WHY
Why does Hitachi Construction Machinery take on the challenge of developing application products ?
There aren’t actually very many construction machinery manufacturers that work on the development of application products. Obviously it takes time and effort to modify standard products. So why does Hitachi Construction Machinery pursue that work? We asked members of the New Products Development Department to tell us why.
Because committed to being a solutions provider, we look for our customers’ hidden issues, develop application products to solve them.
Tsuyoshi Shimizu
General Manager
New Products Development Dept.,
Development Div.
Construction Business Unit
Every customer’s site is different. We have a big range of standard products like hydraulic excavators and wheel loaders, but for some customers, modifying standard excavator for specialized work or processes enables them to work more efficiently, and eliminates inconvenient issues for them.
I believe that learning about those customers’ issues and helping them is what makes application products valuable, and that’s what makes our work worthwhile. Put simply, making a difference for our customers is my biggest reason.
Our strength is that our sales and service teams know a lot about each site and it is very close between them and our customers. So they’re on the ground in a way that other companies aren’t which allows them to get feedback from our customers and interact directly with them. Those conversations allow us to find out customers’ concerns organically and then address them. That’s a value unique to Hitachi Construction Machinery. The value of that close proximity to our customers is something we’ve inherited from the employees before us, and I think it’s something we kind of take for granted.
In addition to this, in the Medium-term Management Plan that commenced in FY2023, we are aiming to grow as a True Solutions Provider by delivering innovative solutions for customer needs. Application product development has a long history in this area, so from our perspective as solutions providers, I think there is great significance in dedicating ourselves to this work and tackling it as a business.
With that said, none of this means that we have reached a point where we are meeting all of our customers’ needs. My vision for the future is for us to build systems for meeting expectations while also considering collaborations with other companies and taking steps into initiatives we haven’t worked on before, like working together on co-creation of new systems.
Through that work, I want us to become a source of greater support than before for our customers as a True Solutions Provider. For that reason too, I want to develop even more in-depth communication and greater empathy and become even better at finding the issues that customers can’t articulate well, or haven’t even noticed themselves.
The members of the New Products Development Department are highly motivated about development and are passionate about addressing customers’ concerns. We will continue taking on challenges with that passion as a base.
Solving customers’ issues is the base of our development
Atsushi Hoshino
Senior Engineer
New Products Development Dept.,
Development Div.
Construction Business Unit
I am in charge of the development of multi-boom demolition equipment based on a standard hydraulic excavator for demolition work. The functions that machinery needs to have depend on the type of demolition work -- building demolition, factory demolition, housing demolition -- and sometimes we get requests we never imagined. Hitachi Construction Machinery’s multi-boom demolition equipment allows different front ends to be attached so that a single machine can be used for a variety of purposes, from demolition of high areas to demolition of foundations and steel frames. We find out the issues in each area where customers will use the machine and tailor our development to the customer’s needs as much as possible to solve those issues. During that process, we get the customer to test a prototype at the development stage and make further improvements based on their feedback. When we make the product we had envisioned and the customer says they’re happy with it, I’m relieved that we were able to provide something useful with no issues.
Hit application products sometimes become standard products
Masayuki Norita
Senior Engineer
New Products Development Dept.,
Development Div.
Construction Business Unit
Application products are developed based on a customer’s specific needs in principle, but some end up being sold as standard products and used by a wider customer base.
Those application products were initially developed as one-off models, but the need for them grew and we ended up shipping more and more of them until they became major products listed in Hitachi Construction Machinery’s product catalog. Our material-handling machine is a standout example. It’s based on a model we developed over 20 years ago and after a series of model changes to improve its functions, it’s still on the market and receiving positive reviews.
Our process of adding functions in response to various requests has seen it grown into our top selling product with many customers using it, and I think the reason for that is because of our ongoing history of solving various issues.
We continuously improve our machinery to make it easier to use and more appealing
Kentaro Miyamoto
Senior Engineer
New Products Development Dept.,
Development Div.
Construction Business Unit
I am currently in charge of pile driver that drives foundation materials like piles into the ground. The machinery itself was first released around 1987. We sold the previous model from 2008 to 2020, but after 15 years it was time for a model change.
In application product development, like other development, it is vital not only to further develop the functions of the existing model but also to scrutinize the product and refine the design and assembly method to reduce production costs as much as possible and achieve a price that customers will be willing to pay. In this model change, we kept the major functions from the previous model that customers were satisfied with while taking note of requests for improvement from the market, as well as making some changes that I felt were necessary. Obviously we were also conscious of costs as we made improvements during this process.
This is how we work on application product development, like other forms of development, making improvements each day to create products that will be easier to use and more appealing for customers.
COLUMN
Providing Japan-born application products to overseas market
The application products developed by Hitachi Construction Machinery are not well known overseas yet. Yet there are just as many customers overseas who want to modify standard excavator to make their work more efficient or get into new areas of work.
At present, there are limits to how much we can expand applied product development in Japanese market. In future Hitachi Construction Machinery aims to identify each of the needs at overseas sites and develop application products accordingly.
“Our telescopic arm (rope type) machine is particularly well known overseas as a Hitachi Construction Machinery product,” says Tsuyoshi Shimizu, the head of the New Products Development Department. “So if we expand that brand value further, we’re likely to be able to further increase our value as a solutions provider.”
A big challenge for Hitachi Construction Machinery in future will be to proactively expand application product development with a view to strengthening overseas expansion.
Meeting a Wide Range of Needs/What are application products?
