#012011

Dealing withthe Ultimate Earthquake

A Special Space forEngine Assembly

Heat and Heavy Hauling

The Global UD Trucks Customer Magazine

TRUCKING AROUND

THE TIPOF AFRICA

If you’re in Tokyo from December 3 to 11,

be sure and visit us at the Tokyo Motor

Show! Visit our booth,

EC03, in the East Hall 1 of the Tokyo Big

Sight exhibition center in Ariake. For more

information, please talk to your local UD

Trucks dealer—and hope to see you there!

04 Feature story

Dealing with the ultimate earthquake disasterUD Trucks and its partners found themselves at the center of the devastating March 2011 earthquake and tsunami on Japan’s northeast coast.

06 News

What’s happening Around the world of UD Trucks.

08 In Action

Trucking around the tip of AfricaUD customer Ngululu Bulk Carriers is succeeding despite the harsh environment and changing demands of South Africa.

13 History

Chasing the UD Trucks DNAA look back over the many years of the company, and its long dedication to building the best vehicles possible.

16 Technology

A special space for engineassembly in AgeoIn a factory-within-a-factory at UD Trucks’ main production center in Japan, tomorrow’s engines are built on a sophisticated, automated line.

18 First person

Heat and heavy haulingMining coal in Indonesia puts huge demands on trucks; the people who use UD Trucks here daily tell their stories.

20 Tradition

The cutting edge of historyA young Japanese craftsman carries on the demanding work of crafting one of the world’s most superb swords—the katana.

22 Case Study

Diminishing damageOkamura Logistics Corporation figured out how to reduce product damage during storage and shipment—by getting everyone involved.

#01 | 2011

Jette Kristiansen FoxOriginally from Denmark,

Jette Kristiansen Fox is a freelance writer based in

Cape Town covering African affairs for a range of Scandi-

navian magazines.

Torbjörn SelanderBased in Cape Town, South Africa, Torbjörn Selander is a photojournalist and contributor to publications in the region, Europe and the United States.

Jim Hand-CukiermanCanadian Jim Hand-Cukierman is a Tokyo-based photographer and writer whose work appears in maga-zines around the world.

Contributors this issue:

Cover photograph Torbjörn Selander

Roads is published three times per year by UD Trucks Corporationwww.udtrucks.com

PublisherDaisuke Takahashidaisuke.takahashi@ udtrucks.co.jpTel: +81-48-726-7462

Editorial ProductionNext Inc.roads@nextinc.comwww.nextinc.comTel: +81-3-6436-4270

Editor-in-Chief Kjell Fornander

Executive Editor William Ross

Art Director Koichi Asano

Production ManagerHaruko Miyazaki

Satoru TakeuchiPresident, UD Trucks Corporation

Message from the President

Globalization and UD Trucks

Over the past decades, “globalization” has become

a word that is used very often, but one that carries

many meanings. Some see it as something to strive

for; some fear it; for others it simply is the way things are in

today’s globally interconnected world.

At UD Trucks, globalization means taking advantage of the

best of two worlds: nurturing and developing the traditions

and strengths of UD Trucks while also utilizing the knowledge,

technology and resources of the Volvo Group. It’s a big challenge,

both for the corporation, and for the people who work here.

But it’s also our greatest opportunity for the future—again,

both for the growth of the company, and for the development of

our people.

This goes to more than just language, of course. Here’s a good

example: Japanese are pretty good at making things—the interna-

tional success of Japanese brands proves this, I feel. But sometimes

a focus on getting things almost too perfect in Japan has meant a

loss of cost efficiency.

What I want to work toward is a blending of the best of Japa-

nese and European traditions. The Japanese focus on craftsman-

ship, engineering and high quality, while at the same time making

use of the Volvo Group’s global manufacturing strength, product

development methods, component technologies and excellent

cost-performance.

We want to be able to provide our customers with high-

quality, highly-reliable trucks, and to give them a reasonable

price. We have a lot to give, and a lot to learn, with the ultimate

goal of continuing to develop and improve so that our custom-

ers likewise have a continuously-improving competitive edge.

“Evolutionary rather than revolutionary”—this has always

been the UD Trucks way, and that’s one thing that will

not change.

We’ve just started down this road, and it’s a very exciting

landscape ahead of us. Because, really, globalization means

the road to UD Trucks’ success, the road to Volvo’s success,

and, ultimately, the road to our customers’ success.

It was, in a word, terrifying.

“There were 19 of us in the second floor,

getting buffeted by the water as it rose up

to our chests,” says Iwao Kanno. “We saw a

big tank float by, then a steel-frame build-

ing crashed into us. We still don’t know where it

came from.”

Mr. Kanno, president of Kanno Jidosha (“mo-

tors”) was there, very close to the waterfront,

when the March 11, 2011 tsunami, generated

by the largest earthquake in Japanese history,

washed into—and almost totally destroyed—his

hometown of Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture.

Mr. Kanno and the 19 of his 23 employees at the

time who held on together for dear life were ex-

tremely lucky; nearly 20,000 people were killed

as the massive waves washed across much of the

northeastern coast of Japan.

But Mr. Kanno, who provides sales and service

for UD Trucks, as well as for passenger cars and

heavy machinery, is nothing if not a survivor. Af-

ter he and his employees struggled to keep from

being washed away—and all of them survived—

they fought the early-spring cold with nurses’

uniforms given them by the hospital across the

road (“I put one on upside down!” Mr. Kanno

laughs), then waited it out until help arrived by

helicopter airlifts the next day.

