Tome Murata Manufacturing (TOM) used to be Hasama Murata Manufacturing, which produced two winding type coils used in CRTs: deflection yokes and flyback transformers. TOM was founded in 1988 as a plant dedicated to the production of flyback transformers. With the transfer of this production to an overseas site, the company was restructured in 1998 as a plant for producing winding type chip inductors, before starting full-fledged production in January 2000. It has since continued to operate successfully.
Micro-coil winding technology is considered the most difficult part of chip inductor technology. The quality and cost of a chip inductor depend on the maturity of the micro-coil winding process employed.
Therefore, the best way to gain the upper hand over the competition is to differentiate the company through winding technology, because our rivals also face challenges in this area. The smallest product in the current TOM lineup is produced by winding a copper wire 20 μm in diameter (half as thick as a hair) around a core in a 0.5 x 0.4mm size. In order to achieve the specified inductance, the processing technology has to be able to reliably control the number of turns and winding pitch and securely join the coil with the electrodes. In addition to equipment (coil-winding machines) capable of controlling these parameters and the ability to maintain this equipment in optimal conditions, Murata’s winding technology involves many more elements. Those related to materials include the flexibility to optimize core materials and shapes as well as materials and thickness of the insulating coating of copper wiring; Skills required from operators include outstanding abilities to handle extremely fine lines and decide whether a product is to be accepted or rejected using microscopy.
Despite being a follower company, TOM has been able to improve its winding technology and win a high market share in a short period of time. This is not only because of the sales promotion that has been carried out by the product division and sales department. The outstanding winding technology that used to be employed for CRT components has been continually developed.
TOM’s untiring development of winding technology is a focus of attention among Murata Group affiliates. The number of plant tour visitors from them is now incomparably larger than it used to be when the plant started production. This is encouraging for TOM employees, because it represents an acknowledgement that the company has grown to be good enough to set an example for others.
Industry-leading cost-benefit, supply capacity, lead time, and quality permit the company to win a high market share, thereby establishing itself as the mother plant for the chip type inductors. At the same time, TOM now commits itself to providing technical support for overseas plant for which the company is responsible.