Fujikura Ltd.

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To Continue to be No. 1 in Global Market Share Optical Fiber Fusion Splicer to Support the Infrastructure for a 5G Society

The Fujikura Group optical fusion splicer is used widely in many countries around the world. It is worthy of its reputation for low-loss splicing of optical fibers and is said to be the global standard. There is a perpetual demand for even more advanced technology to meet the need for higher optical fiber performance and higher quality in optical fiber fusion and it is also showing great promise and potential for future 5G and IoT communities. The Fujikura Group fusion splicer business currently possesses dealerships as strategic partners in over 90 countries worldwide and possesses a reliable network that provides meticulous sales and after service. We are also maintaining our position as the No. 1 manufacturer in global market share by maintaining an R&D structure to advance technology and prevent other competitors from catching up, a manufacturing line with top cost performance, and by strengthening the sales structure to support our marketing strategy.

Core Alignment Fusion Splicer 70S+

hasegawa ryo

I Want to Work on Products that Command Top Global Market Share

When I was a student, I had the strong desire to work at Fujikura, which invents products that are used around the world. I also knew that the optical fiber fusion splicer is an indispensable device for installing optical fiber and was full of hope that I could be involved in design and development work on optical fusion splicers, which have limitless potential for supporting global social infrastructure.

Using my Experience in Being Stationed Overseas

I have worked on designing and developing optical fiber fusion splicers since I joined the company. I was also sent to the U.S. on assignment during my fourth year in the company. In the U.S., I worked on new product development for optical fiber fusion splicers and supported the products that customers wanted. I was much closer to the customers than I was when I worked on development in Japan and customers communicated the functions they wanted to me directly. I felt that they communicated such needs precisely because they had loved Fujikura Group products for many years. I also learned that optical fiber fusion splicers are used in a much wider variety of work environments than I had imagined in Japan. I directly experienced the necessity for the products that support social infrastructure to be easy for workers to operate and be usable in any type of work environment, not just in Japan but everywhere in the world. I have naturally used my experience in working in the U.S. after I returned to Japan in considering how easy a device is to use, and have also used my experience in considering how easy a product is for a worker to assemble at the manufacturing site, and have taken care to design products that will result in greater work efficiency from those perspectives. There is no greater sense of accomplishment than when a prototype product I have created actually functions as I thought it would.

The Achievements of My Esteemed Predecessors

Since Fujikura announced the first optical fiber fusion splicer it developed in 1978, it has continued to manufacture finely crafted products as part of its mission “to create exceptional value for our customers around the world using "Tsunagu" technologies.”

Since it first debuted, optical fiber has apparently been viewed as a transmission method that offers many advantages such as being lightweight, having a large transmission capacity, and being able to transmit data over long distances with little loss. Its greatest challenge was the difficulty of fusing optical fibers together. Fujikura, however, saw solving this challenge as a major business opportunity. The optical fiber fusion splicer was the result of this perspective.

FR-1, the first fusion splicer developed

Continuing to Take on the Challenge of Creating Products that Meet the Needs of Society

The optical world of today would probably not have existed without Fujikura’s optical fiber fusion splicer or without the efforts of my esteemed predecessors. I think that the role Fujikura has played is that immense. Fujikura’s optical fiber fusion splicers are now loved around the world because they have precisely met the needs of each era since the first one was developed. I have also worked on designing and developing optical fiber fusion splicers from various perspectives since I joined the company and this has made me conscious of how I must continue to take on perpetual challenge of making sure that our optical fiber fusion splicers are products that continue to meet the needs of society in each future era.

We repeatedly test and evaluate products many times to make sure that one defect does not cause us to lose the customer trust that our predecessors have built. We pay meticulous attention to quality and are providing products to the world that make it easy to splice without relying on the skill of the customer.We repeatedly test and evaluate products many times to make sure that one defect does not cause us to lose the customer trust that our predecessors have built. We pay meticulous attention to quality and are providing products to the world that make it easy to splice without relying on the skill of the customer.

The Fujikura Group solves Social Problems

In the Fujikura Group, we personally develop an image of a product that the market wants, and then develop and provide the product. When I capture the needs of society and actually produce a product that meets our customers’ needs and pleases customers, I feel the fact that a product I personally worked on is contributing to the maintenance and development of infrastructure even more keenly than before.

The contribution that our products with top global market share make to infrastructure will not change regardless of the era, now or in the future. That is because the opportunities generated by the optical fiber fusion splicer solve social challenges, and because we are passing on the DNA we inherited.The contribution that our products with top global market share make to infrastructure will not change regardless of the era, now or in the future. That is because the opportunities generated by the optical fiber fusion splicer solve social challenges, and because we are passing on the DNA we inherited.