Even further inland, at the site of UD Trucks’

Sendai Office, General Manager Yasushi Sato

says that the effect of the earthquake alone

completely brought their business to a halt. “The

electricity went out immediately after the earth-

quake,” he says. The quake, which measured a

massive 9 at its epicenter, and more than 7 in

the Sendai area, destroyed electrical generation,

transmission and transforming equipment. “We

had no idea what was happening with the tsu-

nami until we got an electrical generator going

and turned on a TV. I should have gotten a car ra-

dio going earlier,” he says with a shake of his head,

“but there was just so much going on.” Luckily, the

Knocked down, but definitely not out: UD Trucks and one of its key partners in northeast Japan rebuild after one of the world’s worst

natural disasters.

Text: William RossPhotos: Koji Mukaida

The main building of UD Trucks’ Sendai Office (left) was largely unharmed by the earthquake, although the adjacent building and service area were more seriously damaged. The area was not reached by the tsunami waves.

Dealing with the UltimateEarthquake Disaster

04 #01 | 2011

waves did not reach inland as far as the office.

But the Sendai office did suffer the collapse of

several walls in the service area, falling masonry,

massive cracks in the building attached to the

main office (which fortunately rode the quake out

relatively unscathed), and a complete blackout.

Quickly, though, Mr. Sato was able to get in

touch with Keijiro Tanaka, president of UD Trucks

Japan Corp. (the sales company covering the

Japanese market, not to be confused with the

parent, UD Trucks Corporation). “He told us that

our first priority was for us to take care of our

families and each other,” Mr. Sato says. “Later

on, he basically told me, ‘Do what you need to

do,’ and gave me the authority to spend the

money we needed to make sure people were

safe and to get our activities rolling again.”

In fact, work at the Sendai office stopped

until March 20. “Everybody was in the office—

they didn’t have to be, but they were there!”

Mr. Sato says. “So the next thing was to start

thinking about our customers.

“We knew that they wouldn’t be able to use

their trucks very quickly,” he continues. “But

there were a lot of trucks that had been aban-

doned, or were damaged, so first we got a tow

truck set up to help with that work. We knew

that people would want repairs, even if not right

away, so we decided to bring them to the office

here, although we knew it would be really tight.”

In fact, he says, they brought back more than 60

trucks for service, even though they knew repairs

couldn’t be done right away.

“Once we did get service going, there were

cases where, for safety’s sake, we had to have

serious talks with the owners,” Mr. Sato says.

“People wanted their trucks serviced, but even

if the engine could start up, there was often

seawater damage to the electrical systems, the

brakes, and so on. And all this was happening

while we were trying to rebuild our own build-

ing! So it was really tough.”

In Kesennuma, Mr. Kanno was in an even

more difficult situation. “Many of our customers

are seafood processors or other marine compa-

nies,” he says, “and they lost everything. There

was no service work, and we knew they wouldn’t

be buying new vehicles for a long time, if ever.”

Standing in front of his destroyed business,

with the first floor completely gone and seawater

trickling by (the entire area sank, he says, making

it unusable for the future), he shakes his head

and gives a wry smile. “We lost all our records,

our computers, mobile phones, financial records,

invoices—everything.” Even so, he got his first

request for service from a customer about 10

days after the disaster. “There’s not much we

could do for them, since we didn’t have a work-

shop,” he says. “So we referred them to another

service center—I guess our main work is in refer-

ring customers to service centers.”

But Mr. Kanno is focused on the future, now

beginning work on prefab buildings which will

house a service center until a permanent one can

be built—but this time much further from the

ocean. “I want to get back to selling and servic-

ing all our vehicles, including UD Trucks, as soon

as we can.”

He received some help in this from Mr. Sato,

who dispatched a brightly-painted mobile service

truck for Mr. Kanno’s company to use. “It’s a lit-

tle big for the narrow streets around my house,”

he laughs, “but we can put it to work!”

In Sendai, too, Mr. Sato and his team are

now hard at work helping their customers. “We

actually have more work than we did before the

earthquake—there’s lots of overtime,” he says.

“When we have to, we call on other people in

the group, but now we’re very much focused on

helping our customers get their work back to

normal, too.”

01. Iwao Kanno looks at the remains of his business—the source of the building to the left still unknown.

02. A ship washed nearly a kilometer away from the sea speaks to the size of the tsunami.

03. Yasushi Sato, General Manager of UD’s Sendai Office: “We’re very much focused on helping our customers get their work back to normal.”

04. Iwao Kanno with the mobile service truck provided by UD Trucks: “We can put it to work!”

02 03

04

“People wanted their trucks serviced, but there was often seawater damage” Yasushi Sato

Dealing with the UltimateEarthquake Disaster

01

05 #01 | 2011

Feature story

October 6 to 16 were the dates for the Johannesburg Motor Show, the largest exhibition of its kind in Afri-

ca and one of the top 20 in the world—and UD Trucks was there. “It’s also an interest-ing and unusual show in that truck makers from Japan, China, India, Europe and the US are all present,” says Toshi Odawara, Vehicle Sales & Marketing Manager.

Several of UD Trucks’ top leaders, includ-ing Senior Vice President Claes Svedberg, were on hand for an October 6 press con-ference to kick off the show for UD Trucks.

The layout of the exhibit was based on an actual dealership. “This is a new con-

Singapore is now more directly con-nected to UD Trucks, thanks to the establishment of a new wholly-owned

Volvo Group sales office in the city-state.

Held from September 21 to 24, 2011 in the capital city of Jakarta, the Mining Indonesia 2011 is the

biggest such show in the southeast Asian nation, attracting some 12,000 visitors and nearly 600 companies. From the truck world were most major European manufactur-

cept that we are using globally—in fact for only the second time,” Mr. Odawara says. “The idea of using a dealership concept is to show that at UD Trucks, we’re not only about the vehicle, but also provide a range of services. This is what visitors can clearly see when they enter our exhibition.”

Several of the most popular truck models for Africa were on display. The new GH7 engine, developed specifically for medium-duty vehicles, was given center stage in the booth—a strong display of UD’s ability to provide greater power output but also increased fuel efficiency. An ESCOT trans-mission was also on display, giving visitors a first chance to see this highly innovative new development.

