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Hitachi Powdered Metals was established in 1952 under the name of
Hitachi Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., in Tokyo, Japan. Hitachi
Chemical Industry was founded to develop and produce graphite and
molybdenum disulfide products, and powdered metallurgy products, as
a member of a group of companies affiliated with Hitachi Limited,
Japan's largest manufacturer of electrical products.
Young
engineers at Hitachi Chemical Industry, under the leadership of Mr.
H. Kurata, succeeded in the development of impregnated bearings and
mechanical parts using powdered metallurgy method. These were
used for home appliances and conductive
paint for TV cathoderay tubes.
Around 1955, Japan's economy entered into a period of high
economic growth. Accordingly, demand for consumer products
increased remarkably. There was a boom in home electrical
appliances. Hitachi Chemical Industry developed products based
on self-developed technology and know-how, and experience rapid
growth by supplying these products to large Japanese manufacturers
of home electrical appliances.
In 1961, Hitachi Limited purchased land and constructed a
facility at Matsudo-shi, Chiba-ken, to expand production capacity.
Hitachi Chemical Industry assigned the chemical products division
here to create an independent company in 1963 known as Matsudo Works
of Hitachi Chemical Co., Ltd.
The industrial structure of Japan had been changing from the home
electric appliance industry to the vehicle industry, especially to
motorcycle and agricultural machinery. Hitachi Limited
developed structural mechanical parts, while the chemical department
of Hitachi Chemical Industry succeeded in developing inked ribbon
products for computers from conductive paint products.
In 1968, Matsudo Works powder metallurgy and chemical
departments merged with one its competitors, Nippon Oil Impregnated
Alloy Co., Ltd. This was the formal establishment of Hitachi
Powdered Metal (HPM).
Hitachi Powdered Metals' efforts in research and development of
new material and products was well timed to benefit from the growth
in the motorized, computerized, and color television boom during and
after the 1970's. HPM enjoyed further rapid growth after 1985.
In accordance with the internationalization of Japan's economy, HPM
began to compete with manufacturers in advanced countries in
developing technologies in the field of powdered metal products and
chemical products.
Hitachi Powdered Metal's need for production facilities in
foreign countries resulted in a new production facility for oil
impregnated bearings in Singapore in 1979.
In 1987, Hitachi Powdered Metals entered into a joint venture
with Hitachi Metals America and Cummins Engine Company at it's
conception to form an American company, Sintering Technologies, Inc., located in Greensburg, Indiana.
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