Increased management work for fluorocarbon equipment
Management personnel are concerned about the increasing psychological burden.

Kubota Hirakata Factory, located on a site of over 30,000 sq. m, operated a large number of fluorocarbon chillers to cool spot welding and arc welding torches. The 2015 Act on Rational Use and Proper Management of Fluorocarbons stipulated obligations and penalties regarding fluorocarbon management, and a 2020 amendment made it so that managers could be immediately subject to criminal penalties (fines) without administrative guidance, which left the factory struggling with the burden of management work.

What problems did you encounter with managing the front chiller?

Due to legislation and stricter regulations, site managers now have to carry out statutory management tasks such as regular inspections, creating and storing inspections records, and procedures for recovering refrigerants in addition to their regular duties. Furthermore, direct punishment has created a situation in which the psychological safety of managers is threatened. Of course, we were aware of these issues when the law was enacted and revised, and we were looking for solutions. However, HFC alternative chillers did not exist at the time, so we had no choice but to continue using and adding freon chillers.

How did you find out about Apiste 's HFC alternative chiller?

During a regular inspections of Apiste 's control panel cooling unit, I heard from an Apiste sales representative that they were going to release HFC alternative chiller. At the time, our CFC chiller had stopped working due to contamination (foreign matter mixed in), so I thought, "If there is a chiller that can be used without HFC alternative, I would like to adopt it," and decided to borrow a test machine. Things progressed smoothly from there, and we decided to introduce our first HFC alternative chiller.

By going HFC alternative, legal inspections work is eliminated.
Furthermore, it also improves psychological safety for managers.

How have the challenges of managing equipment changed since the introduction of HFC alternative chiller?

By introducing HFC alternative chiller, we were able to reduce the amount of work required to manage fluorocarbons. But what made us even happier was that after the introduction of HFC alternative chiller, the person in charge of managing the fluorocarbon equipment praised the introduction of HFC alternative chiller, saying, "We have been relieved of the psychological pressure that any mismanagement of fluorocarbons would result in an immediate violation of the law, so we hope you will continue to promote its introduction in the future."

What is your evaluation after the implementation?

The first unit we installed has been in operation for about three years, and there have been no problems with cooling capacity. Furthermore, despite being used without the foreign object removal filter used in previous models, there have been no malfunctions due to foreign objects, making it an excellent unit. Based on these results, we determined that Apiste 's HFC alternative chillers are not only non HFC alternative, but also sufficiently reliable and durable. Furthermore, the company has announced a policy of actively implementing ESG-related investments related to safety, environment, and compliance, and we expect that HFC alternative to non-CFC equipment that falls under environment investments will continue to be promoted. Currently, we have six Apiste HFC alternative chillers in operation, and we plan to continue actively introducing Apiste HFC alternative chillers when installing new equipment or updating facilities.

Using the drive recorder function,
I want to perform preventative maintenance on my welding torch.

What about the follow-up and after-sales service provided after installation?

I'm very satisfied with the after-sales service. I sometimes ask technical questions, and they respond quickly. I also find the after-sales support, including maintenance, very helpful.

Are there any new initiatives you would like to try in the future?

Apiste 's PCU-NE series has a drive recorder function. This function can record the values of external temperature sensor in the chiller body, so we are thinking that we can measure the return water temperature of the chiller and use the changes in that temperature to prevent pipe clogging inside the torch. Furthermore, since the values of external temperature sensor can be display on the LCD panel, it would be great to be able to check them in real time.

What are your future prospects?

Kubota has factories all over the world, and many of them have introduced machinery that uses fluorocarbons in their production equipment. Among them, and this is purely my personal goal, I would like the Hirakata Factory to be the first to achieve "zero fluorocarbons in production equipment." I believe that Apiste 's HFC alternative chillers are essential to achieving this goal.