“CKD which manufactures fluid control components like pressure valve for semiconductor production is now reinforcing its business activities in the medical field including oxygen concentrator, as part of the new field developments.

The annual sales of the company amounts to 72.8 billion yen (2012) in which the product sales for the semiconductor production like pressure valves accounts for 30%. The company also deals with automatic equipment like medical or food packaging systems as well as valves to control a fluid like gas, air or water.

The company with 3,200 employees is going to mark the 70th anniversary this year, having four production centers including the headquarters and plants in Japan and also overseas plants in Korea, China, Thailand and Malaysia.

As the background of CKD’s deployment into the medical field, of course, the dimming prospects of the semiconductor industry of the major customer can be pointed out.

In the medical field the company particularly places an emphasis upon the solenoid valve applied to the portable oxygen concentrator which home oxygen therapy (HOT) patients use. Since two years ago, the major HOT equipment manufacturers like Teijin Farma or Fukuda Denshi have been selling PSA type equipment, for the convenience of HOT patients to go out, which is lighter than a cylinder and assures oxygen volume.

CKD originally used to manufacture multipurpose solenoid valves, but in the summer of 2011 developed the product of small-type solenoid valve for portable oxygen concentrator.

Kanehiko Iguchi, strategy manager of fluid control system department says, “We combined CKD’s existing pneumatic valves and the technology of control valve to form the product as package.” At present, CKD supplies the product to medical equipment manufacturers including Teijin Pharma, Fukuda Denshi and NGK Spark-plug with monthly sales of several hundred units.”