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Establishing a digital R&D center in the U.S.A. What is YKK AP's digital strategy for smart factories?

In June 2022, YKK AP established YKK AP Technologies Lab (NA) Inc. (hereafter YKK AP Technologies Lab) in Pittsburgh, U.S.A., to strengthen its research and development in the digital field. Then, in July 2023, we established xTech Lab (cross-tech lab) as an R&D base at the Mill 19 facility, which also houses university researchers, researchers from other companies and research organizations from Pittsburgh. We are accelerating our research and development of digital technologies to digitalize everything from our production, installation, design, and development sites to the products and services we offer to our customers. For this article, we have interviewed Shiori Fukada, who serves as the head of xTech Lab, Senior Vice President, CIO & CDO (Chief Information and Chief Digital Officer) at YKK AP, and Masaru Okano, President of YKK AP Technologies Lab.

Table of Contents

  1. Establishing a base in the U.S.A., a leading nation in the digital space
  2. Researching and developing how to make smart factories a reality
  3. A digital strategy to create “a company that can adapt to change”

(Left) Mr. Okano (Right) Ms. Fukada

Establishing a base in the U.S.A., a leading nation in the digital space

xTech Lab is the research and development center of YKK AP Technologies Lab. The name "xTech Lab" is meant to express our desire to create new value by applying digital technologies to the YKK AP Group's businesses and products that are spreading throughout the world. Digital technologies have become indispensable not only for the sake of achieving YKK AP's priority measures of "manufacturing reform by smart factorization," but also in the decision-making of company management. Under such circumstances, YKK AP Technologies Lab aims to propel YKK AP Group's business transformation from a digital perspective through the research, study, and development of digital elemental technologies and swift digitalization leveraging 5G, robotics, AI, and other technologies in the United States, a leader in the digital realm in terms of both its advanced technologies and talent.

Entrance to xTech Lab

YKK AP has, in fact, been conducting joint research with Carnegie Mellon University (CMU in Pittsburgh, PA) in the United States on window and door installation technology using robotics and IT since December 2019, predating the founding of YKK AP Technologies Lab. We therefore thought it would be best to establish a research and development base in the same city of Pittsburgh. Mill 19, the research space where xTech Lab was established, is also home to CMU researchers, private companies, and other research institutions, producing an environment that facilitates the strengthening of collaboration. There has been a recent trend in major tech companies relocating their research and development bases from Silicon Valley to Pittsburgh. We feel that, in terms of the research environment it offers, Pittsburgh is an attractive city for collaboration between industry, government, and academia.

Mill 19: Research space and home to xTech Lab

Researching and developing how to make smart factories a reality

The "smart factories" touted by YKK AP are defined as covering everything "from development to after-sales service" in order to build a sustainable production structure that can quickly respond to market fluctuations. Visualizing all processes enables us to create an environment where points for improvement can be detected at an early stage and feedback can be provided, enabling quick decision-making by company management. At xTech Lab, we are currently pursuing several lines of research to make smart factories a reality.

The office at xTech Lab

“Virtual factories”

Using "digital twin technology," which reproduces the same environment as a genuine production site on a computer, we can use accumulated performance data to analyze and simulate equipment layout, production processes, quality, etc. in a digital space and feed it back to the real environment to optimize production activities. In this way, we aim to build an ECM*1 or SCM*2 in a virtual space. The verification is being conducted in collaboration with the YKK AP Digital Strategy Department, which facilitates close communication with manufacturing sites in Japan.

5G

We are verifying the establishment of communications with enormous amounts of data through the construction of "Private 5G" with ultra-high speeds, ultra-low latency, and functions that enable multiple people to connect simultaneously. We are considering using this technology in smart factories, replacing the wired control system networks with 5G connections, automating our manufacturing sites, removing the human element from them, and making it possible to handle the work remotely. With the verification project now complete, preparations are underway for an evaluation project to be conducted in the new factory.

Setting up a "Private 5G" network

Robots

In addition to researching robots for various applications to automate processing, transportation, production, operations, and after-sales maintenance, we will select certain robots that can be used in each business, promote the robotization of work, and aim for the practical application of AI-equipped "robots with different structures from humans." We are currently preparing various robots and pressing ahead with the expansion of functions such as automatic operation. Of these, the joint research between YKK AP and CMU, which xTech Lab supports, concerns the development of robots specialized for window installation work as a countermeasure to the labor shortage and aging workforce in the construction industry. Currently, we are carrying out verification activities for the automation of tasks and saving of labor on those construction sites.

