Company Commitment
Hard Lock receives the Grand Prize of the 10th Japan Innovators Award, sponsored by Nikkei BP.
The Hard Lock president receives the Industrial Management Award from the Association for the Study of Industrial Management (Japan) – Certificate (PDF)
Hard Lock receives JISQ 9100 certification for its Aeronautics, Space and Defense Quality Management System. (OASIS OIN:6133757800)
October 13, 2011 – The Hard Lock president and his wife were invited by Japanese Emperor Akihito to the autumnal Garden Party in recognition for Hard Lock’s many product achievements in Japan and abroad.
October 1, 2011 – State Minister of National Strategy Motohisa Furukawa pays a visit to Hard Lock as an inspection of an SME. After the visit, he sent a letter of appreciation.
Letter of Appreciation (PDF)
The Hard Lock president is mentioned in an inspirational message sent to the next generation of inventors by the Japan Patent Office of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
“Message from the Today’s Inventors to the Inventors of Tomorrow” (in Japanese)
Hard Lock begins work toward JISQ 9100 certification to the enter the aeronautics industry with a goal of acquisition in 2011.
Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Masayuki Naoshima visited Hard Lock Industry to observe our manufacturing plant. The details of the event were carried in the Asahi Shimbun and the Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun newspapers.
On November 3, we were awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays in the national autumn conferment of decorations. This decoration was awarded to us at the strong recommendation of the Kansai Bureau of Economy, Trade and Industry because of our outstanding social contributions. The decoration ceremony and audience with the emperor were held on November 6.
The event was carried in the Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper on November 3, 2009.
Hard Lock receives high praise from the Japanese government for our high quality.
- The third Monodzukuri Nippon Grand Award was granted to Hard Lock for manufacturing by the prime minister of Japan [PDF 17.2MB]
Hard Lock is proud to be a sponsor of the Japanese Olympics bobsleigh team, providing special-made titanium Hard Lock Nuts. We hope that this will help shave time off the team’s speed.
A world-class inspection device was installed in October 2008 to inspect every product. Hard Lock is working to bring its defects to zero.
・Measurement size: M6 to M12
・Precision: 1/1000 of a mm
・Inspection items: six items checked simultaneously – nut height, internal thread diameter, width across flat, and concave and convex forms
・Measurement speed: 100 to 300 products per minute
Many of our bills and packaging labels have changed to indicate strength classification instead of the materials used.
・SS400 and similar products: class 4
・S45C and similar products: class 8
・SCM435 and similar products: class 10
・SUS304 and similar products: A2
・For other products, the materials continue to be listed on the label.
In July 2008, we completed the installation of a Junker horizontal angle screw looseness tester thanks to the help and cooperation from Director Ohashi of the Japan Research Institute for Screw Threads and Fasteners and other people. This has greatly simplified our product quality confirmation process, providing the results in accurate numerical values and graphs. Click here for further details.
Hard Lock’s M6 SS400 nuts were completely changed to HL-R in July. No other products, sizes or materials were changed.
Notes:
The dimensions of the HL-R M6 concave and convex nuts have been changed.
Because the dimensions differ on the fitting portion of the current HLN M6 concave and convex nuts, care should be taken to keep them separate.
We will be providing more details on HL-R separately. HL-R is an improved bolt type, incorporating a Hard Lock nut rim (a flange on the seating face of the concave nut) for better workability. For a comparison, click here (in Japanese).
We have written an atomic energy specification sheet for the Hard Lock Nut. Contact us directly if you need any further details. Click here for the specification sheet.
Hard Lock aims to become more eco-friendly. On July 21st, we began shifting from the use of the harmful substance hexavalent chromium to trivalent chromium when electrolytic zinc plating for surface finishing.
Contact Hard Lock if you would like a product safety data sheet. They are available in English and Japanese.
Hard Lock has redesigned its case packaging and small boxes. Look for the new designs starting in September.
