Electric Forklifts Ready to Roll in Essex Furukawa Kameyama Japan Plant

The Essex Furukawa Magnet Wire plant in Kameyama, Japan is plugging in to its Vision 2030 carbon reduction goals. Quite literally.

Director of Operations & Sr. Technical Advisor, Toshiki Demoto, recently unveiled a new, electric forklift to the team. He also shared that two more are planned to roll out later this year.

“This is a step towards sustainability that we are excited for,” Demoto said. “I can speak for everyone in the plant when I say that we take great pride in being among the first with this technology to be implemented.

“As Essex Furukawa works towards its goals, it is my hope that the Japanese plants continue to lead and find new energy savings opportunities.”

The Toyota-made electric forklift is a 3-ton machine that has comparable workload capacity as the previous gas-powered unit.

Early data indicates that this first forklift has reduced gasoline consumption by half. Once two more electric forklifts are onboarded, the plant could eliminate the use of gasoline at the location completely by the end of 2023.

Outside of the sustainability goals there is a human element that also played an important role in the change.

The electric forklift does not produce hazardous emissions and does not create noise pollution. It is also equipped with a blue LED backup alert lighting to further protect workers.

Operators told Demoto that is more comfortable and easier to maneuver, too.

Austin Robinson, Global Corporate Sustainability Manager for Essex Furukawa, said that this goes beyond excitement and fringe benefits. There are tangible results.

“Ultimately, this is another way to help achieve our energy reduction goals,” she said. “Having a top-down support for the process is tremendous. That will make these modifications much easier to measure and implement around our global footprint.”

Through Vision 2030, Essex Furukawa aims to reduce its energy usage by 10% and increase reliance on renewables by 32%.

The Kameyama plant made 21,264 MTs of HVWW®, round, and flat magnet wire in the last calendar year—a key component to the global automotive manufacturing sector. Also, as part of a transparent supply chain, the energy reduction goals made by Essex Furukawa aids in the downstream sustainability efforts of leading global OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers in a reduction of their Scope 3 carbon emissions.

For more information about Vision 2030 and the Essex Furukawa holistic sustainability, visit our website.