Consumer products and retail
Mitsubishi Pencil
Office products manufacturer utilizes NX to create innovative writing instrument
Product
NX
Business challenges
Shorten cycle time between
R&D and manufacturing
Design advanced products
Upgrade product
presentations
Keys to success
Focusing on R&D
Developing new products
Introducing 3D CAD
Results
Reduced product development
time by 45 days
Significantly accelerated
prototype design
Eliminated the need to rework
design data submitted to
mold suppliers
Established 3D-driven best
practices, resulting in the
delivery of more innovative,
structurally stronger
products
Produced more effective
product presentations
Using NX helps Mitsubishi Pencil
shorten product development
time by 45 days
Mitsubishi Pencil is about much more
than pencils
While Mitsubishi Pencil Co., Ltd.
(Mitsubishi Pencil) has been manufactur-
ing pencils since 1887, the company has
significantly broadened its product line
over the years. Today, pencil sales account
for only 8 percent of the company’s prod-
ucts. More than 50 percent of its products
are ballpoint pens, 15 percent are markers
and 13 percent are mechanical pencils.
Despite some contraction in the use of
writing instruments with the rise of mobile
devices and smart phones, Mitsubishi
Pencil has continued to post record profits,
particularly in overseas markets, which
now represent 45 percent of total sales.
“Mitsubishi Pencil is focused on product
development, not only to develop new
ideas for writing instruments, but also
entirely new products,” says Takeo
Fukumoto, assistant manager at Mitsubishi
Pencil’s research and development (R&D)
center. “For example, we also make cos-
metic products such as lip gloss, eyeliner
and nail polish. We even supply compo-
nents for batteries.”
The introduction of NX
Traditionally, technical drawings were
created by hand at Mitsubishi Pencil.
The company adopted workstation-based
2D computer-aided design (CAD) in the
late 1980s to enable engineers to access
precise technical drawings as computer-
ized data.
In 2005, the company licensed Siemens
PLM Software’s comprehensive and inte-
grated product development solution:
NX™ software. “We had tried another 3D
CAD system before using NX,” says
Fukumoto. “But it was not really suitable
for conveying the same data from design
to drawing and then on to the shop floor.
We investigated other 3D CAD systems
and in the end we chose NX.”
“Developing prototype
designs improved dramati-
cally with the use of
NX,” notes Hirotake
Izawa, assistant
manager at
Mitsubishi
Pencil’s R&D
center. “In
the past,
making
proto-
types
from 2D draw-
ings took too long and
it was difficult to make cor-
rections. By using NX, we now make
a solid model first and then proceed in
small steps from that.
www.siemens.com/nx
“By using NX, we have
shortened development
time, on average, by 45
days. Efficiencies are being
realized throughout all pro-
cesses, but the most signifi-
cant time savings are in
prototype production
and molding.”
Hirotake Izawa
Assistant Manager
Yokohama R&D Center
Mitsubishi Pencil

