Case Study
Kyocera A case study of best practice in the integration of materials technology and design to improve innovation
“What I would like to see is outcomebased tenders whereby a target is given to us or other manufacturers, and we can provide really innovative solutions.�
Tracey Rawling Church, Kyocera Document Solutions (UK) Ltd
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Best practice in materials and design
Best practice in materials and design
FOUNDATIONS
corporate motTo
Kyocera was founded by Dr Kazuo Inamori in 1959 as Kyoto Ceramics, and is now a global corporation employing over 71,000 people and operating in many business sectors - from telecoms to dental implants - but all driven by ceramic technologies. Kyocera’s headquarters are in Kyoto, Japan and having invested in its own R&D facilities and manufacturing factories, it can control the entire product development process, including sourcing of raw materials and the integration of Dr Kazuo Inamori
hardware, consumables and software. Kyocera also have a policy of working with ‘best in class’ software developers so that rather than reinventing a viable
Respect the Divine and Love People Preserve the spirit to work fairly and honorably, respecting people, our work, our company and our gobal community.
existing software solution they may license and sell it under their own brand, or promote it as ‘Kyocera recommended’. This InnoMatNet case study focuses on the Document Imaging division, which accounts for about 20% of Kyocera revenues.
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Best practice in materials and design
Best practice in materials and design
WHY SUSTAINABILITY IS IMPORTANT TO KYOCERA INNOVATION
management rationale
management philosophy
To provide opportunities for the
To coexist harmoniously with nature and
material and intellectual growth of all
society. Harmonious coexistence is the
our employees, and through our joint
underlying foundation of all our business
efforts, contribute to the advancement
activities as we work together to create
of society and humankind.
a world of abundance and peace.
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Kyocera’s deep-rooted corporate
This philosophy, and how it can be
philosophy of “harmonious co-existence
applied in daily business, is annually
with people and planet” and “doing the
discussed at central and local workshops
right thing as a human being” is based
and seminars attended by all Kyocera
on Buddhist values and has naturally
staff. It is believed to have led to
led to the company taking a sustainable
unusually long-term retention of staff
approach to all its activities. It believes
whose personal values coincide those
that business exists to serve society and
of the business, as well as a high level of
that profit is its reward for doing that.
trust among partner businesses.
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Best practice in materials and design
DRIVERS FOR INNOVATION
Best practice in materials and design
Part of the Kyocera culture is to always
INNOVATION IN OFFICE PRINTING PRODUCTS
be looking to make products which are
In 1992 Kyocera discovered a way of
better, more sustainable, even if this means sometimes operating outside the commercial mainstream and not following the existing market. For example, it took 15 years before the innovative ceramic photocopier drum technology could be promoted on its sustainability benefits rather than a total cost of ownership argument. Kyocera’s biggest challenge was to encourage organisations to think holistically about the cost of running a printer, so that they understood that any initial price premium was worth paying for the operational benefit of reduced consumables costs and machine downtime.
applying their expertise in ceramics to create an exceptionally long life laser printer drum. This led to a substantial reduction in parts needing disposal once machines ran out of toner, and to increased reliability. Conventional laser printers use a drum made of a soft organic photoconductor material. This is very good at holding the magnetic charge that takes the toner and transfers it to the paper, but the action of paper rapidly abrades the surface leading to frequent replacement.
Amorphous Silicon (A-Si) drums, as used in Kyocera printers and mulitfunction copiers. Kyocera drums last many times longer than the drums in cartridge-based machines, reducing the environmental impact and financial cost of printing.
Kyocera decided to use an amorphous silicon which is as hard as sapphire and unaffected by the friction of the paper. The majority of rollers and other parts then were designed to be permanently built-in to the printer, and not included in the consumable ink powder cartridge.
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Best practice in materials and design
standard laser printers, which needed
R & D PHILOSOPHY BASED ON LONG LIFE TECHNOLOGY
to have their integrated metal and
The Ecosys printer design was based
Its first generation ‘Ecosys’ printers lasted for 300,000 pages, compared with a 10,000 page drum life in
plastic drum components replaced each time, with 47 million now going into land fill every year. p A Kyocera toner cassette contains
q The ‘toner’ cartridge in a typical
just 5 parts made of 2 types of plastic.
cartridge-based machine cantains over 60
Such cassettes are easily recycled by a
parts made from numerous materials. These
UK partner.
are replaced every time the toner runs out. Such cartridges are complex to recycle.
on economy and ecology being in balance. Ecosys has evolved into a R & D framework through which products
Current Kyocera ‘lifetime’ models can
are designed to offer maximum user
last for up to a million pages and have
economy, minimum environmental
evolved to cope with the higher speeds
impact and easier integration with
needed by customers, and consequent
customers’ existing network systems.
demands on the drum technology,
As part of this, life cycle analysis is
while reducing replaceable items to a simple toner container with entirely plastic parts.
carried out on every new product and compared with its predecessor, while products are designed for simple disassembly with minimum use of metal fixings and process identity coding on all plastic components.
