八幡製鐵・日本製鐵の1956年から1980年代にいたるシステム思考の適用とコンピュータ活用に関する一実践側面(1)(経済学部開設50周年記念号)

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The Japanese steel industry was damaged heavily during World War 2. However, it recovered quickly by its own diligent efforts and with technical support afforded by the USA. In 1951, 1956, and 1961, the First to the Third Rationalization Plans were carried out. They made best efforts to rationalize production facilities as well as management. In the Third Rationalization Plan (1961 to 1965), plans for constructing five gigantic new steel works at coastal locations in Japan were announced. Although some of them were delayed several years because of the depression of two years from 1962, steel production in Japan increased rapidly from 41.16 million tons in 1965 to 119.32 million tons at its peak in 1973. Affected by the first oil crisis, the Japanese economy slowed, and after the peak the level of steel production fluctuated around the 10 million tons level for nearly forty years. Regarding the "Development of System-concept and Computer Utilization", Yawata Works and its competitors installed IBM punched card systems in 1957. In 1958, the Tobata Section of Yawata Works started production as an integrated unit. It was an epoch-making unit in the sense of being the first to employ a centralized control of production adopting the Forman System learned from the USA. The concept of plan-oriented and of through-process production control began there, and had been improved. In 1956 there were several lectures being given on automatic control at universities in the United States, but almost none in Japan. Also, there were no digital computers installed for industrial use in Japan until 1962, when the largest business computer at that time, the IBM7070 (10,000-words memory), was installed at Yawata Works. The first application of it was to the pay-roll system. After that, together with accounting and other clerical jobs, a production planning system was developed and was used for 9 years successfully. In early 1967, the Kimitsu Planning Bureau, consisting of 18 interdisciplinary staff, started designing its new management system, parallel with the design and construction of works' production facilities. The feature of the design was its through-process and integrated production management and control system, adopting the world's first on-line system in the steel industry based upon the improved Tobata System. The Kimitsu Works started operation in November of 1968 and achieved the highest level of operation and productivity in the world. In 1970, Yawata and Fuji Steel merged to become Nippon Steel Corporation. This article is written with the intention of relating the following author's personal experience to the above mentioned early stage (1955-1980's) of the development of system-concept and computer utilization at Yawata and Nippon Steel Corporation. However, because of the page limitation, activities in 1970's and 1980's will be introduced in the following article (Part 2) expected to be in the next volume. The author finished his undergraduate study and joined Yawata Steel in 1956, but after receiving a Fulbright Scholarship he went to study system engineering and computer utilization at graduate school in Cleveland Ohio. After he returned to Yawata, he engaged in the field of "system-concept and computer utilization", including its application to pay-rolls as noted above, and in production planning at Yawata, strategic planning at the President's Office, and designing the production management system at Kimitsu, later becoming head of the consultant group at Italian Steel Company. After that, he was assigned to be general manager of the System Departments at Kimitsu and Head Office. His role had been as programmer, system designer, project leader, manager, as well as general manager. He made an early retirement from Nippon Steel and switched to an academic career, becoming a university professor in the same field.
2010-03-31

八幡製鐵・日本製鐵の1956年から1980年代にいたるシステム思考の適用とコンピュータ活用に関する一実践側面(1)(経済学部開設50周年記念号)

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