UD Trucks, of course, is no stranger to South Africa, with a history spanning five decades. The company has built a proud track record of quality, passion, profession-alism and ultimate dependability, said Johan Richards, CEO of UD Trucks Southern Africa.

Over a period of just six months, the sales, service and parts business of two former distributors were brought in-house and set up in a new 50,000-square-foot center.

Business is picking up in Singapore, de-spite the strong yen, with UD a very popular brand here, one of the top two Japanese makers (which in turn are very popular).

The applications for trucks in Singapore focus on its role as an international trade hub. Trucks largely are used in logistics and general cargo transport, with a focus

ers, two Japanese makers and several from China.

UD Trucks was there as well, hosting a special press conference along with importer United Tractor in the UD booth on the 21st to highlight the launch of the new CWB6B truck.

“The UD Trucks CWB6B is the first prod-uct for Indonesia,” said Joachim Rosenberg, President and Director of UD Trucks Asia, “designed specifically for the Indonesia mar-ket, and one which has been in preparation for three years.”

Also speaking to the select group of 32 journalists was Jacques Michel, the Manag-

South Africa

Singapore

Indonesia

UD Trucks joins in for Johannesburg Motor Show

New UD Trucks retail business opens in Singapore

UD Trucks takes part inMining Indonesia 2011

UD TRUCKS NEWS

on medium-duty, rather than heavy-duty, trucks.

“UD Trucks’ commitment commences at the start of negotiations and carries on throughout the lifespan of a truck, assisting customers to get the most value from their investment. By matching customer business insight with the global expertise inherent in the company, UD Trucks is continuously aiming to provide you with one complete solution.”

ing Director of UD Trucks Indonesia, as well as top managers from the company. UD Trucks displayed two units of the CWB6B, as well as the GH13 engine. A lunch for some 100 of UD Truck’s Indonesian custom-ers followed the event.

06 #01 | 2011

In a strategically important step forward, UD Trucks has teamed up with the Volvo Group Middle East (VGME) to expand its

parts distribution and after-sales operations across the region.

Under the agreement signed in the port city of Jebel Ali, United Arab Emirates, just southwest of Dubai, VGME, a subsidiary of Volvo Parts Corporation (the world’s leading providers of commercial transport solutions), will provide facilities for a Re-gional Parts Distribution Center, a Regional Competence Development Center and a Regional UD Trucks Middle East office, all located in the Jebel Ali Free Zone.

UD Trucks’ new base will serve seven countries: the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Jordan and Lebanon. It is designed to provide the best product and service solutions to the markets, and to reinforce UD Trucks’ supply lines across the

Middle East.“Our strength-

ened presence in the Middle East will deliver measurable benefits to cus-tomers, including improved order-to-delivery lead times, improved parts availability and better back-order recovery,” says Claes Svedberg, Senior Vice President, UD Trucks. “All of this translates into enhanced customer support. At UD Trucks, we believe that getting closer to the customer will allow us to be even more professional, passionate and depend-able as a service provider.”

The partnership allows UD Trucks to keep a regular stock of some 6,800 service parts and an inventory valued at AED 8 million in the Middle East, drastically reducing supply lead time and delivering quick repairs for customers. The new Regional Competence Development Center will also provide after-sales training for downstream stakeholders.

“We target 90 percent of parts availability from the Regional Parts Distribution Center in order to shorten delivery lead time to our partners from 1-2 months to 5-8 days,” says Gen Yoshida, General Manager, Product Management for UD Trucks. “Moreover, our partners will be able to enjoy commu-nication as well as training facilities in the local language, local time, local calendar, and local ways of working. This is part of our strategy to reach out to our clients in a manner that suits them best.”

The tape-cutting officially opening the new Dubai Regional Distribution Center

http://www.udtrucksmerchandise.comThe new easy access site for UD Trucks merchandise

Dubai, UAE

UD Trucks opens strategic Regional Distribution Center for parts and services in Dubai

I t will be a lot easier to get your hands on the expand-ing array of UD Trucks-

branded items, thanks to a new website— http://www.udtrucksmerchandise.com —to open in late October 2011. An easy-to-use interface—including full English-language contents—will make finding, ordering and receiving promotional items easy and enjoyable.

All UD Trucks-related market-ing companies, importers and distributors can order directly from the web shop (individual

customer sales will not be taken at the current time). The web shop also allows for smaller pur-chase volumes than previously, with shipment the next business day (if items are in stock).

“The lineup of UD Trucks Merchandise is quickly expand-ing,” says Kan Kawai, Manager, Brand & Promotion Office. “We now have a scale model of the latest Condor, with more fol-lowing next year.” The Brand & Promotion Office, in charge of UD Trucks Merchandise, is also calling on its partners

worldwide to let them know about interesting and successful products in their local markets

which might also do well glob-ally through the web shop.

Merchandise

Online doors open for UD Trucks merchandise shop

07 #01 | 2011

News

Trucking Around the Tip of AfricaIt is one of the mythical places on Earth, where, if you are lucky, you might spot a giraffe or a kudu—the antelope that is a symbol of the area—nibbling on a tree against a blue, mountainous horizon. This is also where UD trucks are extremely popular, having gained a reputation as reliable workhorses that can handle the tough conditions.Text: Jette Kristiansen Fox Photos: Torbjörn Selander

08 #01 | 2011

This is Limpopo in the northeastern corner of

South Africa, an area that shares its borders with

Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. It is not

far from the two-million-hectare Kruger National

Park, home of Africa’s Big Five: lions, leopards,

elephants, buffalo and rhinos.

