Toshiba
Canvas Category OEM : Diversified
Toshiba Corporation, commonly known as Toshiba and stylized as TOSHIBA, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure systems, elevators and escalators, electronic components, semiconductors, hard disk drives, printers, batteries, lighting, as well as IT solutions such as quantum cryptography which has been in development at Cambridge Research Laboratory, Toshiba Europe, located in the United Kingdom, now being commercialised. It was one of the biggest manufacturers of personal computers, consumer electronics, home appliances, and medical equipment.
Assembly Line
Axiom Cloud Closes $5 Million in Funding to Accelerate Deployment of Refrigerant Leak Detection Software
Axiom Cloud, announced that it closed $5 million in funding from Toshiba Tec and Windsail Capital Group. This funding aims to accelerate the deployment of the company’s AI-powered “Early Leak Detection” (ELD) module, which detects refrigerant leaks earlier without requiring any new onsite hardware or sensors. Axiom Cloud’s technology and services will be especially vital as facilities move to comply with recently-announced EPA regulations outlined in the American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act, which restrict commercial emissions of Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) through refrigerant leaks and other sources.
Subsection (h) of the AIM act, “Management of Regulated Substances,” announced in October 2023, mandates that the approximately 20,000 U.S. facilities must install Automatic Leak Detection (ALD) systems in commercial refrigeration appliances within 12 months after the final rule goes into effect. The AIM act has been called “the single-most effective climate action taken in the US” in part because it aims to cut HFC production and consumption by 85% over the next 15 years.
Looking at the future of semiconductor manufacturing
“Moving from 200mm to 300mm wafers increases the size 1.5 x 1.5,” explains Taniguchi. “A simple calculation of the area shows that we have a 2.25 times increase in production. So if you ask how Toshiba is responding to the growing demand for power semiconductors accompanying progress towards carbon neutrality and energy savings, the answer is with increased supply capacity. The introduction of production lines that can handle 300mm wafers became an initiative for everybody in our department. Seeing the entire organization working together heightened my sense of responsibility, as well as excitement from being involved in a new technology. Working out how to set up processes using 300mm manufacturing equipment – it’s a project that exhilarated me.”
Taniguchi knows all about this. “Investing in equipment is front and center in power semiconductor manufacturing, and there is a strong sense of excitement about pioneering technology. You ask yourself if there is a way to increase the productivity of the equipment, to manufacture more power semiconductors, and improve the quality…I’ve spent all day in a clean room fine-tuning the movement of the wafers and devising ways to stabilize the temperature. I got really excited when, after a lot of trial and error, I managed to adjust the conditions to get stable production.
ROHM and Toshiba Agree to Collaborate in Manufacturing Power Devices
A plan by ROHM Co., Ltd. (“ROHM”) and Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation (“Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage”) to collaborate in the manufacture and increased volume production of power devices has been recognized and will be supported by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry as a measure supporting the Japanese Government’s target of secure and stable semiconductor supply. ROHM and Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage will respectively make intensive investments in silicon carbide (SiC) and silicon (Si) power devices, effectively enhance their supply capabilities, and complementally utilize other party’s production capacity.
ROHM has already announced its participation in the privatization of Toshiba, but this investment did not serve as the starting point for manufacturing collaboration between the two companies. Under intensifying international competition in the semiconductor industry, ROHM and Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage have been considering collaboration in the power device business for some time, and that resulted in the joint application.
Toshiba Develops New Lithium-Ion Battery with Cobalt-Free 5V Class High-Potential Cathode
Toshiba Corporation has developed a new lithium-ion battery using a cobalt-free 5V-class high-potential cathode material that significantly suppresses performance-degrading gases produced as side reactions. This battery can operate at a wide range of applications, from power tools to electric vehicles.
Cobalt and nickel are widely used to stabilize the cathodes of lithium-ion batteries. However, cobalt is a rare metal, and there are potential issues in cost stability and supply-chain reliability. There are also concerns with nickel, as increased demand in recent years has pushed up market prices. Toshiba’s new lithium-ion battery cathode is free of cobalt and contains less nickel, making it a superior solution in terms of cost and resource conservation.
