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Cause of the fire and prevention measures
Restoration of plant facilities
Under a policy of "safety first," a heavy-duty crane was transported onto
the site on December 25, 2004 to begin the line repair process. Measures
were taken to minimize noise and other effects on nearby residents, and
the cooperation of involved parties was actively sought and gained. The
following equipment and methods were used to achieve full restoration
of plant operation as soon as possible.
Three Layer Wet Paint System
Because no equipment is required for the color base application process,
process time is shortened and the process is considerably more
environmentally friendly. This technology was developed by Mazda, and was
awarded the Prize for Promoting Machine Industry/Ministry of Trade,
Economy and Industry Award. See page 43 for more information.
Cause of the fire
Experiments to determine the cause of the fire, performed by Mazda in
cooperation with involved agencies, indicated that the probable cause
was an electrostatic discharge generated in a small-capacity paint
mixer.
Prevention of a recurrence
Based on the results of the tests performed by Mazda and involved
agencies, it is believed that the cause of the fire was an electrostatic
discharge generated in the return pipe of the small-capacity paint
mixer. Based on guidance from the authorities, the following
measures were taken to assure safety and prevent a recurrence.
Modular construction
Buildings are often made using modular construction, where
prefabricated steel-beam structures are assembled in a planned
sequence to make the building.
Our production facilities also used this approach, such as assembling
the stands for painting robots before transporting them into the plant.
The result was a much shorter construction period.
Leveraging MDI
We utilize Mazda Digital Innovation (MDI) technology to share digital
data between all processes, from car concept design to detail design,
testing and production ramp-up. Painting robots were taught offline and
paint coat thickness simulations run to minimize the time needed for
trial production runs when restoring the paint line to normal operation.
As a result of these measures we were able to significantly reduce the
amount of time needed for restoration. Instead of the usual six months,
production was started again only about four months later, on April 27,
2005.
The paint pipe used by the feed pump for the small-capacity paint mixer
will be cleaned inside a provided area equipped with ventilation and
automatic fire extinguishing systems.
All advance inspections of grounding, electrostatic discharge
prevention measures and ventilation equipment will be
performed in duplicate.
All employees will be retrained in handling dangerous materials.
As a result of these measures we were able to significantly reduce the amount of
time needed for restoration. Instead of the usual six months, production was
started again only about four months later, on April 27, 2005.
Complaints received during restoration
We notified approximetely 2,500 local residents that construction would
be starting shortly and established a dedicated hotline to provide them
with immediate access. Our efforts to work closely with the local
community resulted in zero complaints received during the period,
although a number of requests for information were received via the
Social & Environmental Report 2005