In order to cope with the sharp increase in the demand for turbochargers, Mitsubishi Heavy
Industries Engine & Turbocharger, Ltd. (MHIET) is pushing forward with the transition of the
Sagamihara District Third Plant to a smart factory through the further automatization of facilities
and the use of IoT technologies toward the realization of an advanced turbocharger production
line. In the present situation, the automatization of the major processes on the production line has
been achieved, but for carrying in parts, appearance inspection, equipment operation monitoring,
etc., the work is conducted by hand. This report introduces the efforts to develop the component
technologies for automatization toward the realization of an advanced production line: (1) the
automatization of the carrying in/carrying out of parts with a camera-equipped robot designed to
operate autonomously; (2) the automatization of appearance inspection; and (3) the establishment
of a smart factory using IoT technologies.
