Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd.CSR Department, General Affairs Division

Creating a place to pass on our work to the future

In May 2006, the company opened Kawasaki World, a corporate museum in Kobe City, with the aim of enabling visitors to experience the wonder of technology and the importance of monozukuri (the art of making things) while learning and playing in a fun, "see and touch" environment. Since 2012, the company has also developed an experimental craft program featuring one of the company's technologies each year, based on its diverse product lineup as a comprehensive heavy industry company. In addition to educational events, the company has also been conducting classes at elementary schools in Minamisanriku-cho, Miyagi Prefecture, as part of its efforts to support reconstruction efforts in the Tohoku region. The first experimental craft program, "Let's Make My Own Helicopter," has already become established as a program for elementary school students and is widely used in community contribution activities and various events at bases nationwide. In FY2019, a total of eight experimental craft classes were held at Kawasaki World on June 8 and at Minamisanriku on November 11 and 12, providing 188 children with an understanding of the principles of hydraulic equipment and the appeal of craftsmanship.

Program development with the commitment of young engineers

Each year, young engineers from each company are tasked with developing the experimental craft programs. This year, the Precision Machinery & Robotics Company, which manufactures hydraulic equipment that powers cranes and excavators, was in charge. The program, "Let's Make a Microplane," was developed once before in 2013, and this is the first time that the company's activities have redeveloped and implemented a project with the same title. At first, we expected the development to go smoothly, given that we already had the educational materials and the program in place. However, we are a group of engineers. When we actually took a look at the past teaching materials, many points for improvement were raised. As a result, the second-generation crane kit, which was redeveloped, was improved so that in addition to the basic crane movement of "lifting heavy objects," it could "create vertical and rotational movements with ingenuity. 90-minute classes were held with one company engineer and several staff members from the headquarters and branch offices assigned to each group, In Minamisanriku Town in November, the company conducted six classes over a two-day period at five elementary schools in the town. In the post-workshop questionnaires, many of the children said they wanted to think of a stronger arm mechanism themselves and that they wanted to be involved in manufacturing in the future, indicating that the engineers' ideas are reaching the next generation.

Effects that the continuation of the initiative will produce both internally and externally

When the program was first implemented in Minamisanriku Town in 2012, the town was still in the pre-infrastructure development stage, with the effects of the earthquake still very much in evidence. The earthquake was still in the early stages of infrastructure development. Seven years later, the construction of higher ground and the embankments of the river and the sea are being completed. The program in Minamisanriku, which began with the idea of "not only providing heavy machinery, but also contributing to the development of people who would use it to build the town," is now in its eighth year and is being offered at all five elementary schools in the town for the first time. The number of schools has gradually increased, and it can be said that the company's engineering has been introduced to all the sixth-grade students in the town. We are looking forward to seeing what kind of town the children, who have learned about the appeal of engineering, will build in the future.