2. Environmental Consideration in Products
The Hitachi Metals Group considers “Thinking about the next generation—An environment-friendlysolution” an important managerial issue. We contribute to the realization of a sustainable society throughthe creation of new products and new technologies that meet such needs, as well as through theprovision of advanced environmentally conscious products.

(1) Environmental Consideration (Life Cycle Assessment [LCA]) in Products and Services
For the purpose of contributing to the realization of a sustainable society,the Hitachi Metals Group is focusing attention on the environmental andenergy sectors when promoting the development of new products.

Evaluated over the productlife cycle
Material
procurement

Moreover, for the development and design of such new products, we
promote environmentally friendly product development based on the“Hitachi Group Eco-Design Management Guidelines” (revised version),
which takes product life cycles into account.
Eco-design that takes product life cycles into account has begun to berequired by various international initiatives, including the revision of ISO
14001:2015 and the establishment of IEC 62430*1 as well as nationalProduction ormanufacturing

Distribution

Use and/or
maintenanceregulations for energy-saving products. In order for evaluations to be madefrom the viewpoint of life cycles based on IEC 62430, the Hitachi Metals

Disposal orrecycling

Group revised its environmentally conscious design assessment and LCA
systems in fiscal 2016. Using these assessment tools, we promote product development and design inconsideration of environmental impacts the product will have on the environment throughout its entire life
cycle that ranges from procurement and manufacturing to use and disposal by the customer.
The table below shows examples of the Hitachi Metals Group’s environmentally friendly products andtechnologies that are applied to the environment and energy-related fields.
*1. IEC 62430: The standards set by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) for “Environmentally conscious design forelectrical and electronic products”

Examples of the Hitachi Group’s environmentally friendly products and technologies applied tothe environment and energy-related fields
EnergyMobility

Field of application
Renewable
Solar cells
energyWind-power
generation
Energy saving andPower generationhigh efficiency
facilities
Home appliances
Electricity
storage/transformation

Transformers
Batteries

AutomobilesEmissions control
Light weight

Products and development technologies
Amorphous cut core, dust choke coil, target materials
Rare earth magnets, amorphous metal materials, finemet core, magnet wires
Super-heat-resistant metal materials, precision castblades for turbine wheels
Magnets for air conditioners and refrigerator
compressors,high-efficiency amorphous motor components
Amorphous metal materials for low-loss transformers
SOFC*2 fuel cell parts (interconnector materials, heatresistant parts),
electrode members for secondary batteries, cladmetals, xEV battery cases
Components that help clean exhaust gas
Lightweight undercarriage, magnets for EPS*3,
various sensors
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Hitachi Metals Group CSR Detailed Activity Report 2022

High efficiency
Hybrid/EVs

MotorsInverters and otherdevices
Railway
AviationAll
industries/
Infrastructure

Industrial equipment,
etc.
Water treatment
Electronics

More efficient,compact, lighter
weightLonger life andhigher efficiency
Aircraftcomponents
Seawaterdesalination
More efficient,compact,
lighter weightHeat-resistant cast steel materials, CVT*4 beltmaterials
Rare earth magnets, amorphous metal materials,
amorphous motors,
fine met core, clad metals for secondary battery
electrodes, highly efficient magnet wires
Members for fast charging, aluminum cast inverter
cases,
silicon nitride substrates, power harnesses
Cables for rolling stockNi-based alloy large forged parts for aircraft engines,
high-heat-resistance/high-corrosion-resistance alloys
Long-life die steel, carbide rolls, corrosion/heatresistant fittings, Eco-Green cables,
additive manufacturing technology
Ceramics adsorption filters for pretreatment ofseawater desalination
Communication modules, multilayer ceramics
components, silicon nitride substrates*2. Solid Oxide Fuel Cell; *3. Electronic Power Steering*4. Continuously Variable Transmission

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Hitachi Metals Group CSR Detailed Activity Report 2022

(2) Expansion of Key Environmentally Conscious Products
The Hitachi Metals Group defines environmentally conscious products as those targeted for growth
based on a management strategy and that make a significant contribution to resolving environmental
issues such as climate change and resource recycling. The Group is promoting the increase of revenue
from environmentally conscious products.
In fiscal 2021, revenues from sales of key environmentally conscious products increased to 200.1 billion
yen, reflecting an improvement of 37.1 billion yen from the previous year, when sales declined chiefly due
to production being reduced globally as a result of the spread of COVID-19. However, the revenue ratio
on a consolidated basis remained unchanged from the level of the previous year at 21.2%, falling short of
the target (24%).
Going forward, we will expand the lineup of target products and promote sales, aiming to contribute totackling environmental issues facing our society (climate change, resource recycling, etc.).