In stark contrast to the beautiful landscape is the gritty

reality of the provinces’ main economic sector, mining. Lim-

popo has no less than 136 operating mines, producing nine

percent of the country’s total income from minerals. Apart

from limited deposits of gold and diamonds and some larger

coal deposits, the majority of mines focus on ferrochrome and

platinum. This is the land of dusty dirt-tracks, heavy loads and

an extremely harsh climate, with temperatures around the

freezing point at night, and peaks around 30°C in winter—in

summer, it can reach an unforgiving 45°C.

In the heart of this mining district lies the headquarters

of Ngululu Bulk Carriers (NBC). Trucks with the company’s

distinctive kudu logo are almost ubiquitous on roads in the

province, ferrying ferrochrome between mines and smelting

plants, as well as transporting their loads further afield to the

port of Durban or neighboring countries.

Fleet & Technical Director Flip Myburg supervises the

company’s major fleet of 260 vehicles. NBC is also UD Trucks

Southern Africa’s biggest customer in the extra-heavy market

sector, with 142 UD Trucks Quons.

Recently, the decreasing value of ferrochrome inspired

NBC to broaden the company’s focus and add the transport

09 #01 | 2011

In Action

agricultural products such as corn to its business activities.

Although seasonal, diversifying helps to stabilize an industry,

which is otherwise dependent on the volatility of the stock

market prices in Johannesburg, London and New York.

NBC is run according to a market-leader strategy. The

philosophy of maintaining high standards is reflected through-

out all aspects of the company, from driver salaries and client

satisfaction to the cleanliness of the trucks. “We never send

the trucks out on the road dirty,” says Chief Operations Of-

ficer Louis Tolmay.

“Of course, our priority is client satisfaction, but I also want

our people to feel pride in working here and wearing the com-

pany logo,” Mr. Myburg says. “I want to motivate our guys.

The way I see it, our drivers are also managers when they are

out on the road, or dealing with clients when they load or

unload. The driver is the face of our company.”

The same high standards apply to the company’s choice

of trucks. “We have had very good experience with our UD

Trucks,” Mr. Myburg says. “We have been using them for

eight years, and are currently on our fourth generation of

UD trucks. They have proved themselves to be extremely

reliable in these very harsh conditions. This means that they

have saved us money on both maintenance as well as on

downtime.”

“We operate in a very harsh environment with very heavy

loads in mountainous terrain under dusty conditions, which

“UD trucks have proved themselves reliable in these very harsh conditions” Flip Myburg

Louis Tolmay

10 #01 | 2011

could cost you if your service standards are not superior,” Mr.

Tolmay adds. “In this climate, we have seen that UD trucks

have the superior quality of any of the European trucks.”

He also points out that some other truck brands in the

South African market have been less reliable to work with,

because the license to sell them has changed hands.

Subsequently, spare parts and warranty issues have been

problematic, whereas UD Trucks has proven themselves a very

stable partner.

Ngululu Bulk Carriers buy their trucks from UD Trucks

Southern Africa with a trade-back guarantee when the trucks

reach the limit of their warranty period, which is equal to the

company replacement policy. As soon as their vehicles have

01. One of NBC’s UD Trucks rounds a bend in the vast, magnificent landscape of Limpopo.

02. The tough conditions of working in the region aren’t limited to summer heat that can rise to 45°C.

03. A technician from UD Trucks dealer Exa Motors performs some of his com-pany’s regular maintenance of NBC trucks.

04. “We never send our trucks out dirty,” says Chief Operations Officer Louis Tolmay, as a truck gets a thorough cleaning.

01

03

02

04

11 #01 | 2011

In Action

Limpopo

Cape Town

Johannesburg

SOUTH AFRICA

NAMIBIABOTSWANA

ZIMBABWE

SWAZILAND

MOZAMBIQUE

LESOTHO

Limpopo

clocked 500,000 kilometers or reach the age of three years,

they will be exchanged for new models.

Mr. Myburg notes that the tailor-made maintenance

agreement between UD Trucks and NBC is a huge benefit.

Part of the agreement is the arrangement in which external,

authorized maintenance technicians are responsible for all

maintenance onsite. This gives NBC the flexibility to plan

ahead in terms of maintenance, and thereby limit downtime.

At the same time, NBC is guaranteed that all maintenance

will be of the required standard. All of NBC’s UD Trucks are

serviced every 25,000 kilometers, with a lube/health service in

between. They clock an average of 16,000-18,000 kilometers

per month.

Marius Jacobs who is the manager of Exa Motors, the

UD Trucks dealership responsible for this area, is part of this

maintenance team. He is enthusiastic about the relationship. “I

have worked on many brands as a diesel mechanic, but to me,

the UD Truck is definitely the best and the easiest to main-

tain,” he says. “It is one of the best on the road today in terms

of dependability.”

His colleague Willem Slieker agrees. “What I enjoy about

UD Trucks is that their vehicles are very rigid. They are the

toughest on the road and can take the hammering.”

Meet Flip MyburgTo those in the business, one person

in particular personifies Ngululu Bulk

Carriers: Fleet and Technical Director Flip

Myburg. People refer to “Flip’s trucks,”

as if they were his babies. And Myburg

is the kind of person who probably

would in fact refer to his trucks and

staff as family.

Myburg started working as an ap-

prentice diesel fitter in 1975, qualified

in 1978 and has since spent the last 25

years with the same company, working

his way up from the shop floor. “Diesel

runs in my veins,” he explains.

But it is not only mechanics that

motivates him. He thrives on the chal-

lenge of interacting with people from

body shop to boardroom in the course

of a day. “I like to work with people,”

he says. “In my job, you have to be able

to talk anyone, from drivers to manag-

ing directors in blue chip companies.”

As in many close families, light-

hearted banter is part of the dynamic.

“I recently told my people that I

thought we needed a bit of color in the

company,” he says. “To tease me, some

of the mechanics went straight out

and sprayed part of one of the trade-in

trucks pink,” he says with a laugh.

01. Flip Myburg (left) with UD Trucks National Fleet Sales Manager Stefan Bronkhurst and one of the company’s fleet of 260 vehicles, including many UD Trucks.