“I think our innovative Kuru Toga mechanical

pencil was only made possible thanks to our
use of NX.”
Hirotake Izawa
Assistant Manager
Yokohama R&D Center
Mitsubishi Pencil
“In presentations for review
panels, we find that images
made using NX make it easy
to convey design details to
people who are not engi-
neers. If anyone proposes
any changes, model data
can even be corrected on
the spot and the results
of the change can be
confirmed right away.”
Hirotake Izawa
Assistant Manager
Yokohama R&D Center
Mitsubishi Pencil
“In presentations for review panels, we
find that images made using NX make it
easy to convey design details to people
who are not engineers. If anyone proposes
any changes, model data can even be cor-
rected on the spot and the results of the
change can be confirmed right away. NX
can also help us simulate how products
will be assembled,” says Izawa.
Smarter decisions, better products
Using NX has enabled Mitsubishi Pencil to
design more advanced and more complex
writing instruments. In particular, the
design of the popular “uni-ball” brand
“Kuru Toga” mechanical pencil, which
always keeps a refined writing point,
would have been impossible without NX.
“Kuru Toga contains a comparatively
complex mechanism with intricate
components. A twist-and-turn mechanism
rotates the lead to maintain a sharp point
and avoid flat spots,” says Izawa. “The
design, the concept and the prototype pro-
duction of this mechanism were all com-
pleted using NX. It would have been tough
to do this in 2D. I think our innovative
Kuru Toga mechanical pencil was only
made possible thanks to our use of NX.”
NX has also been widely used in the devel-
opment of writing instrument compo-
nents. “For example, the clip is a
component that expresses the character
and individuality of a writing instrument,”
says Izawa. “When we design a clip, we
first analyze the design data using NX.
Before a mold is prepared, we check how
much load the clip can bear. If the design
is too delicate or the clip is weak, we can
make the part thicker or try changing the
shape. By exchanging ideas with the
designers based on the analysis data, we
can make the right decision about the best
clip thickness and shape.”
 “Using NX also enables us to produce
analysis values, such as the breaking point
from maximum stress or flexibility, so
we can explain why a shape is desirable
because it is ‘X percent’ less apt to break
than a previous product,” says Yoshiharu
Namiki, assistant manager at Missubishi
Pencil’s R&D center.
Development time shortened by 45 days
NX not only helps the company improve
product functionality, it also helps improve
engineering productivity. “By using NX, we
have shortened development time, on
average, by 45 days,” says Fukumoto.
“Efficiencies are being realized throughout
all processes, but the most significant time
savings are in prototype production and
molding.”
Fukumoto notes, “Now that we have digi-
tized 3D data, I want to use it more effec-
tively in a more seamless manner. From a
resource management point of view, prog-
ress is already being made in re-using
common components. We have developed
completely new writing instruments and
updated models of existing products. New
concepts are important for the former and
efficiency is important for the latter. In the
future, I would like to see the use of NX
spread from design to production and to
the mold formation and inspection

“NX is effective during the early conceptual

stage of design,” adds Izawa. “In the past,
we often needed to rework mold designs
because our suppliers would misinterpret
2D drawings. Nowadays, thanks to the use
of NX, 3D data is sent to the mold makers
just as it is, so there is no need for rework.”

“Nowadays, thanks to the use of NX,

3D data is sent to the mold makers just as it is,
so there is no need for rework.”
Hirotake Izawa
Assistant Manager
Yokohama R&D Center
Mitsubishi Pencil
Solutions/Services
NX
www.siemens.com/nx
Customer’s primary business
Mitsubishi Pencil specializes
in designing, manufacturing
and marketing writing
processes. Manufacturing can become
notably more efficient by using updated
models of existing products.”
Izawa concludes, “R&D is about finding
new challenges and stepping into
unknown territory; NX helps us to do this.
Productivity in all manufacturing processes
can be improved by using NX. Yet, even
used in R&D alone, NX is an important tool
for expressing complicated mechanism
concepts.”

“R&D is about finding new

instruments.
www.mpuni.co.jp

Customer location challenges and stepping into

Yokohama, Kanagawa
Prefecture
Japan
unknown territory;
NX helps us to do this.”
Hirotake Izawa
Assistant Manager
Yokohama R&D Center
Mitsubishi Pencil

Siemens Industry Software

Americas +1 314 264 8499
Europe +44 (0) 1276 413200
Asia-Pacific +852 2230 3308
www.siemens.com/plm
© 2014 Siemens Product Lifecycle Management Software Inc. Siemens and the Siemens logo are registered trademarks
of Siemens AG. D-Cubed, Femap, Fibersim, Geolus, GO PLM, I-deas, JT, NX, Parasolid, Quality Planning Environment,
Solid Edge, Syncrofit, Teamcenter and Tecnomatix are trademarks or registered trademarks of Siemens Product Lifecycle
Management Software Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and in other countries. All other logos, trademarks,
registered trademarks or service marks belong to their respective holders.
41533-Z6 6/14 A