Use of a 5V-class, high potential cathode in lithium-ion batteries will increase cell voltage and power performance, but its development has been held back by a practical problem: a side reaction that causes electrolyte decomposition and the generation of gas that degrades battery performance. Toshiba’s new cathode significantly suppresses gas generation when used with a conventional high conductivity electrolyte.
Toshiba has prototyped a pouch lithium-ion battery that combines its new cathode with a niobium titanium oxide (NTO) anode (Figure 1). In tests, the battery demonstrates a high voltage of over 3V, fast charging to 80% of capacity in 5 minutes, high power performance, and excellent lifetime characteristics, even at a temperature of 60°C. Target applications for the battery range from power tools and industrial application that require high voltage with a small battery pack, up to electric vehicles.
Toshiba Digital Solutions Partners with Aras to Accelerate Digital Transformation in Manufacturing
Aras, which provides the most powerful low-code application platform to design, build and operate complex products, announced its partnership with Toshiba Digital Solutions, a subsidiary of Toshiba Corporation. Toshiba Digital Solutions will distribute Aras Innovator to other Toshiba group companies and customers. This announcement aligns with the partner agreement announced by Toshiba Digital Solutions on April 20, 2023. Aras Innovator will integrate with Toshiba’s Meister, an IoT solution for the manufacturing sector that’s used to collect data and connect with factories to help companies reap the benefits of digital twin technology.
🧠📹 What Sets Toshiba’s Ceramic Balls Apart? The AI Quality Inspection System
Bearings cannot be easily replaced once a vehicle is assembled. In the U.S., bearings used in EVs are expected to be of high enough quality to withstand long distances. One issue that can occur with EVs, however, is the “electric corrosion” of the bearings that mount the various vital parts of the vehicle onto the motor—a serious issue, as it can lead to the breakdown of the vehicle. High-performance bearings would drive the widespread use of EVs, and contribute to the push towards carbon neutrality. The electrical corrosion phenomenon had hampered these efforts, but not anymore—therein lies the beauty of Toshiba’s ceramic balls.
“Our ceramic balls go through slight changes about every year and a half due to changes in material and other factors. To keep up the accuracy of the quality inspections, we have to continually update the AI system itself. The MLOps system automates that process,” says Kobatake.
“We’ve been able to dramatically reduce the time spent on these inspections. Ceramic balls are expensive compared to their metal counterparts. They have so many different strengths, and yet they haven’t been able to replace the metal ones precisely because of this particular issue. If we’re able to reduce the cost through AI quality inspection, we’ll be able to lower the price of the products themselves,” says Yamada.
Precision Manufacturing of Large and Complex Parts
Digitally Connecting Hardware and Software – Toshiba's Efforts to Solve Sustainability Issues
Toshiba’s strategy rests on using sensing to collect data in the real world, analyzing it in cyberspace, using the results to make predictions, formulating optimal plans, and returning valuable information to the real world. The reason why Toshiba can pursue this initiative is that almost 150 years in manufacturing has brought with it a deep wealth of experience, technology, and expertise in hardware, while over 50 years of AI research and development have allowed the company to thoroughly refine its software technology.
Within Toshiba’s Virtual Power Plant, IoT is used to control all the equipment in real time, in response to the constantly shifting situation in electricity supply and demand, and it functions as if it were a single power plant. Additionally, its EtaPRO™ plant monitoring software monitors the thermal efficiency and operating conditions of power plants to detect signs of deterioration and abnormality. This makes possible timely maintenance and equipment replace, and realizes stable and highly efficient operation. It also minimizes energy losses due to equipment failures and power plant outages.
Toshiba Announces Strategic Reorganization to Separate Into Three Standalone Companies to Enhance Shareholder Value
Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO: 6502) (“Toshiba” or the “Company”) today announced its intention to separate into three standalone companies:
- Infrastructure Service C o. 1, consisting of Toshiba’s Energy Systems & Solutions, Infrastructure Systems & Solutions, Building Solutions, Digital Solutions and Battery businesses;
- Device Co. 2, comprising Toshiba’s Electronic Devices & Storage Solutions business; and
- Toshiba, holding its shares in Kioxia Holdings Corporation (KHC) and Toshiba Tec Corporation (TOKYO: 6588).