02. Rhinos, one of Africa’s Big Five wild animals, at home in the area.

02

About the area: Limpopo is South Africa’s northernmost province. Mining, agriculture and tourism are the biggest contributors to the area’s economy.

About Ngululu Bulk Carriers (NBC): Established in the early 1980s, NBC is a road-based logistics company. The company’s operations are based in Steelpoort, and are centered on the bulk carriage of mineral and agricultural products.

01

12 #01 | 2011

In Action

It may be the newest brand name in the Japanese truck manufacturing industry,

but that doesn’t mean that UD Trucks hasn’t been around for a very long time.

LD1: The first truck

Powered by the ND1 engine

(see next page), the LD1 had a

3.5-ton payload. It was tested on

a 3,500-kilometer run across

rough rural roads.

1939

13

History

#01 | 2011

“We published a history at the

time we became UD Trucks

Corporation,” says President

Satoru Takeuchi. “The idea

wasn’t to wallow in the past, or

to get overly nostalgic. Instead, we felt that, if you look over

the remarkable history of the company, you get a sense of its

spirit, of the DNA that we feel still is very much part of not

only our products, but the way we do business. That heritage,

that DNA, has helped us take on the challenges that inevitably

come along, such as the recent earthquake and tsunami in the

Tohoku region. It’s not just our past, but our future, too.”

The move to the UD Trucks name, in fact, draws on that

long history. The company goes all the way back to 1935, and

the founding of Nihon Diesel Industries, Ltd. Trucks weren’t

part of the original offering; the company produced 2-cycle

diesel engines under license from Krupp Junkers of Germany,

as well as automobiles and aircraft parts. By 1938, however,

Nihon Diesel Industries produced its own 2-cycle diesel engine,

the ND1. This in turn was used in the company’s first truck, the

3.5-ton payload LD1.

The company continued to develop trucks through the

war years, as well as bulldozers—a key product until produc-

tion ceased in 1947.

Things really took off after the war. Renamed Minsei

Sangyo Co., Ltd. in 1946, changing to Minsei Diesel Industries,

Ltd. in 1950, the company had released its first bus in 1947—

complete with hand-shaped hoods and other sections unique to

each vehicle—followed by Japan’s first rear-engine monocoque

bus, known as the “Condor.” More hints of things to come….

It was in 1955 that the product that would come to be the

symbol for the company was released: the UD engine. Today

“UD” has the symbolic meaning of “Ultimate Dependability;”

at that time, it stood for the more functional “uniflow scav-

ND1: The first diesel engine

The company’s first self-developed

engine was a 2-cycle engine with

opposed pistons, direct injection,

and no cylinder head or intake and

exhaust valves.

First bus

Buses have long been part of the

company lineup; the first model

featured a hand-shaped hood and

other parts.

UD engine

Built to meet the demand for more

engine power, this two-stroke

engine was known as the Uni-flow

scavenging Diesel engine—the

source of the UD name—because

of the one-way flow of air through

the engine.

6TW truck

The first truck in Japan with a

10-ton-plus payload, the 6TW was

powered by the UD6 engine. It

has since become one of the most

famous trucks in the history of

Japanese commercial vehicles.

1938 1947 1955 1958

14 #01 | 2011

enging diesel engine.” The technology is rather simple: inside

the engine cylinder, fuel and air enter from the bottom and

push exhaust gases from the last ignition out of a port at the

top of the cylinder; the fuel then ignites, pushing down the

cylinder and the cycle repeats. The airflow is in one direction,

hence “uniflow,” while scavenging is the process of pushing

out exhaust gases while pulling in fresh new fuel and air.

The engine was one of the milestones for the company, as

it was used in such important vehicles as the 10-ton 6TW truck

released in 1958—one of the most important trucks in Japa-

nese motor history—and both truck and engine were exported

to the US and other markets. More importantly, the UD mark

stuck as the company’s symbol. This was true even after 1960,

when the company name was changed to Nissan Diesel Motor

Co., Ltd., following the car maker’s investment in the company.

Following the 6TW were a series of trucks and engines,

always getting bigger and more powerful. In the 1970s, the

company began to produce light-duty trucks for Nissan Motor;

from the 1980s, the lineup included trucks of all categories as

well as buses.

In 1975, the first incarnation of the Condor arrived, UD

Trucks’ first model for the medium-duty truck market. Things

began to get more modern in the heavy-duty segment with

the Big Thumb in 1990. Today the Condor comes in light-,

medium- and heavy-duty versions, while the big end of the

company lineup is represented by the Quon. It truly is Japan’s

premium truck; when it was launched, it was already in com-

pliance with new exhaust regulations in Japan—the strictest in

the world at the time—a full year ahead of enforcement.

Now with the UD mark not just a symbol mark but the

actual name of the company, UD Trucks can both look back

and draw on the vast experiences it has gained since 1935 in

creating superior products, and in helping to put its customers

and partners on the road to success.

Condor truck

UD’s successful first entry into the

medium-duty truck market, the

Condor remains a mainstay of the

UD Trucks lineup.

Big Thumb truck

The company’s move into the mod-

ern heavy-duty market responded to

trends through a concept of being

people- and socially-friendly.

GE13 engine

The straight-6 GE13 diesel engine

responded to the growing demand

for environmentally friendly models

by providing low emissions and high

mileage.

Quon truck

Japan’s premier heavy-duty truck

meets today’s stringent exhaust

regulations as well as the fuel

economy demanded by customers.

1975 1990 1998 2004

The UD mark

Born with the launch of the UD engine,

the name originally stood for “Uni-flow

scavenging Diesel engine,” later changed

to the company value of “Ultimate

Dependability.” With the partnership of

Nissan Diesel with Volvo, the company

name was officially changed to UD Trucks

in 2010, with the launch of the new version

of the UD logo market released soon after.

