JMAG Supports Growth Entering New Markets

- Why did you decided to enter the market for power steering and what was the current market situation?

Mr. Inoue There are three major types of power steering; "hydraulic systems" which uses the engine's output, "hydraulic-electric systems" where the motor output assists the hydraulic pressure, and " electric systems" which use an electric motor. We decided to enter the market with a motor for hydraulic-electric power steering in 1995. Our first product was used in the "Peugeot 307" in August 2008. Amazingly this vehicle earned the European "Car of the Year" award, increasing our sales to provide us with a powerful foothold in the power steering market.
Currently, we lead in hydraulic-electric type power steering and hold approximately 10% of the market share. Our power steering has been implemented in vehicles from manufacturers such as Peugeot, Citroen, Ford, Nissan, and Renaud.
The power steering market, especially the electric types, is expected to grow drastically in the field of automotive components. Only an electric type motor can be implemented when the engine of hybrid automobiles stops at idle and the demand for precise steering and fuel efficiency grows. We are focusing all of our effort into the development of fully electric motor prototypes as we expect the demand to increase.

- What were the reasons you decided to implement the JMAG system?

Mr. Inoue Entering the competitive ring for components mounted on vehicles with a motor for power steering was quite challenging for us. We had experience in designing continuously variable transmissions and reduction gears, but we had never designed motors for power steering. As a vital safety device that protects the lives of the driver and passengers, power steering needs to be viable in severe climates from -40 to 120 degrees Celsius. The severity of conditions for motors we where designing at the time was from -10 to 40 degrees Celsius. I mean, we had no idea what kind of characteristics to expect from a motor at 120 degrees Celsius. The major factor to secure when designing these types of components is reliability. Simulation and analysis software was vital in supporting us throughout the design process.

Mr. Kataoka was asked to evaluate a variety of analysis software because we knew, even at that time, it would be indispensable. Kataoka We had already been using analysis software provided by a different company, but we needed the tools specializing in design that JMAG offered to catch up and move past rival manufactures. In 1996, we benchmarked analysis software from 4 different companies, but JMAG was the software that met the specifications we desired in an analysis software.
First, the usability was fantastic. Next, the accuracy of the software when comparing analysis results and the actual measurements obtained after building a prototype were almost identical. The designers were able to use this software practically, reducing the number of prototypes that need to be made. We were confident that we could take on this new market using JMAG because we could reduce the number of prototypes. JMAG was evaluated so highly inside our company, that it was the only software we wanted to implement.