a grant of 50 million yen in two years. We plan to make processing parts and assembly in the Technical Center to be completed in February, and for time being, we will manufacture products on order. We are eager to contribute to society with products “made in Kumamoto”. Thus, having a copy of the news paper showing the article, President Nakayama explained enthusiastically his plan to expand

①Optical profile grinder, model “GLS series” of more than 20 sets make a line. They can grind and finish very accurately complicated form in which fine and irregular straight lines and curves are combined in high hard material such as cemented carbide and ceramics” (President Nakayama)/②First profile grinder, model GLS-80A introduced in 1972. It is still used for more than 40 years after the introduction./③Latest profile grinder, model GLS-5P equipped with high reciprocating high precision grind stone platform and high precision high speed spindle

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GLS high-precision and high-definition projector (provided by AMADA MACHINE TOOLS)

the business to the medical equipment field.

The profile grinder that is distinguished among major equipmentStarting from the drawing die processing of cemented carbide and responding to requests from customers, they are processing a wide variety of material such as steel, resin, ceramic and PCD. Among the major equipment for processing those materials, one of the distinguishing equipment is AMADA MACHINE TOOL's profile grinder GLS series. At present, there are 20 sets of profile grinding machines in the Kumamoto Plant and Technical Center. The Profile Grinder is a grinding machine to grind precision mold parts in press mold, and mold and corresponds to mirror the polishing process of surface roughness of Rmax 0.2 μm or less and is used for processing the tip form of parts that directly affect products form of punch and die press molds. An image of a workpiece magnified 30 times or 50 times is projected on a screen, and according to the optically projected form, the profile is processed in superprecision with a grindstone. Recently, the main stream is a computer controlled CNC profile grinder, and almost all machines installed in their facility are NC controlled.

The first unit of the profile grinder was introduced in 1972President Nakayama says, “First profile grinder to our company was GLS-80A introduced in 1972, and we are still using it after 40 years. At that time, there was no NC equipment, and a simplified controlling made by Sony

Magnescale was attached. Since then, we have introduced new machines year after year. At present, we have two sets each of GLS-5P and GLS-5T that are the latest model of GLS. The reason why we have been sticking to GLS is that it can grind and finish very accurately complicated form in which fine and irregular straight lines and curves are combined in high hard material such as cemented carbide and ceramics. The finish can be adjusted by the NC control to some extent in the process of finishing with high precision, according to the projected profile of a product. But for final finishing, processing cannot be made without manual processing by an operator. Therefore, as for the graphical profile grinder DV-1 in which measurement with a CCD camera on an automatic machine and automatic

correction processing are materialized, and which was published by AMADA MACHINE TOOL five years ago, I heard that it is equipped with automatic grindstone replacement system (ATC) and automatic workpiece replacement system (AWC), when considering about to where automation can be made and from where the operator intervenes, I personally was feeling that direction was wrong. But apart from manual processing, I think the part that a machine can do or automation is possible should be mechanized or automated. There is a way of thinking that each time you get an order for a mold you design, process and assemble. But it is necessary to utilize common parts for where common parts can be used to reduce cost and to stabilize quality. In that sense, although the mold is a comprehensive commodity, if you look at it from a point of view that it is completed by assembling individual parts, it is necessary to make composing mold parts simple and to modularize them. By doing so, I came to think, it is necessary to make a process to a certain extent with DV-1 equipped with ATC or AWC. In this September, we will bring our processing drawings to Toki office, and after making validation processing, we will consider introducing it”. He said his change of mind.

Technical Center that has the newest environment and facilitiesThe Technical Center that is supposed to develop and manufacture medical equipment provides on the roof of the building a facility of similar output with the solar generation system (100kW) equipped on the roof of the Kumamoto Plant, and they sell electricity to Kyushu Electric Power. The generation system in the

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Kumamoto Plant is a facility that was introduced to the plant after being adopted in the public application of a grant by NEDO (New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization) several years before renewable energy became very popular. Generated power is used as power for illuminating factory. The entrance of the Technical Center is all glass-covered for the first floor through the third floor to get natural lighting, and the offices are open, which was proposed by office furniture manufacturer, Okamura Corporation, and it received Kyushu Economic Industrial Chief of the Bureau Award in “The 26th Nikkei New Office Award”. Grinding process shops, electric discharge process shops, and machining process shops in first floor are partitioned to each area, and room temperature is controlled within ± 0.5 degrees and humidity is within ± 10% to correspond to high precision processing achieving control similar to clean room. In the inspection room, to check to see if fine holes of 20 μm in diameter are pierced with high precision, so far, destructive inspection was conducted that processed goods are picked up, cut, section is exposed and inspected. It took man-hour for preparation and cannot carry testing all. Then, they introduced inspection equipment that measures superprecision parts processed in nano meters, such as industrial the micro CT scanner, electron microscope, energy dispersive type X-ray analyzer, etc. President Nakayama says, “we have

planned to respond to the needs of inspection service”.

The essence of “man & machine”Several sets of tool maker's microscopes, stereoscopic microscopes, and others are placed for processes in the factory. It is a routine procedure for workers to check accuracy and quality of the processed portion of parts that superprecision processing is required for on the way of processing. In Nakayama Seimitsu they have started from enlarging holes and polishing inside for holes of drawing dies, there are many workers who have the skills to make lapping process of ultra small holes of less than 0.02 mm in diameter with hand finishing. Depending on characteristics and the nature of material and the material of pins, workers are making adjustment of the particle size and quantity of molding materials, and abrasive compounds in micron unit with techniques developed by long time experience. The phrase word “man & machine” was once used frequently. Watching our factory and workers working there made us recall the word after a long time. World first-class facilities for superprecision processing and inspection equipment. Workers who handle them are positive people who received training in manual processing techniques such as filing and scraping, never spare everyday's efforts with worthwhile lives. We look forward to seeing the future of who are sticking to manufacturing.

Last step is to adjust accuracy by manual grinding process while confirming with microscope Their process sample

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