15 #01 | 2011

History

It’s something of a factory within a factory:

a neat, clean, quiet space within a bigger,

noisier (but still clean, even if older) main

building. The new engine assembly line at

the Ageo factory, UD Trucks’ main produc-

tion facility in Japan, is a highly automated pro-

duction space set up as something of a separate

space within the factory.

The airtight, firewall-protected area takes

up 5,162m2 of the factory; it produces the GH

engine used in both the Quon and Condor,

with a capacity of 40,000 engines annually.

It also includes cylinder head and piston sub-

assembly lines, along with an engine test area

and paint booth.

Engines at every stage in the assembly pro-

cess move quietly around the perimeter of the

room, as both human workers and robots set

in well-labeled sections move in to attach the

many different components that make up the

powerplants for UD Trucks. It is almost clinical:

white, bright, clean, quiet.

It also, says those involved in creating it, not

only a major improvement in the engine-build-

ing technology of the factory, but also a blend-

ing of the best of Volvo Group technology and

some of the traditional strengths of UD Trucks

and Japan.

“The new line was developed to be much

more automated than what we had previously,”

says Takamitsu Sakamaki, General Manager,

Manufacturing Quality Assurance Department.

“This is because it is based on Volvo’s most

advanced system, one that has been deployed

throughout the world—it’s fully 40-percent

automated. However, there are a number of

ways in which Japanese and UD Trucks influ-

ences have been felt. The global production

lines are very efficient because they produce

a single engine model. Here, though, we have

mixed production, and assemble both large and

mid-size engines. So for us, the major direction

in the plant was to create something that could

make use of the Volvo system, but also handle

the assembly of a variety of engines.”

Parts picking, he says, is the major issue—

more and different part, of course, are

needed when you’re building more than one

kind of engine.

“What we did was add UD Trucks’ picking

system know-how to Volvo’s global produc-

tion system, to create a wholly new system,”

Mr. Sakamaki says. “Another unique feature of

the line is that engines under construction are

carried by Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV),

which can lift the engine up and down or rotate

them automatically, which greatly reduces fa-

tigue for the workers. We were able to improve

the system so that production could continue

even as the engines are being moved, so we can

A special space forengine assembly in

Ageo To build the very finest diesel truck engines possible, you need a workplace that’s out of the ordinary. A new assembly area in UD Trucks’ main factory in Japan provides just such a space.

“Combining a global system with UD Trucks know-how had its difficulties, but what we gained was such a major factor.”

Takamitsu SakamakiGeneral MangerManufacturing Quality Assurance Department

“Creating a flexible production system meant

inspecting what we were doing every day, and

we want to continue to hear new ideas for the

future.”

Takashi HashimotoGeneral ManagerPT Operations

“Volvo’s environmental standards are at an very high level. There’s a lot for us to do to reach that stage!”

Takahide MatsuyamaManagerPT Operations

16 #01 | 2011

produce even more units during a given length

of time.”

To assemble advanced, high-quality engines,

a super-clean production environment is

essential. Here, too, UD Trucks drew on con-

cepts proven globally, says General Manager

Takashi Hashimoto.

“Our approach has been a total overview of

the work environment, including factors such

as temperature, humidity, and noise,” he says.

“For example, we control air pressure within the

assembly area to make it more difficult for out-

side to enter when a window or door is opened.

This also helps to keep out dust and dirt, and

creates a more sanitary environment in which

the engines are assembled. The tools used to at-

tach bolts and other parts are no longer pneu-

matic, but are instead electric, which are much

quieter. This has greatly improved the working

environment and reduced fatigue. Electric tools

also provide much higher accuracy.”

That attention to cleanliness even extended

to the earth below the site. “It wasn’t just the

surface that we were concerned with, but we

were looking for harmful materials deep down

in the ground,” says manager Takahide Mat-

suyama. “The engines are built with consider-

ation for the environment, so we felt that the

production environment should be thoroughly

clean as well. We were also concerned with

energy conservation, so we use the heat gen-

erated by engine testing for space heating in

winter, and are working on a number of ways to

ensure that energy is not wasted.”

“Our vision for quality as well as reduced

environmental impact is something that is an

01. On the automated line, workers move into the final stages of as-sembly.

02. Robotic lifts move automatically along the production line, easing the work for employees and improving efficiency.

03. Poised for assembly: parts bins stand, filled and ready for the next engines on the line.

integral part of the factory,” Mr. Matsuyama

says. “It’s something that perhaps our custom-

ers cannot directly see, but it’s part of the

philosophy and hopefully part of the appeal of

our next-generation engines.”

But, while automation has been greatly in-

creased, and robots work alongside humans to

build the stream of GH engines, Masaji

Mizumura adds that there is a Japanese ap-

proach to quality that hasn’t been forgotten.

“We had always felt at UD Trucks that it was

human hands that were the greatest guaran-

tee of reliability,” he says. “We were worried

entrusting everything to robots could mean

damage in areas such as within cylinders, where

it would be hard to find. So we always have

human eyes there at the important places in

assembly. We took the increased automation

efficiency provided by the Volvo Group, and

added the human-based quality management

of UD. The result was both higher efficiency and

quality that we have ever had!”

02 03

17 #01 | 2011

Technology

01

The Customer

PT. Kalimantan Lestari RaharjaUD Trucks customer since 2008

Location: Balikpapan, East Kalimantan

(Borneo), Indonesia

Line of business: Medium-size hauling

firm, serving an open-pit coal mine

Trucks: Around 140 UD trucks

UD Trucks’ challenge: As PT. Kalimantan

Lestari Raharja continues to expand, UD

Trucks must work closely with them to

provide optimal support for a bigger fleet

working in this tough environment.

