DENSO's SDGs

An inverter is a power converter device that converts direct current power from the battery to alternating current power and supplies that power to the motor for operation. The popularization of xEVs is an essential element in realizing the electrification of the mobility society, and inverters support the driving power of xEVs. Accordingly, enhancing the performance of inverters is the most important issue for car manufacturers. Inverters take in an electric current at a high voltage from the battery, and as such the semiconductor device generates a high level of heat. Figuring out how to keep the semiconductor device cool is the key to realizing smaller xEVs with higher performance as well as lowering their overall cost. To that end, we came up with the idea to cool the semiconductor device not from only one side, as had been done conventionally, but from both sides by making use of the heat exchange technologies that we have cultivated through the development of radiators. By doing so, we realized compact, highly efficient inverters.

DENSO is moving forward with the development of technologies that contribute to the promotion of vehicles powered by fuel cells, which use hydrogen to generate electricity. To date, many DENSO-developed products have been installed in the MIRAI, the FCEV manufactured by Toyota Motor Corporation. These products include high-voltage power system components, such as a power control unit and fuel cell boost converter, as well as cooling system parts, such as a radiator and cooling pump, that greatly improve cooling performance. Going forward, DENSO shall continue to utilize technology developed for hybrid, gasoline, and diesel vehicles in order to provide products that contribute to improving the reliability and performance of fuel-cell electric vehicles while at the same time reducing the cost of such vehicles.

With the aim of reducing its environmental burden, DENSO has been engaging in the research and development of resin materials that utilize the molecular structures of plants. We have also applied starch-based bio-polycarbonates and castor oil-based urethane resins in certain products. Plant-based resins do not make use of fossil fuels, making them a renewable resource. In addition, these resins are garnering attention due to the fact that they do not increase total CO₂ volumes in the atmosphere even if they undergo thermal recycling. For many years, we have pursued the development of plant-based resins, and in 2009, we developed a castor oil-based radiator tank together with E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company. We are currently working to commercialize these radiator tanks and expand their installation in vehicles.

An important component in realizing a carbon-neutral society is the utilization of hydrogen, which creates a large amount of energy when burned without emitting CO₂.
For this reason, DENSO has started to develop next-generation water electrolysis devices using solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOECs) that can efficiently create hydrogen. To efficiently manufacture hydrogen, the internal temperature of the SOEC must be maintained at around 700°C. Water electrolysis makes use of a broad range of technologies that we have cultivated through the manufacture of automotive components. These include heat management technologies that accurately control temperatures; ceramic technologies that efficiently conduct electrolysis at high temperatures; and ejector technologies that efficiently recirculate water vapor within the electrolysis device.
In July 2023, we launched a verification test for manufacturing green hydrogen using SOECs and utilizing the green hydrogen in our Monozukuri activities at the Hirose Plant, which we position as a model plant for the utilization of green hydrogen in the field of semiconductor manufacturing.

To help realize zero traffic accident fatalities, it is essential to further evolve safety products and install cutting-edge technologies in vehicles. It is also important to develop attractive products in terms of price and functionality and promote their widespread adoption in an even greater number of vehicles.
To that end, DENSO has developed the active safety system product Global Safety Package 3 (GSP3). To date, GSP3 has been installed in the HINO RANGER, the LEXUS NX, and the Toyota NOAH and Voxy, which were released in August 2021, October 2021, and January 2022, respectively.
Global Safety Package uses the combined performance of a millimeter-wave radar sensor and a vision sensor to assist the driver in controlling vehicle safety. The millimeter-wave radar sensor detects the shapes of objects, such as vehicles and road surfaces, while the vision sensor uses a camera to detect the environment ahead of the vehicle. GSP3 is the third generation of Global Safety Package.

By widening the scope of detection of the millimeter-wave radar and vision sensor and enhancing their detection performance, GSP3 is able to provide greater accident scenario coverage, including right and left turns at intersections and head-on collisions that were previously not covered, with accident scenario coverage range increasing dramatically from roughly 40% to nearly 70%. At the same time, we reduced the number and size of parts and expanded the settings in which GSP3 can provide accident prevention and driver support. We also worked to strike an optimal balance between light weight and low cost. In these ways, we are helping to popularize safety products.

