Azumi Murata Manufacturing produces EMI Suppression Filters to remove noise generated from electronic equipment such as mobile phones and notebook PCs. We command a 35% share of the global market, and have a strong technological edge in manufacturing for printing and drying process during production.

Further reductions in energy consumption and CO2 emissions are being pushed forward at our plant through company-wide initiatives for the prevention of global warming. We, for example, took up the challenge of providing warm airflow during the drying process using heat pumps to make even more efficient use of air-conditioning energy through the introduction of an exhaust heat collecting turbo water heating/cooling system. Specifically, we elevate water temperature efficiently with a heat pump utilizing exhaust heat to create warm airflow.

However, making such a change in this process was quite risky since the drying process control is very delicate. This was our first attempt to combine the dryer and the heat pump, and there were several challenges such as stabilizing airflow temperature and airflow intensity. We had faith, however, that we would surely gain from this experience even if we did not succeed totally. We formed a team that included the engineering section, production engineering section, production section, environment section of the plant and the Head Office environment department, and pursued optimization without adhering to the existing system. Our efforts allowed us to achieve success in the end.

This activity was very effective in reducing CO2 emissions by 2,600 tons over FY2007 （over 20% of the total emissions from the plant） or tens of millions of yen. This activity also gave birth to ideas for new challenges, and we will continue our ceaseless efforts to reduce CO2 emissions and cost.