Verification of robots

As we undertake these efforts in research and development, we keep in mind that we must not seek immediate results. In our research into digital elemental technologies, there are cases where a certain technology may be shelved when it becomes apparent that it is not a good match for the business. However, even if the technology is not suitable for our business or products at this exact moment, it does not mean that the research was done in vain, as the knowledge acquired is stored as an important asset of the YKK AP Group. We plan to use these stored technologies in new ways to respond to ideas and requests from each business and department, as well as to changes in the business and market.

A digital strategy to create “a company that can adapt to change”

YKK AP Technologies Lab's mission also includes "developing digital and global human resources" and "investigating new materials and businesses." Until now, the YKK AP Group has focused its business development on the Japanese domestic market, and although the ratio of overseas sales to total net sales has been gradually increasing, it currently stands at just 17% (FY2022). However, considering the downward trend of the Japanese domestic market as it continues to shrink, we must transform ourselves into a company that can grow on an even more global stage. The market changes from moment to moment. If the YKK AP Group is to remain in business for the next 100 or 200 years, it must become a "company that can adapt to change."

 

The true purpose of our ongoing efforts to realize smart factories is to establish a structure that can respond quickly to changes in the market and customer needs. Therefore, in addition to its research and development of digital technologies, xTech Lab will also focus its efforts on the development of global human resources as well as digital human resources who are capable of leveraging digital technologies to bring about change. By hosting Japanese employees of YKK AP and having them engage with various local companies and universities, xTech Lab will enable the employees to absorb not only the rapidly changing digital technologies, but also the working styles and speed of local companies. Upon their return to Japan, these employees will be expected to disseminate the expertise and ideas developed at xTech Lab to their respective workplaces and make proposals based on them. We hope to propel YKK AP's organizational structure to change flexibly through such cycles.

A young YKK AP employee working on a global stage

Although xTech Lab is currently operated by nine people, we plan to strengthen the organization and expand it to about 50 people in the future. While hiring highly skilled local engineers, we will also improve our internal technical capabilities as we aim to create a system that can support the digital technologies that are useful for the business of the YKK AP Group by bringing them in-house. Furthermore, we would like to take advantage of our location in an area that attracts cutting-edge technologies to create new innovations, while keeping the door open for collaborations with various research institutions.

YKK AP will further accelerate research and development in the digital field, centered on its overseas affiliates YKK AP Technologies Lab and xTech Lab, to promote digital transformation in production, construction, design, and development sites, as well as to tackle issues in the building materials and construction industries by utilizing digital technology.

*1 ECM (Engineering Chain Management): The process of product planning, production planning, product development, production preparation, and production.
*2 SCM (Supply Chain Management): The process of quotation, order receipt, procurement, production, shipment, and collection.

Shiori Fukada

Shiori Fukada

Senior Vice President, CIO & CDO of YKK AP

Joined the company in 2016 as a vice president and general manager of the IT Department. In 2021, she assumed her current post with the opening of the Digital Strategy Department. Through the reorganization of existing systems and the total replacement of communication tools, she is promoting the construction of a common infrastructure that can be used throughout the YKK AP Group, and promoting transformation through the application of digital technology to become a company that can adapt to change. With the establishment of YKK AP Technologies Lab in June 2022, she assumed the roles of both a local director and head of xTech Lab, in which capacities she has focused her efforts on the global management of IT and the acceleration of research and development at xTech Lab.

Masaru Okano

Masaru Okano

President of YKK AP Technologies Lab (NA) Inc.

Joined the company in 2017. After working in Enterprise Applications at the IT Department, where he implemented, developed, operated, and maintained globally available applications, he became the head of Global Operations in the same department, where he was responsible for providing global applications, infrastructure, and IT services. In 2021, he was transferred to the Preparation Office for the Establishment of a Digital R&D Center in the Digital Strategy Department, where he was the project leader for the establishment of YKK AP Technologies Lab and xTech Lab. He has been in his current position since June 2022, where he manages both the company and xTech Lab.

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