It is said that the age will come in which IoT that connecting all things in a network will become mainstream and expectations for 5G as the indispensable communications technology are increasing. Use of 5G technology is being considered in many areas such as solving local challenges and promoting industry, regardless of the area. The Fujikura Group optical fiber fusion splicer is a technology that will never disappear as long as there are optical fibers.
The proliferation of optical fiber is absolutely essential for achieving high-speed high-capacity transmission. However, the Fujikura Group optical fiber fusion splicer is also absolutely necessary for splicing optical fibers without causing a loss of performance in the optical fiber itself.

I will always keep my antenna high for social challenges that I can solve so that the optical fiber fusion splicer supports the maintenance and development of social infrastructure and will continue to take on the challenges of designing and developing new optical fiber fusion splicers based on the know-how that has been passed down to me. I will also continue to contribute to the maintenance and development of global social infrastructure with products that delight customers, even in the coming age of 5G and IoT. That is the mission the Fujikura Group strives for, to realize a “Mirai” society (society of the future) that is comfortable and sustainable.

Ryo Hasegawa
Assistant Manager
R&D Dept., Precision Equipment Division
Power & Telecommunication Systems Company
Fujikura Ltd.

World’s Highest(Ultra High) Core Density Optical Fiber with Ultimate cable structure AFL Telecommunications LLC

WTC® manufacturing team

WTC® manufacturing team

Fujikura is constantly seeking new opportunities to drive global growth and market expansion through revolutionary technologies like SpiderWeb Ribbon® (SWR®). SWR is a new platform in fiber optic ribbon technology. It reduces installation time, cost and enables the reliable, low loss connections necessary to meet bandwidth and latency requirements of 5G and high speed data transmission. Today’s consumers and end users demand this.

Fujikura’s North American-based subsidiary, AFL, has extended the company’s market position as a total solutions provider through the adoption and deployment of this ground-breaking SWR technology. Our expanded global footprint continues to drive significant growth within our core hyperscale data center and service provider markets. Several initiatives are taking place to extend high bandwidth broadband services to less populated geographies driving advancements in education, health care and financial services to these rural communities.Fujikura’s North American-based subsidiary, AFL, has extended the company’s market position as a total solutions provider through the adoption and deployment of this ground-breaking SWR technology. Our expanded global footprint continues to drive significant growth within our core hyperscale data center and service provider markets. Several initiatives are taking place to extend high bandwidth broadband services to less populated geographies driving advancements in education, health care and financial services to these rural communities.

WTC® Production line

Three years ago, an AFL team of product, commercial, and operations management embarked on a journey to manufacture and market cables utilizing SWR technology. SWR cable delivers a differentiated solution providing lighter, smaller diameter cables compared to conventional ribbon or single-fiber loose tube solutions.
Leveraging the long history of Fujikura’s manufacturing expertise, AFL formalized plans to establish a U.S.-based production facility to increase global capability. The goal was to fully qualify domestically-manufactured SWR Cable that is compliant with North American performance standards.
Joint SWR teams executed a
partnership to:
• transfer the design and production technologies
• outfit a new manufacturing facility
• educate and train AFL’s engineering and sales teams.
As North American SWR cable operations ramped up in late 2017, the adoption of a Zero-Defect Culture was crucial to long-term business success. This philosophy not only improves our financial performance and customer satisfaction, but also reduces waste in the landfills and ultimately our carbon footprint. AFL’s core engineering and technical teams visited the Sakura Fujikura factory to benchmark manufacturing process controls and train alongside the skilled workforce in order to comply with rigorous industry qualifications.

AFL’s North American SWR cable operations team celebrated its first successful shipment in September 2017. Since then, they have steadily increased output to meet demand through:
• training as cross-functional process experts via a certification program
• focused industrialization efforts of the manufacturing processes
• empowerment of the manufacturing technicians
• intense focus on meeting customer commitments for delivery and quality service
• established accountability and
ownership of the Zero-Defect mindset.
The business has refined and standardized the processes necessary to achieve full capacity, as well as enhanced management and production team skillsets and expertise. Ultimately, this led AFL to develop measurable key performance indicators (KPIs) in the areas of safety, delivery, scrap, productivity, and customer satisfaction.

Today, AFL’s SWR Cable business continues to build the strategies necessary for exponential growth while focusing on our core values – Innovation, Collaboration and Accountability, and Customers First. As Fujikura continues to develop new applications using SWR, we are finding new ways to enable the next generation telecommunications network.

Ben Smith
Manufacturing Manager, WTC®/Premise
AFL Telecommunications LLC

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