Product Planning, Research and Development

At the Brother Group, we consider that true technical capabilities refer to the utilization of our unique technologies to create products and services that customers demand. This is because we believe that excellent technologies can provide value to people only when they are utilized in product design.
In order to offer products valued and chosen by customers, the Brother Group's engineers give full attention and listen to customer opinions sincerely. They devote themselves to value creation by constantly thinking about what technologies they can apply to satisfy customers and what kind of products will support customers.

Brother Industries, Ltd. developed PureDrive-FL, a spot cooler for forklifts which serves as a measure against hot weather while reducing CO₂ emissions through low power consumption—with the cooperation of Toyota Motor Corporation, which operates more than 3,000 forklifts in Japan.

Among the rising number of heatstroke patients recently, a majority of cases that occur during work are at work sites such as factories. Even though measures against hot weather—such as installing spot coolers—have been tried on forklifts, they consume a lot of electricity and place heavy burden on the environment. As such, working in the heat has been an issue faced by forklift drivers for many years.

Therefore, BIL used our thermal fluid analysis technology nurtured through product development so far to develop a spot cooler that has low power consumption while achieving adequate cooling effect even in extreme working environments during summer. Powered by the vehicle's battery, the low power consumption keeps electricity drawn from the battery to a minimum and therefore has almost no impact on the forklift's operating hours. Furthermore, we succeed in miniaturization using our simulation technology. This allows the spot cooler to be installed on the forklift's overhead guard, ensuring safety by maintaining good visibility for the driver. In addition, it contributes toward improving the working environment of forklift operators by having resistance—conforming to JIS standards—against strong shocks and vibrations during forklift operations.

The Brother Group will continue to use our diverse technologies—developed over our long history—to keep providing products best suited to our customers' needs while addressing social issues.