Aichi Steel

{{Short description|Japanese steel manufacturer}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2018}} {{Infobox company |name = Aichi Steel Corporation |native_name = 愛知製鋼株式会社 |native_name_lang = ja |logo = Aichi Steel company logo.svg |logo_size = 250px |image = Aichi Steel Corporation.JPG |image_size = 250px |image_caption = Headquarters of Aichi Steel |type = Public (K.K) |traded_as = {{TYO|5482}}<br>{{NAG|5482}} |ISIN = {{ISIN|sl=n|pl=y|JP3160700005}} |foundation = {{Start date and age|1940|3|8}} |hq_location_city = Tōkai city, Aichi Prefecture 110-8408 |hq_location_country = Japan |key_people = Takahiro Fujioka<br><small>(President)</small> |industry = Steel |products = {{unbulleted list|Steel|Forged steel products|Titanium products|Electro-magnetic products}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.google.com/finance/quote/5482:TYO |title=Aichi Steel Corporation (Public, TYO:5482) |publisher=Google, Inc. |access-date=December 24, 2010}}</ref> |revenue = {{increase}} JPY 236 billion (FY 2017) (US$ 2.1 billion) (FY 2017) |net_income = {{decrease}} JPY 8.1 billion (FY 2017) (US$ 74 million) (FY 2017) |num_employees = 4,773 (consolidated, as of March 31, 2017) |area_served = Worldwide |homepage = {{Official website|http://www.aichi-steel.co.jp/ENGLISH/index.html}} |footnotes = <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aichi-steel.co.jp/ENGLISH/about/company_profile.html |title=Corporate Profile |publisher=Aichi Steel |access-date=May 25, 2018}}</ref><ref name="Nikkei">{{cite web |url=https://asia.nikkei.com/Companies/Aichi-Steel-Corp |title=Company Profile |work=Nikkei Asian Review |publisher=Nikkei Inc. |access-date=May 25, 2018 |archive-date=June 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230608022307/https://asia.nikkei.com/Companies/Aichi-Steel-Corp |url-status=dead }}</ref>}}

{{nihongo|'''Aichi Steel'''|愛知製鋼|Aichi Seikō}} is a Japanese steel manufacturer. It is a member of the Toyota Group.

==History== Aichi Steel was one of the earliest subsidiaries of the Toyota Group. Kiichiro Toyoda, the founder of Toyota, struggled to manufacture automobiles as the steel producers were uninterested to supply his small workshop with the steel sheets for automobiles.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last1=Hibino |first1=Shozo |title=Toyota's Global Marketing Strategy: Innovation through Breakthrough Thinking and Kaizen |last2=Noguchi |first2=Koichiro |last3=Plenert |first3=Gerhard |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-351-67154-5 |language=en}}</ref> To address the problem, Toyoda bought his own furnace that provided his company with the casting expertise and forming equipment that would shape a car.<ref name=":0" /> This iron workshop became the precursor to Aichi Steel.

The company was established in 1934 as Aichi Seiko, the steel manufacturing department of Toyoda Automatic Loom Works, the predecessor to Toyota Industries.<ref>{{cite book |first=Pradyumna P.|last= Karan |title=Japan in the Bluegrass |date=January 13, 2015 |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |isbn=978-0-8131-5933-1 |page=26}}</ref> The company derived its name from Aichi Prefecture, where Toyota's headquarters and major production facilities are located.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Smith |first=Michael P. |title=Pacific Rim Cities in the World Economy |publisher=Transaction Publishers |year=2004 |isbn=0-88738-735-7 |location=New Brunswick, NJ |pages=211 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Karan |first=Pradyumna P. |title=Japan in the Bluegrass |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |year=2021 |isbn=978-0-8131-8775-4 |language=en}}</ref> It became an independent company in 1940 and changed its name to its present one in 1945.<ref name="Picken" />

Today, Aichi Steel supplies 40% of the steel, springs and forged products for automotive use to members of the Toyota Group.<ref name="Picken">{{cite book |author=Stuart D. B. Picken |title=The A to Z of Japanese Business |year=2009 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0-8108-6872-4 |page=8}}</ref> This volume underscored Toyota's reliance on the partnership given the sophisticated nature of Aichi's manufacturing services, which few suppliers can replicate.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Barnes |first=David |title=Operations Management: An International Perspective |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-137-52578-9 |location=London |pages=302–301 |language=en}}</ref> In January 2016, a furnace explosion in one of Aichi's steel mills suspended production at Toyota's entire assembly plants for one week<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2016-02-01 |title=Toyota to halt Japan output next week after steel plant explosion |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/02/01/business/corporate-business/toyota-to-halt-japan-output-next-week-after-steel-plant-explosion/ |access-date=2022-11-16 |website=The Japan Times |language=en-US}}</ref> and threatened further disruptions to the company's operations for almost two months.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tajitsu |first=Naomi |date=2016-02-01 |title=Toyota to stop Japan production for one week due to steel shortage |url=https://www.livemint.com/Companies/OYxMFsw4Q7GdGKvVOrHb1N/Toyota-to-stop-Japan-production-for-one-week-due-to-steel-sh.html |access-date=2022-11-16 |website=mint |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Schmitt |first=Bertel |title=Exploding Steel Mill Disrupts Toyota |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/bertelschmitt/2016/01/30/exploding-steel-mill-disrupts-toyota/ |access-date=2022-11-16 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *[http://www.aichi-steel.co.jp/ Company website] {{in lang|ja}} *[http://www.aichi-steel.co.jp/ENGLISH/ Company website] *{{cite web|url=http://www.nccjapan.net/shashiwiki/index.php?title=Aichi_Seiko|title=Company history books (Shashi)|publisher=Shashi Interest Group|access-date=26 April 2017}} Wiki collection of company history books on Aichi Steel.

Category:Steel companies of Japan Category:Titanium companies of Japan Category:Companies based in Aichi Prefecture Category:Companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Category:Companies listed on the Nagoya Stock Exchange Category:Manufacturing companies established in 1940 Category:Toyota Group Category:Japanese brands Category:Japanese companies established in 1940