Heat and heavyhaulingIn a hot, humid setting in Indonesia, UD Trucks are put to the test not only because of the tough work involved in working a coal mine, but because of a climate where hard rains and slick conditions alternate with hot dry spells and choking dust. The trucks more than meet the challenge, say the men who use them every day on this demanding job.

18 #01 | 2011

Abdul Kastar, Plant Manager

“We have around 35 UD trucks at

this mine. We face various chal-

lenges throughout the year: sand

during the dry season, mud during

the rainy season. UD Trucks’ service

is really helpful to me, especially

when they provide advice when

I face difficulties. And I can easily

find spare parts even at local service

centers, because UD Trucks is quite

common here.

I salute UD Trucks’ performance.

Their trucks and their service help

us handle any difficulties we face,

something that has been demon-

strated many times.”

Wahyuddin, Driver

“I have been driving UD Trucks for four years. I

work in hauling. The challenge in hauling here

is that when it rains, the road becomes very

slippery, and trucks often slide on the roads. But

during the dry season, the dust is quite thick.

I feel that my UD truck’s engine is not noisy,

the transmission doesn’t give us trouble, and

it has a wide cabin. This is very helpful during

the rainy season. When it rains, I can rest com-

fortably inside the cabin, and even take a nap.

In the other trucks I have used, we can only

sit inside.

I want to thank UD Trucks for helping me to

do my job—which in turn is what allows me to

support my family. Thank you!”

19 #01 | 2011

First person

“I only let my best work out into

the world,” Mr. Kawasaki says.

“A hundred years from now, I

don’t want one or two sub-par

swords to define me.”

When he graduated from Tokyo’s Meiji Uni-

versity in 1991 with a degree in economics and

politics, he could hardly have imagined that he

would end up toiling in a modest workshop in

rural Saitama Prefecture. But as he hammers

the blade of what will become a katana, the

Japanese sword, he’s clearly in his element.

“During my student days,” Mr. Kawasaki, 43,

recalls, “I studied iaido (a martial art involving

swords). But it was when I went to the National

Museum and saw an extraordinarily beauti-

ful sword, a national treasure, that I thought,

‘Someday, I want to make a sword like this.’”

Soon after joining the legions of corporate

recruits, Kawasaki realized his destiny lay else-

where. So he set about turning that museum

epiphany into an occupation.

“I started looking for a katanakaji (sword-

smith) to learn from,” he says. “By chance,

a friend in Nagano told me about a katana

exhibition there. And that’s where I met my

mentor, Kozaemon Yukihira Miyairi.”

Rejected at first, it took several trips to Naga-

no and numerous letters to get his foot in the

door as an uchideshi (live-in pupil). And then

there were the terms: no salary, little time off,

and a host of domestic responsibilities includ-

ing cleaning, doing laundry and helping out

with Miyairi’s infant child.

The other end of the bargain was the chance

to observe a master swordsmith plying his

trade.

“A Japanese apprenticeship is not like

school,” Mr. Kawasaki says; he also uses the ar-

tisan name Akihira. “Your mentor won’t spoon-

feed you. He’ll expose his work completely, and

it’s up to you to absorb the knowledge.”

At night, Mr. Kawasaki would try to emulate

Miyairi’s techniques by studying the scraps left

in the workshop. It was in this way that he

learned to craft fine katana of the sort once

prized by lords and high-ranking warriors.

“To cut well, you need hard material,” he

explains, holding up a gleaming blade in the

style of the Nanboku-cho period (1336-1392).

“If you add soft material, it creates a more

complex metal that’s less likely to break.” To

achieve this fusion, hard and soft steel are

repeatedly heated and folded together.

A katanakaji must also consider style, bal-

ance, and the composition of the hamon, or

ripple pattern, on the blade. And it’s not a

one-man process; other artisans handle tasks

like polishing.

Japanese law stipulates that each smith can

make only 24 katana a year, but for Mr. Kawa-

saki this is plenty. “To keep a high standard, I

can only make 10 per year. I spend about two

months making steel. Sometimes I sharpen for

20 consecutive hours.”

That dedication does bear fruit: His creations

sell for around ¥2.5 million (about US$32,000)

and have garnered recognition from the

government.

Compared to other traditional trades, Mr.

Kawasaki says there are still quite a few aspir-

ing swordsmiths. Yet he warns that few have

what it takes to carry on this centuries-old

tradition. “You need the eyes to discern qual-

ity. And to develop them, a long apprenticeship

is essential.”

Only then, it seems, can a swordsmith begin

to carve his place in history.

Japanese craftsmanship and the word “quality” are inextricably linked. Yet for award-winning swordsmith Hitoshi Kawasaki, quality takes on a historic significance.

Text & photos: Jim Hand-Cukierman

“I only let my best work out into the world.”Hitoshi Kawasaki

20 #01 | 2011

The simple setting for Mr. Kawasaki’s creative work.

01. Hitoshi Kawasaki pumps the bellows of his forge, ready for work on his next katana.

02. The work of crafting the Japanese sword involves both hammer and eye.

03. The result of techniques developed over the centuries, and the skill of the craftsman: a gleaming new katana blade.

01

0302

21 #01 | 2011

Tradition

Management

Driver

Driver

Driver

Production

Warehouse/shipping

Product planning

UD Trucks, as one of the best known and

trusted names in the Japanese truck

industry, has thousands of domestic

customers representing all areas of busi-

ness. One of its more interesting

customers is not directly a customer, in fact: Okamura

Logistics Corporation is the shipping arm of renowned

office furniture manufacturer Okamura Corporation,

but the company does not own any of its own trucks.

It operates its own logistics centers, where it stores

but also ships, delivers and installs Okamura furniture.

The hundreds of trucking firms it employs natu-

rally include many UD Trucks users; together, Oka-

mura Logistics Corp. and UD Trucks create training

programs of the drivers of these firms in a number of

areas, with UD Trucks providing services such as safe

driving and fuel economy courses, always working

closely with Okamura’s goals for the programs.

