Chuo Malleable Iron – Factory Tour

Chuo Malleable Iron is a manufacturer of cast iron and aluminum components. The company mainly supplies to the automobile and electric industries and their major trading partners include Toyota Group companies such as Toyota Motor Corporation, Denso and Aisin Seiki. The company also produces steel furniture such as metal framed chairs which represents around four percent of their revenue.

Corporate Information

Company: Chuo Malleable Iron Co., Ltd.
Foundation: 1944
Location: Headquartered in Aichi Prefecture
Main Business: Manufacturing of cast iron and aluminum components

Chuo Malleable Iron – Lean Characteristics

Kanban System, JIT, Visual Management

Chuo Malleable Iron is a supplier of cast iron and aluminum components to the automobile and electric sectors. The company was founded in 1944 in Aichi Prefecture and started to supply for Toyota Motor Corporation in 1948.

The company has four production bases in Japan, three in the Tokai Region and one in Kumamoto Prefecture on the southern island of Kyushu as well as two production bases in China.

Their Nisshin Plant is the biggest plant that produces approximately 2,400 tons of cast iron products and 100 tons of aluminum products per month. The company uses electric furnaces in their efforts to achieve improved environmental outcomes and Just-In-Time fabrication of components based on a kanban system. The factory also features effective visual management examples.

The visit to the Nisshin Plant includes a presentation, a site tour and a Q&A session with senior managers.

The Shinka Management Lean Japan Tour is a professional development program run several times annually. The program includes a mix of lean and kaizen seminars, hands-on lean training and visits to several benchmark lean companies. For further information and program dates, see the lean tour overview page.