Machinery makers step up efforts in alternative energy

Machinery makers are stepping up their activities in the promising growth area of alternative energy at a time when carmakers, their major clients, are reeling from the global downturn. The boom under way in new energy sources can be seen in the breakdown of Japanese company NSK Ltd.’s earnings, for example. Half of NSK’s sales still come from automotive products, but in the past several years, its energy-related business has been expanding rapidly, particularly in the production of bearings for industrial machinery, including wind power generation systems. Meanwhile, major textile maker Nisshinbo Industries Inc. is building a new factory for producing solar cell-making equipment on the site of an industrial machinery plant in Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture. It was primarily a supplier of cutting tools and other devices to carmakers. (March 2, 2009)