One of the most important programs recently

carried out by Okamura Logistics Corp. has been a

project to reduce product damage during transport.

Knowing exactly where damage occurs is a difficult

task, of course, but product damage can reduce

customer confidence, and ruin the Okamura Group’s

hard-won reputation for high product quality. The

ultimate goal is zero complaints from customers; to

move closer toward this goal, Okamura Logistics

Corp. came up with four key points.

The burden that damage places on the company

was expressed in very clear, easy-to-understand

numeric figures that everyone from driver up

through the logistics and manufacturing opera-

tions could understand. People were able to

clearly see what one incident could cost—not

only in the repayment to the customer, but also

in the extra transport, labor, packaging and all

other costs.

Starting in 2006, a project was established to

reduce the losses due to accidents in shipping

and transport work at the distribution center by

half over a three-year period.

Key to achieving this was involving the people

who actually handle the product—to use their

eyes to see not only their own actions, but also

to make it clear that they were not receiving

damaged product as well. This upstream action

helped not only drivers and workers in the dis-

tribution center, but kept moving up within the

company and even through the Okamura Group.

In the end, the target was more than met,

with a full 60-percent reduction in damage after

three years.

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

-60%

Diminishing Damage

Okamura Logistics CorporationFounded: June 1, 1989 Headquarters: Yokohama, JapanBusiness activities: Freight handling and transport, warehousing, storage of furniture and building materials, cargo handling and assembly, construction, interior design and constructionEmployees: 395

POINT

Since Okamura Logistics Corp. does not have

its own trucking arm, the communication with

its suppliers is essential. Everyone throughout

the production and supply chain was involved in

creating the plan, including suggestions from the

drivers. All the key issues were passed through

everyone involved, which not only raised aware-

ness, it made people, particularly the drivers, feel

more part of the team. Too often in the past,

they noted, reporting would just disappear up

the chain; often, too, documents were too for-

mal, where a memo or even just verbal reporting

would make for better communications.

Everyone shares the target

POINT

A comprehensive plan across the partnership must be created

To respond to the need for improved transportation, ongoing inspections are held at each work stage.

Awareness: reportingfrom work location

Feedback of solution

22 #01 | 2011

Taking actionWhat was made clear is that office furniture is

often shipped without a great deal of cardboard

or other packaging. That means extra care must

be taken at all times, or a scratch or cut can oc-

cur. Something as small as part of a handle can

cause serious damage if it comes in contact with

a painted surface, for example, with the vibra-

tions of road delivery. And the product often

must be very carefully secured, as a misplaced

rope or belt could also shift and rub a delicate

painted surface.

In the case of office furniture, some items are

wrapped in cardboard, but most are shipped in a

“naked” condition. Because of this, if attention is

lost for even a second, there is always the

possibility of tiny cuts or scratches. The prod-

ucts are very delicate, so, for example, if a

locker handle sticks out just a little and comes

in contact with a flat surface, the vibrations

during transport can easily result in damage. To

avoid rubbing or deformation of the product

surface, lashing belts or ropes cannot be used to

directly fasten the product. Because of this, the

person doing the loading of the product is very

important, with the main point being cushioning

between the products.

One action taken—and directly in response to

a driver suggestion—was to improve cushioning

by eliminating traditional cotton blankets, which

have the danger of introducing moisture and

dirt to the product, for reusable (and recyclable),

super-strong urethane foam.

Okamura Logistics Corp. also holds Customer

Satisfaction Strengthening Months twice annu-

ally. This not only gives drivers a chance to learn

and practice new inspection, loading and trans-

port techniques, it also gives Okamura Logistics

Corp. a chance to assess the skills of the drivers,

and to provide improvement. This means not

only review in the formal setting of the seminars,

but with distribution center employees traveling

with the drivers to actual customer locations.

So everyone wins: customers receiving their

goods in better condition, so satisfaction is

higher; the condition of the product throughout

Okamura is better monitored and roles are clearly

defined; and drivers have not only advanced

tools but also understand transport’s critical role

in ensuring customer satisfaction. And that, they

say, is why they are more than ever committed to

Okamura Logistics Corp.

For new products, Okamura Logistics Corp. built

on existing paper manuals and other documents

outlining handling procedures with the creation

of explanatory DVDs. These showed the proper

ways of holding, manipulating and moving items,

in simple visual actions. The DVDs succeeded

because people often find it difficult to set aside

time to read manuals, while the videos are very

real, immediate and easy to understand.

It was also found that the safe driving sec-

tions of the video also helped to further the

company’s goals for eco-driving—so with one

new development, prod-

uct quality, driving safety,

environmental action and

customer satisfaction were

all advanced.

The company realized soon on that even if heroic

efforts were made by drivers, it would be very

difficult to identify all the causes of product

damage; in the same way, it is very difficult to

build a perfect production and shipping program

that always has perfect product waiting for the

truckers.

If a constant, careful production management

system is in place, though, the transport firm

can take charge of delivery with much greater

peace of mind. And if a solid reporting system

from the driver’s side is in place, then problems

that exist when they take charge, or which occur

during transport, can be clearly identified and

addressed. Not only that,

but the drivers feel closer

to Okamura and its prod-

ucts, and are therefore

more willing to take the

advice and direction of the

company when making

their deliveries. And both

they and the shipping staff

within Okamura Logistics

Corp. are more aware of

their role in helping to

build customer satisfaction.

POINT

Everyone’s skills can improve

POINT

Everyone shares in the improvement work

23 #01 | 2011

Case Study

When you use UD Genuine Parts you can expect quality,

complete life cycle value and improved productivity—all guaranteed.

UD Genuine Parts are designed to work in harmony with the rest of your truck.

This is why we say, every part counts.

Every Part Counts

1-1, Ageo-shi, Saitama 362-8523, Japanwww.udtrucks.com