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Recently, the PM Group has been showing up at meetings with our customers.
The PM Group is involved in the development of various products, but we suspect that most of our customers do not know what they do just by hearing the name of our department.
We would like to take this opportunity to introduce how the PM Group is involved in product development and how they contribute to our customers.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
What is the PM Group?
The PM Group, which stands for Product Management Group, is composed of the Evaluation Team and the Standards Team.
These two teams work daily to evaluate prototypes, manage projects from development to mass production, and review the details of customer communications in the course of product development.
Mission of PM Group
We develop high value-added products, but there are three important considerations.
The first is to find the best evaluation method to achieve the acceptance target.
We examine evaluation methods to clarify, verbalize, and quantify the quality required by our clients.
The second is to hand over the required quality to the production department in a state that can be controlled during mass production.
The information from the prototype and the evaluation methods established for that product are passed on without discrepancy.
Third, we have established internal standards for our products.
Some products are managed and operated according to our in-house standards, which are even stricter than those we have already agreed upon.
Constant Temperature Room
We use a constant-temperature room for product development.
The constant-temperature room is controlled to maintain a room temperature of 23±2°C (according to JIS K 7100:1999) so as not to be affected by external temperature changes such as weather and seasons.
We also have a full lineup of measuring equipment, including image dimensional measuring instruments, the "Z-Gauge" strength tester and "compression resistance tester," both developed in-house.
Using them, we measure the metrological values of length and depth, and numerically evaluate sensory evaluation items such as pushing, pulling, and bending.
As an example, here is how we evaluate the numerical values when opening a spout cap.
An "automatic torque meter (a machine that measures force in the direction of rotation)" is used to measure the numerical value when opening the cap.
The numerical value is read from the waveform as shown in the image below right.
The opening torque is the maximum force applied when the cap is opened, and the bridge breakage strength is the force when the cap's tamper-resistant function is destroyed (tamper ring shredded).
In this way, the sensation of "feeling of opening" can be expressed numerically.
Market Research and the AS Family
We refer to our self-developed products as the "AS Family".
A market product survey is a study in which products sold in stores are evaluated and compared to the AS Family.
For example, for a hinged cap, we measure the force required to open and close the cap and evaluate whether the cap retains its seal even when used with leaky liquids.
The reason we conduct market research is to compare and evaluate whether the AS family meets the functionality required by the market, and also to gain knowledge from market products to create new AS families.
We have introduced our department and job description from the perspective of "How does the PM Group contribute to our customers?
When you request a quote from us, please feel free to contact us for an explanation and presentation of the AS family's functions and development.