Kanefusa carves sharp profits through innovative cutting-edge tools

Spawning advancements in manufacturing, Japanese technology has become almost synonymous with "state of the art". Applying this technological proficiency to cutting tools, Kanefusa has achieved extremely sharp blades, and even sharper customer profits.

Kanefusa mainly serves the housing, woodworking, metalworking, plastics and paper industries with products such as long knives, cutters and circular sawblades. Founded by master blacksmith and samurai Kankichi Kamiya in 1896, Kanefusa is the market leader in Japan and No 2 globally, with a turnover of almost US$170 million. Listed on the Tokyo and Nagoya stock exchanges, Kanefusa is establishing its presence in Asia to become the region's top cutting tools manufacturer.

"Companies around the world use our cutting tools because of their accuracy and quality," says Masato Watanabe, president.

With ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certifications, Kanefusa has been producing original, high-precision cutting tools for more than a century. It developed the Ferro Max (FM) cold sawblade when there was no efficient technology available yet for cutting steel billets. A product of intensive research, FM cold sawblade has since become the industry standard.

Creating great value for customers, Kanefusa also developed narrower and more efficient blades for Scandinavian sawmills. The sawblades save on wood, translating to millions in profits.

A pioneering innovator, Kanefusa offers a software-hardware package that can raise production and speed by up to 10 per cent. "No matter how good the knives are, you don't get the best results without technical knowledge or software," says Tetsuro Hirako, managing director. "Software is priceless because it assures precision."