Revenues and Sales Ratio of Key Environmentally Conscious Products
30

2,500

Sales ratio of key environmentallyconscious productTarget
25

2,000

20

1,500

15

1,00010500

50020152016

20172018

2019

2020

2021

Sales ratio of key environmentallyconscious products (%)

Revenues of key environmentally conscious
products (100 million yen)

ActualRevenues of key environmentally
環境親和型
conscious products
重点製品売
上収益
売上比率
Sales ratio (Actual)
(実績)

売上比率
Sales ratio (Target)
(目標)

(FY)

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Hitachi Metals Group CSR Detailed Activity Report 2022

(3) The Hitachi Metals Group’s Environment- and Energy-related Products
The Hitachi Metals Group develops and delivers materials and products in fields ranging from generatorsand transformers through to factories, plants, offices, homes, and vehicles, contributing to theenvironment and energy across wide-ranging areas of society.

Introducing Environment- and Energy-related Products■List of our xEV*1-related products
Choke cores
Motor cores

SiN substrates

Soft magnetic products

Magnets

Aluminum cases

Enamelled wires

Clad metals*1. xEV: A generic term for electric vehicles (EVs), hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), and plug-in hybrid
electric vehicles (PHEVs)■Die steel for die-casting DAC-X® with outstanding strength at elevated temperatures
Tool Steel Department, Specialty Steel Business Unit, Advanced Metals Division
Recently, as the application of diecast parts for xEVs has been expanding, die-casting molds have beenrequired to withstand severer usage conditions, including for use of high-melting point aluminum alloy andhigher-cycle casting of products. Particularly, for molds to be applied to produce gate-related parts andsmall and medium-size nested structures, high strength at elevated temperatures is required to enduresoftening temperature conditions. In response to this requirement, we have developed DAC-X®, steel for
die-casting with outstanding strength at elevated temperatures. DAC-X® represents a new highperformance die-casting steel with strength at elevated temperatures and toughness achieved at higher
levels than previous products, which has been made possible through ingredient improvement andprocess innovation.
The new product can improve the heat crack resistance, effecting longer mold life, which will contributeto effective use of resources and decarbonization.

Quenching temperature: 1,030°C; quench cooling:half temperature time (40 min.)Half temperature time: time (minutes) required for the material to cool
down from the quenching temperature to that equivalent to: (quenchingtemperature + room temperature)/2.

Hitachi Metal’s die-casing steel lineup
DAC, DAC-X, and DAC-MAGIC are registered trademarks of Hitachi Metals, Ltd.

mapped out

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Hitachi Metals Group CSR Detailed Activity Report 2022

■ Fiber-optic contact wires
Casting & Wiring Department, Electric Wire & Cable Business Unit,
Advanced Components and Materials Division
In the electric railway system, including for Shinkansen lines, the train vehicle receives electric current
fed from the overhead line (contact wires) through the pantograph mounted on the roof while on thetrack. The contact wire is in direct contact with the pantograph. Due to this structure, the contact wire isinevitably susceptible to abrasion wear, which may cause broken wires resulting in a stoppage of train
service in the worst-case scenario. As a measure to solve this problem, a contact wire wear detection
system was developed. The previous model was equipped with metallic wires built in to monitor abrasion
wear by sensing the current flow, and this configuration limited the detection functionality to non-servicenighttime hours when it was not disturbed by noise from the running train. To address this issue, Hitachi
Metals launched a joint project with Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) to develop a newmodel adopting optical fibers for the detection wire. This was designed to enable around-the-clock realtime monitoring of the wear status of contact wires. The new fiber-optic contact wire wear detection
system was successfully commercialized in 2021. In addition, this system has enabled the centralized
monitoring of the wear status from the Shinkansen General Control Center, as opposed to the previous
system requiring on-site checks, resulting in a significant decrease in maintenance work hours.
Detection wire
(optical fiber)Contact wire

