Gas Turbine & Machinery Company

The Gas Turbine & Machinery Company has two divisions—the Gas Turbine Division and the Machinery Division—with both divisions mutually cooperating to deploy synergies in the two sectors of energy and the environment, and transportation. Our products are mostly central components for various types of plants and transportation equipment, and include aircraft engines, marine engines, gas turbines and gas engines for electric power generation, steam turbines, compressors, and ship control systems.

Roles and contributions tailored to national and local characteristics

First, in Japan, the energy infrastructure environment has changed since the Great East Japan Earthquake. With the halting of operations at nuclear power plants, the prospect of an unstable supply of electric power has led to higher expectations for distributed power generation. Our combinations of gas turbines and gas engines offer solutions that allow for optimal operations in response to fluctuations in demand for electric power and heat. Emergency power generation is also gaining even more importance from the perspective of business continuity planning (BCP), and we already provide products that meet the functional requirements of being able to operate for long periods of time and being dual-fuel compatible.
There is also high demand for distributed power generation overseas. For example, in a country like Russia with a large landmass, distributed power generation limits the amount of power lost, and is therefore more efficient to operate than large-scale power plants. In addition, places with cold weather for most of the year require hot water, and KHI is able to make maximum use of the benefits of distributed power generation by using the heat exhaust from gas turbines to create a highly efficient system for providing hot water.

Future outlook and direction

The Gas Turbine Division’s operations began with aircraft engines and also include a gas turbine business that makes products for power generation and naval ships, while the Machinery Division’s operations began more than 110 years ago with steam turbines and diesel engines, and have grown to include revolving body technologies and reciprocation technologies in the fields of energy and the environment, and shipping.
Going forward, we are working to generate growth in the aircraft engine sector and will also emphasize overseas development of the energy and environment sector. We expect the aircraft sector to show steady growth, with the company participating from the development stage as a supplier of modules to OEM manufacturers Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney. We aim to participate from the most upstream stage of basic design to raise the level of our development technology along with our production technology, in efforts to expand our areas of responsibility and enhance our presence as a supplier.
In the energy and environment sector, our overseas development has been slow and overseas business development is therefore an urgent issue. We currently have locations in Malaysia, Germany, and the United States, and we need to enhance the functionality of these locations. First, we are investing in human resources to strengthen our marketing capabilities, focusing on Southeast Asia, with the aim of full-scale entry into the distributed power generation and oil and gas markets. Major players already exist overseas, however, and becoming competitive with these companies will require the constant introduction of world-class technologies as well as marketing strength. We have products like the M7, L30A, and gas engines with globally top-level functionality, and we will work to further enhance our technological strength including building systems around products to strengthen our ability to provide solutions.
I have used the term “technological capabilities” several times, and in the future the scope of this term will expand to include analyzing and understanding cutting-edge technologies. The company receives significant support from the headquarters’ Corporate Technology Division, including in manufacturing-related areas. We will continue to work under this structure to create formidable technological capabilities.

Fostering a “never give up” attitude

The technologies used in our operations cannot be created in a day; they need to be developed over periods of several years. In this type of business environment, the most important thing is first to collect and analyze information carefully and decide on a major, long-term direction. Once that direction is determined, a long period of sustained effort toward achieving that direction is required, with periodic adjustments in response to changing circumstances. During this fairly long-term process, there will of course be failures and setbacks when development is not successful or products do not sell. Our approach has been to overcome these periods without giving up, and to continuously create and improve. This can be seen as the essence of how our business has been able to continue to operate for such a long time, and I would like to further refine this attitude going forward. This is my main goal as president, and I will continue to highlight the importance of this approach to everyone at every opportunity I have.