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sc a n co p y t
Gree Netw n Card ork theg
reen
Having an internal sustainable agenda
p r in
WORKING WITH OUTSIDE PARTNERS TO INNOVATE IN SUSTAINABILITY
fa x
Best practice in materials and design
card
.org.
uk
is not enough, and Kyocera believe it is important to look outside for ideas and philosophy is to be turned into practical
Kyocera Green Card Network
innovation of new products and services.
While Kyocera spent many years
With the subsequent mainstreaming
The UK subsidiary’s relationships with
marketing its products on cost
of sustainability in industry, there was
organisations such as The Green
of ownership rather than their
no longer a need for the Green Card
Alliance and Forum for the Future
environmental credentials, they
Network, but Kyocera believe that its
are therefore very much about
occasionally came across organisations
pioneering work had several benefits:
innovation. They enable
and individuals who were receptive
Tracey Rawling Church and
to a sustainable message.
her colleagues to meet and
Their ‘Green Card Network’ was
other people’s perspectives if its core
explore solutions with people facing similar challenges, yet in completely different industries.
established in 2000 as a small, noncommercial community of interest for those people, becoming one of the UK’s first ‘green’ professional networks in the UK. It grew to a membership of 4,000 from universities to small design
• Sharing knowledge and experiences about making sustainable business a reality • Creating a reputation for Kyocera as a supplier that was serious about sustainable office practice • Bringing a diverse external perspective and provoking new ways of thinking.
agencies, with regular events to share best eco-practice and learn about opportunities to improve sustainability.
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Best practice in materials and design
Forum for the Future Forum for the Future works with
Early insights from the Forum are that
Kyocera and other Forum for the Future
members such as Kyocera UK to
corporate budgeting, and the way
members find that government invitations
understand and develop ‘best practice’
people are managed, motivated and
to tender are usually for supply to a very
learnings on sustainability for the benefit
remunerated, makes it difficult for them
specific hardware specification (e.g. 500
of the wider business community,
to buy products on a consumption-based
printers of x resolution) rather than being
interviewing executives, channel
model. It doesn’t fit with their internal
based on an understanding of customers’
partners, and customers.
systems and, according to Kyocera, can
actual needs. And that while questions
only be solved over time by advising
about life cycle analysis, carbon footprint
customers on the financial and carbon-
etc. will influence short-listing, decisions
saving benefits and collaborating on the
are invariably made on price.
They recently started exploring the trend towards consumption-based supply of products, and particularly why this has worked in some industry sectors but
(gradual) adaptation of new systems.
This makes it difficult for companies like
not others. For example, Kyocera are
This effectively means shifting from
Kyocera to innovate and provide better
leaders in a movement towards managed
a pure product supplier to offering a
solutions to government, while a similar
document services, whereby the customer
procurement consultancy role, and
request from the private sector might
may never own the hardware but instead
Kyocera now have a professional services
lead to imaginative ideas for reducing
contracts delivery of agreed service levels,
division for that purpose.
paper consumption.
including monitoring of usage patterns and early alerts for engineering calls.
In another example of the benefits of their ethical values, Kyocera rely on the
By contrast, carpet supplier Interface
trust of their third party dealers to jointly
was unsuccessful in its move from
introduce the consumption-based model
selling to leasing carpets despite
to customers, and discover tailor-made
taking responsibility for replacement/
solutions for them.
refurbishment to an agreed standard.
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Best practice in materials and design
Best practice in materials and design
What Kyocera propose instead is an
Knowledge Transfer Networks (KTNs)
outcome-based tender system for the
could be an important channel for
public sector, e.g. ‘provide a solution
such initiatives. For Kyocera, successful
to reduce print costs by 50% and
KTN involvement is about a genuine
energy consumption by 40%’. They
desire to learn, improve and grow as
believe this procurement model would
an organisation through contact with
drive industry innovation, save costs,
likeminded organisations. In an echo of
improve efficiency and reduce carbon
the company’s founding philosophy, they
emissions faster. It could also have
feel that while KTN activity can sometimes
applications in many industries – not
lead to commercial opportunities, this
just imaging - particularly information
should not be the main aim.
and communications technology. Such a system would need to include funding for initial fact-finding to discover customer needs, but the outcomes would ultimately cost less to own and operate due to the efficiencies that could be built in. They believe it would succeed because it removes boundaries to innovation and satisfying customer needs.
