MHI Global

In today’s fast-moving world, flexibility is key for business success. And when it comes to finding agile ways of working, inspiration can come from the strangest places. The word “Yatai” describes the highly mobile street food stalls often found in clusters in Japan. It is also used to describe an agile system of factory workstations. These highly-mobile units embody the idea of flexibility, allowing manufacturers to quickly react to sudden changes or events in the global marketplace. Watch this short video to see how embracing the concept of Yatai is the key to flexible manufacturing. To learn more click here.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Thermal Systems, Ltd. (MHI Thermal Systems), a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) Group, has won an Agency for Natural Resources and Energy Commissioner’s Award (Energy Savings Sector) in the “Product & Business Model” category at the 2020 Energy Conservation Grand Prize Awards sponsored by the Energy Conservation Center, Japan (ECCJ). This award was presented for the MSV2 series of air-cooled heat pump chillers(Note1) in recognition of its industry-leading coefficient of performance (COP)(Note2) achieved through a combination of the newly developed “e-3D scroll” compressor and other proprietary technologies. The awards ceremony will be held on January 27. The MSV2 series comprises four models ranging from 40 to 70 horsepower (hp). These units incorporate the “e-3D scroll” compressor, a more advanced version of the “3D scroll” compressor that compresses the refrigerant from all directions. Modification to the scroll shape, from a step to a slope, has significantly reduced…

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) has agreed to make a capital investment in H2U Investments, the holding entity of the H2U Group. The H2U Group includes The Hydrogen Utility (H2U), the leading Australian developer of green hydrogen and green ammonia projects using power derived from renewable energy sources. The agreement also includes MHI’s support for H2U’s projects and business development initiatives, including supporting the Front-End Engineering and Design (FEED) study for H2U’s Eyre Peninsula GatewayTM project in South Australia. South Australia has a rich endowment of wind and solar resources, and is now the leading economy, globally, in the integration of variable renewable energy into its electricity generation mix. By leveraging abundant renewable energy resources in the region to produce green hydrogen and green ammonia as part of the State’s carbon-free energy solutions, the initiatives will help decarbonize mineral processing and agricultural industries in the region, and lay the foundation to…

MHI Thermal Systems, Ltd., a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) Group, has completed construction of a new development and testing facility for commercial-use air conditioning & refrigeration systems at its Biwajima Works (Kiyosu City, Aichi Prefecture), the core research and development facility among centres throughout the world. The completion ceremony was held today. The establishment of this new facility, together with its existing development and testing centre, will accelerate development and commercialization of commercial-use air conditioning & refrigeration systems in global markets. MHI Thermal Systems is also expanding its development and testing facilities such as in Thailand, enhancing its development capabilities worldwide. The new development and testing facility at the Biwajima Works is a two-story building with 2,155m2 of total floor area. It is equipped with various types of testing rooms for commercial-use, high-capacity systems able to handle different weather conditions, environmental regulations, and other variables in countries around the…

For the second consecutive year, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) has been awarded a Silver rating for overall sustainability from EcoVadis, the independent French platform that regularly assesses corporate supply chains. At a time when pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has become a global focus of universal concern, EcoVadis gave high marks to MHI Group for its initiatives in promoting sustainability throughout its supply chain in all four criteria categories: Environment, Labor & Human Rights, Ethics, and Sustainable Procurement. In receiving a Silver rating, which is second only to Gold, MHI Group places within the top 24% of all companies evaluated by EcoVadis. Among manufacturers of general-purpose machinery, the rating puts MHI Group in the upper 16%. EcoVadis, working through its cloud-based platform, provides buyer companies with evaluative data pertaining to suppliers’ SDGs initiatives. To date, it has evaluated more than 45,000 companies worldwide. Through the years, MHI…

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) has made a financial investment in HydrogenPro AS of Norway, a company engaged in the development and manufacture of electrolyzers, devices that produce hydrogen by the process of water electrolysis. MHI subscribed to newly issued shares placed by HydrogenPro in an initial public offering (IPO) undertaken to fund expansion of its business operations. MHI already provides various decarbonisation technologies that allow for a realistic path towards net-zero and will form the strategic partnership with HydrogenPro to further expand its portfolio and provide green hydrogen production plants to the market going forward. HydrogenPro was established in 2013 based in the Norwegian city of Porsgrunn, Telemark County. The history of water electrolysis technology traces back to 1927, when a fertilizer and heavy water plant employing water electrolysis technology was launched in Telemark by Norsk Hydro, a Norwegian state owned conglomerate. HydrogenPro has already developed a 9 megawatt…

When you flick the switch on a typical air conditioning unit, you’re setting off a process that hasn’t traditionally boasted green credentials. Conventional cooling devices account for as much as 10% of all global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the World Bank. It predicts that, if left unchecked, emissions from cooling will double by 2030. Cooling’s potential impact on the environment grows even starker over the longer term, as temperatures in cities that we currently regard as extreme potentially become the norm within 30 years. This will mean a global increase in demand, and in regions not normally associated with air conditioning, such as northern Europe. However, the International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts that the majority of demand growth will come from emerging economies, particularly in Southeast Asia. The region, where currently only 15% of the population has access to air conditioning, is predicted to see “skyrocketing” sales of units over the next 20 years.…

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Group, in agreement with the purport of the “Open COVID-19 Declaration” pertaining to intellectual property rights in the context of the global COVID-19 pandemic, has formally announced its participation in the Declaration. The Declaration’s overarching purpose is to support initiatives underway to stop the global spread of the novel coronavirus. By participating in the Open COVID-19 Declaration, MHI Group agrees, within a specified time frame and without seeking any compensation, not to assert any patent, utility model, design or copyright in its possession against any activities whose sole purpose is stopping the spread of COVID-19, including diagnosis, prevention, containment and treatment. Currently, in a concerted quest to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and bring the pandemic to an end, industrial, governmental and academic resources are being coordinated to develop and manufacture therapeutic drugs, vaccines, medical equipment and products to prevent the virus contagion. The Open COVID-19 Declaration…

THE POWER OF KAIZEN The Japanese philosophy of kaizen, which encapsulates a culture of constant improvement, is a powerful force in the business world. Kaizen asks employees to question what they are doing in order to find new and better ways of doing things. It could mean creating a component using fewer materials, changing a production layout to boost efficiency, or finding a new approach to solving a challenge. Small changes add up to big gains. And these result in a faster, leaner and more efficient world of shorter production times, lower inventory levels and reduced costs. In today’s fast-changing world, manufacturers in every industry need to adopt a mindset that enables them to react quickly, intelligently and creatively to an evolving market. This is kaizen at work. This short video explores the spirit of kaizen and explains just why it is so good for business.    To read…