Fiber-optic contact wires

Shinkansen General Control Center■ High-accuracy and high-configurability xEV motor wiring components (SRC Assy*1)
Automotive Components Business Unit, Advanced Components and Materials Division
Aiming for carbon neutrality, national and regional governments as well as auto manufacturers around theworld are announcing various plans and targets, represented by the commitment made by Europe, theUS, and Japan individually to ensuring that all new vehicles sold in and after 2035 will be electric.
In this situation, the HEV*2 market is expanding currently in response to transition demand, and targeting
this market, we are increasing the supply and marketing of xEV wiring harnesses and SRC assy, which
went into mass production in 2019. The SRC assy supplies electric power from the motor or generator tothe PCU*3, a critical function for the vehicle to serve its essential purpose of “running.” This product isdesigned to be connected by welding to the customer’s device containing the stator coil, which requires ahigh level of wiring configurability and high dimensional accuracy to lay out six wires so that the device
can perform effectively. In order to address this challenge, we discussed plans from the development stage
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Hitachi Metals Group CSR Detailed Activity Report 2022

to satisfy the customer’s requirements and worked on the plans by trial and error. Furthermore, wedeveloped a full automatic mass-production line for high-accuracy products. The line was expanded toincrease output at the China base. Going forward, we plan to expand the development of these products,
as part of our efforts to increase contribution to carbon neutrality. For this purpose, we will promote
development and marketing activities to cater to customer needs in a fine-tuned manner.
Motor stator coil

TIG welding

SRC Assy
Device side

*1 Semi-Rigid Connect Assy *2 Hybrid Electric Vehicle *3 Power Control Unit

■ High-capacity nickel-based cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries(development technology)

Global Research & Innovative
Technology Center

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are used in a wide range of fields, frommobile devices to hybrid and electric vehicles,
and demand for LIBs is expected to grow rapidly,
especially for use in electric vehicles (EVs). In order to facilitate thepopularization of EVs, it is necessary to improve the total and per-charge
mileage. One key solution to this issue can be provided by cathodematerials that achieve LIBs with high capacity and long life at the sametime. Generally, the cathode of automotive LIBs is fabricated withthree-element layered materials.
One method for expanding the capacity of this type of cathode is to raise the content of nickel, the basemetal, to increase the lithium-ion insertion/de-insertion capacity. The problem of this method, however,is that higher content of nickel lowers the material’s endurance to charge/discharge cycle, resulting inshorter battery life.
To address this problem, we have developed a micro-structure control
technique to suppress degradation of the crystal structure of the cathodesubject to the charge/discharge cycle. This technique can prevent a
shorter battery life while the nickel content is raised from the conventional
80% to 90% in order to increase the capacity. At the same time, thisprocess has allowed for a reduction in the content of cobalt (by 80%against our comparable products), an essential component of thecathode material especially for the purpose of stabilizing the crystalstructure. Given that cobalt is a scarce resource
and generates a significantly larger amount of greenhouse gases (GHGs) than the other base components,
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Hitachi Metals Group CSR Detailed Activity Report 2022

reducing the cobalt content constitutes a substantial contribution to reduced GHG emissions from themanufacturing of cathode materials and LIBs.
くさび■Magnetic materials for motors 楔 (development technology)
Global Research & Innovative Technology Center
Power Electronics Materials Business Unit, Advanced Components & Materials Division
It is said that motors consume nearly 50% of the global supply of electric power, and as such, improving
the efficiency of this mechanism is one of the most overriding issues of energy-conserving and CO2
emissions reducing technologies. Against this background, we have developed new high-performancemagnetic slot wedges. This represents the technology that is often used to increase motor efficiency,
specifically by improving the magnetic flux distribution within the motor. With previous products, however,
the improvement effect was limited due to the inadequate density of magnetic particles and magnetic
permeability. In comparison, our recent development technology, an application of our proprietary powder
metallurgy technique, provides a higher density of magnetic particles, and achieves permeability that isabout double the level of the previous products. A computer simulation suggests that use of the new highpermeability magnetic slot wedges is expected to increase the motor efficiency by about 0.9% compared
to no technology of this kind being used and about 0.3% compared to use of previous products. We plan
to mass-produce this magnetic slot wedge technology, looking to contribute to a low-carbon society.

Simulation conditions
3.7kW 4P
200V 50Hz
Rectangular-wave
input

Magnetic slot wedges(external view)

Comparison of magnetic properties

3. Environmental Consideration in Manufacturing
This is a graphical representation of the balance of materials in manufacturing processes at the Hitachi
Metals Group for fiscal 2021.
The Hitachi Metals Group is promoting the reduction of the environmental burden in two directions:
reducing the volume of input through the efficient use of resources and energy, and reducing the volumeof output by controlling atmospheric releases and wastewater discharges, reducing and recycling waste,
and so on.

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Hitachi Metals Group CSR Detailed Activity Report 2022