2017-03-31

A small welding company reinvents itself yet again

Aikawa, a small welding company, has reinvented itself repeatedly since its founding in 1946. Founded to provide trolley wheels to local Iwaki coalfields, Aikawa's business disappeared with Iwaki's coal mines in 1976. Aikawa then moved on to supply tanks to the petroleum industry and parts to the nuclear power industry that had replaced coal. Nuclear power disappeared with the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Only 200 meters from the ocean, Aikawa's factory itself was hit by the tsunami.
In its latest reinvention, Aikawa now supplies precision welded parts for wind power turbines.

Source: Asahi Shimbun, 31 March 2017 http://www.asahi.com/articles/DA3S12868967.html

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