Environmental Report 2015

Reducing Usage of Materials

Reducing Usage of Materials

 In an effort to use materials more efficiently, measures that reduce the amount (percentage) that becomes waste after being introduced into the manufacturing stage are being promoted. An introduction to efforts at each site to use the main materials more effectively is provided below.

●Efforts at JAE site

In order to reduce the volume of gold used in gold plating, JAE is making ongoing efforts to implement efficient improvements in such areas as the management of proper metal plating fields. In addition, to reduce the volume of materials used in machine processing, JAE is moving forward on purchasing in accordance with proper dimensions.

●Efforts at HAE site

HAE is focusing on reduction of the amount of materials used by reducing the width of metal materials used in presses and pin protection materials. The reduction of molding materials is being achieved by reducing unnecessary spoolers/runners (*use cursor to view definitions) that are discharged when extracting molded products; improving the number gates (*use cursor to view definitions), mold shape, and positioning when designing molds; and switching from cold runners to hot runners. This reduces the amount of molding material used, while using recycled materials reduces the amount of newly purchased material inputs.

●Efforts at YAE site

Measures are underway for reducing the amount of materials used and waste generated by downsizing molds and revising the width of metal materials used in presses. In addition, reusing molding material leads to reduce input materials and making spoolers/runners more compact cuts down on the volume of materials used, which in turn results in significant CO2 reductions.

●Efforts at FAE site

Efforts to improve the reuse rate for copper alloy electrode material used in the manufacturing process for metal parts (discharge machining) are contributing to a dramatic reduction in the quantity of material used and the metal waste generated. CO2 emissions caused by material usage was reduced by 0.52 tons, exceeding the target of 0.36 tons.

●Efforts at SAE site

The SAE site continues to focus on self-production of machined parts and reducing cutting processes. These efforts contribute to reduced metal waste, as well as lower CO2 emissions during material production. 

Conservation of Resources

Japan may appear to be a country with abundant water resources, but it is actually said to be the world’s largest importer of virtual water (*use the cursor to view definition). Around the world, we see explosive population growth as well as drought and other abnormal weather conditions that result in many people being unable to obtain one-tenth of the daily water that a person requires.
  • Water saving in production: recycling water in the connector product plating line and on/off controls for water usage on each cleaning line.
  • Water saving in lifestyles: adjusting water volume used in air conditioning cooling towers, recycling wastewater, using rainwater for toilets, changing from buried pipes that supply water for living to above-ground piping for the early detection of leaks and repair, and raising awareness of an important resource.


In line with these activities, at the JAE Group in Japan and at production sites in overseas locations, every year the volume of water used is being reduced. (The graph displays sales per unit.)