Meet Japanese Companies with Quality
Measuring System ACT Electronics Corp.
Website: ACT Electronics Corp.
Category: Japanese Machinery
Breaking with convention
A business without an owner was the dream shared by a group of young men when they left the measuring instrument business they worked at to create a company of their own-one where each would take turns as president. The dream became reality in 1985, when ACT Electronics Corporation opened for business, the name ACT being short for both "Active" and "Analog and Computer Technology." Now, nearly 30 years later and led by president number three, Katsunori Tanaka, they've grown from a small team of seven to a company of 30 employees, 80 percent of whom are engineers. With success in Japan, ACT is now keen to work overseas-not just in electronics but also optics and software-and live up to its guiding motto: to be "the only one."
President Katsunori Tanaka, a founding member of ACT Electronics, became the company's third president in 2009]
One of many applications for ACT technology-measuring the speed of elevator doors
Laser-guided
When ACT was established, measuring instruments were contact-based, affecting accuracy, and meant that some materials, such as delicate surfaces and hot metals, couldn't be measured at all. Keen to surmount this challenge, ACT engineers set about developing non-contact measuring instruments, and only six months later revealed its Non-Contact Laser Doppler Velocity/Wow Flutter Measuring System. Since then, ACT has continued to develop systems for various industries, from CD/DVD Jitter meters and calibrators to non-contact measuring systems for trains, cars, hot metals and other materials.
The "Doctor Yellow" bullet trains that monitor shinkansen tracks for safety issues use ACT technology to check for cracks on rails and in aerial cables-at nearly 300 kilometers per hour. Laser Doppler technology is used in papermaking to keep paper length and width uniform across a sheet. Its instruments also gauge speed, using lasers pointed at a moving object (film running over a series of rollers, for example) or at a static object from a moving one (as in a train moving over tracks).
Laser Doppler sensor used to check train tracks
Two-channel laser Doppler measuring system taking readings from film moving around two rollers
Made to measure
ACT is often contacted with requests to alter current models or technology to meet specific needs, and thus many of its products are the result of custom work. With each success, the ACT roster of products grows.
Always striving to surpass expectations, the company continues to innovate. It has created two-channel devices that allow for immediate non-contact speed-comparison between dual points, quickening the troubleshooting process. Its cutting-edge technology also means that ACT devices can measure the normally immeasurable, like highly reflective or nearly transparent surfaces and even waterspouts and glass. With its trailblazing background and ideas, ACT Electronics is a proven asset to companies across myriad industries. The recent development of a low-priced laser Doppler velocity and length meter means its technology is even more accessible than ever.
Website: ACT Electronics Corp.