The Green Alliance - Designing for the Circular Economy While Kyocera consciously design for end-of-life dismantling of components etc, they recognise this is entirely dependent on the availability of local reprocessing infrastructure, and are seeking solutions to the current gaps as contributors to The Green Alliance Taskforce on the Circular Economy. In addition to Kyocera, members include Boots plc, EEF The Manufacturer’s Organisation and WRAP. The Green Alliance is a think tank which engages business and policy makers to (a) benefit from the innovation that’s already taken place in technology, and (b) improve sustainability as part of the drive towards a ‘Circular Economy’. This means that instead of a linear progression from raw materials – to product – to use – to waste, in a circular economy resources remain which can be re-used or recycled.
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Blue Angel Label – sustainable accreditation in Europe Kyocera have also been invited to collaborate in joint marketing of the longestablished ‘Blue Angel’ sustainability accreditation, which is backed by the German Department of the Environment. This will be an opportunity to test if the programme can have a international as well as local impact.
Best practice in materials and design
Benefits of collaboration on sustainability
Regional feedback into R&D and design
By actively participating in initiatives like Forum for the Future, The Green Alliance and Blue Angel accreditation, Kyocera UK are able to keep their R&D offices in Japan updated with the latest European legislation and thinking on sustainability and how to deal with products at end of
Kyocera takes full advantage of its
life – potentially influencing both product design and business model formation. For instance:
worldwide distribution network, enabling European product managers to give region-specific feedback about customer requirements, local price positioning, competitor strategy etc. to its Japan-based R&D and design teams. This includes bi-annual faceto-face meetings in Japan as well as regular electronic contact.
• Should there be a global distribution and re-use infrastructure?
Also informing this feedback loop,
• Which, if any, parts should return to the factory at end of life, and which should go to regional reprocessing hubs?
Group collects information about
• What are the intellectual property implications?
Increasingly these approaches are part
• Is this something the company should arrange independently, or in
which involves active engagement
collaboration with industry partners?.
their European Sustainability Work the legislative road map, customer demands around sustainability and any interesting local competitor initiatives. of an integrated systems approach with stakeholders from business customers and EU legislators to third party dealers and resellers.
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Interviewee Tracey Rawling Church The company’s relatively open culture makes it easier for staff to inform Head Office or subsidiaries if they feel something can be done better or in a different way, though the challenges of communicating across continents, languages and cultures should not be under-estimated, and are key to successful international innovation. Having a senior Japanese General Manager based in the UK has recently improved understanding of local markets and communications considerably, because he is able to
Tracey Rawling Church is a marketing specialist who joined Kyocera UK in 1993, having been attracted by its sustainable printer technology and ethical business values. Her current role as Head of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is focused on developing sustainability strategies for business–to–business product marketing. She is a regular contributor to seminars and conferences on sustainability and CSR topics, a 10:10 Pioneer and a member of both the Reading Climate Change Partnership and the Thames Valley Berkshire LEP SME Action Group.
act as a bridge – expressing the UK perspective directly to colleagues in “A global network that constantly strives
Japan and vice versa.
to earn the trust of our customers in every aspect of business from technology development to support.”
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Best practice in materials and design
disclaimer
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This report forms part of the
We are grateful to the following individuals and organisations for their contribution to the InnoMatNet case studies: Tracey Rawling Church, Kyocera Document Solutions (UK) Ltd
deliverables from the InnoMatNet project which has received funding from the European Commission’s Seventh Framework Programme FP7/2007-2013 under grant agreement n° 290583. The report reflects only the author’s views and the European Commission is not liable for any use that might be made of the content of this publication. The project runs from the 1 April 2012 to 30 September 2014. It involves eleven partners and is coordinated by Sociedade Portuguesa de Inovação (SPI). More information on the project can be found at www.innomatnet.eu The lead contractor for the case studies was InnoMatNet consortium partner the Institute of Materials, Minerals
Case study suggestions taken from the InnoMatNet survey. Reviewed by: Claire Claessen and John Conti-Ramsden, Chemistry Innovation KTN John Bound, The Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining (MaDE, Materials KTN) Research & editing: John Bound, The Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining (MaDE, Materials KTN) Graphic design: Lara Collins, The Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining
and Mining, with delivery through the Materials and Design Exchange (MaDE), a group within the UK Materials Knowledge Transfer Network. www.iom3.org.uk www.materialsktn.net/made © InnoMatNet 2013
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Images pp. 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 17, 19 © Kyocera
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Best practice in materials and design
Contact KYOCERA Document Solutions (UK) Limited Eldon Court, 75-77 London Road, Reading, RG1 5BS, England www.kyoceradocumentsolutions.co.uk
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