Recently, customers and greater society have been turning their attention to accidents resulting from drivers mistaking the gas pedal for the brake pedal as such accidents, primarily by the elderly, become an increasingly serious issue. To address this issue, DENSO and Toyota Motor Corporation jointly developed an acceleration control safety device to help prevent such accidents from occurring.

This product uses displays and buzzers to inform the driver when ultrasonic sensors attached to the bumper detect an obstacle in a vehicle’s course when the gas pedal is pressed while the vehicle is parked or stopped. If the driver continues to apply strong pressure to the gas pedal, mistaking it for the brake pedal, the device will limit acceleration to reduce the force of any resulting collision. Furthermore, if a driver is backing out of a parking space or otherwise putting their vehicle in reverse, the device will limit excessive acceleration if the gas pedal is pressed to an extent that would result in speeds of over 5 km per hour, even if an obstacle is not detected.

To continue to achieve growth while remaining a company that earns the trust of and inspires society, it is becoming even more important to promote diversity and inclusion, which means utilizing the strengths and perspectives of various employees from around the world. To that end, DENSO is promoting initiatives to realize a working environment and an organizational culture that enables an active and fulfilling role for diverse human resources in terms of gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, race, nationality, religion, and disabilities as well as unseen differences such as experience and value systems.

For example, in order to further expand our business on a global scale going forward, we are strengthening the development of local leaders who can oversee the future of DENSO and drive new business creation. We are also working to promptly discover outstanding personnel in collaboration with the head office and our overseas bases and are providing such talent with support through the Global Leadership Development Program and other initiatives.

In addition, we aim to provide fulfilling workplaces where employees can work with enthusiasm regardless of gender or gender identity. To that end, we are providing various kinds of career development support, including career development meetings between employees and their supervisors, women leadership training for newly appointed female managers, and role model roundtable discussions. Furthermore, in Vietnam, Malaysia, and other countries in Asia, where a large number of women work at our production sites, production lines adapted for pregnant women have been installed, enabling them to work while sitting down. By doing so, DENSO has created an environment where women at production sites can work energetically without experiencing stress during pregnancy.

Drawing on its strength of Monozukuri, DENSO has accumulated outstanding manufacturing capital such as its production bases across the globe and its frontline employees. To deliver even better products to our customers, we believe it is important to pass on the know-how we have accumulated on the front lines of Monozukuri and to realize highly efficient workplaces in which all employees can tackle new challenges.
Since fiscal 2020, DENSO has been progressively rolling out the One Digital Device and M365 per Employee project, which equips all global employees of the DENSO Group with digital devices that enable two-way connectivity at all times across offices and plants. This initiative has created a work environment free from the constraints of time, place, and device.

As a result of this project, for example, when a defect occurs on the production line, these digital devices make it possible for all relevant personnel to be swiftly and accurately informed of the situation through the sharing of video and images. This, in turn, helps reduce the time it takes to fix the defect. In addition, by inputting figures such as part dimensions, which were previously managed on paper forms, into these digital devices, we are streamlining the process of receiving approval from managers and data analysis.
Furthermore, we hold morning meetings using digital devices in which we share information between all employees via video and images. Also, our young employees have been leading the way in providing instruction to their team members on how to use these digital devices. In these ways, the terminals have helped invigorate employee communication and have played an important role in enhancing workplace engagement.
Looking ahead, we will promote efforts to enhance each employee’s ability to utilize data, and make active use of the data we accumulate through these devices in various settings. By doing so, we will maximize DENSO’s Monozukuri capabilities.

Good physical and mental health underpins employees’ ability to feel energized in their work and is essential for ensuring the happiness of our employees and their families. DENSO positions promoting the health of its employees as an important management task and is practicing health and productivity management* for this purpose. In this regard, we announced our Health Declaration in September 2016. At the same time, DENSO is working to enhance its health-related initiatives from the perspectives of both physical and mental health to encourage workplace-level action and to improve employee health awareness.

Also, to promote health management at domestic and overseas Group companies, we formulated the DENSO Group Health and Productivity Management Basic Principles in February 2019. By sharing these principles globally and implementing health management activities based on the conditions at each company and in each country, we will improve the health awareness of all employees and establish a more comfortable working environment across the entire Group.

* “Health and productivity management” is a registered trademark of Nonprofit Organaization Kenkokeiei.