Kubota
Kubota Corporation is a tractor and heavy equipment manufacturer based in Osaka, Japan. One of its notable contributions was to the construction of the Solar Ark. The company was established in 1890.
The company produces many products including tractors and agricultural equipment, engines, construction equipment, vending machines, pipe, valves, cast metal, pumps and equipment for water purification, sewage treatment and air conditioning.
Kubota engines are in both diesel and gasoline or spark ignition forms, ranging from the tiny 0.276 liter engine to 6.1 liter engine, in both air-cooled and-liquid cooled designs, naturally-aspirated and forced induction. Cylinder configurations are from single cylinder to inline six cylinders, with single cylinder to four cylinder are the most common. Those engines are widely used in agricultural equipment, construction equipment, tractors, and marine propulsion.
The company is listed on the first section of Tokyo Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the TOPIX 100 and Nikkei 225
History
Summary
Founded in February 1890 by Gonshiro Kubota in Osaka as the Oide foundry, the business changed name in 1897 and became the Kubota ironwork working on pipes, taps, and fire fighting materials. Twenty years later, production moved to a new plant in Amagasaki in the Hyōgo prefecture.Detailed Events by Date
1890
- Established as a foundry.
- Started production of castings for weighting equipment and daily commodities.
1893
- Began production of cast iron pipes for water supply.
- Opened the Amagasaki Plant.
1897
- Changed the corporate name from Oide Chuzo-jo to Kubota Tekko-jo.
- Initiated production of waterworks equipment such as fire hydrants and gate valves.
1917
- Opened the Amagasaki Plant and relocated manufacturing.
1922
- Started production of oil-based engines for agro-industrial purposes, settanki, and heat-resistant cast iron.
1930
- The Ministry of Commerce and Industry selected the Kubota Oil Engine as an "Excellent Domestic Product".
1939
- Initial public offering. A technical vocational institute was set up in each plant.
1947
- Developed the cultivator and initiated production and sales.
1953
- Changed corporate name from K.K. Kubota Tekko-jo to Kubota Tekko K.K. Established Kubota Kenki K.K. and entered the construction equipment industry.
- Began production of power shovels and other construction equipment as well as marine deck machineries.
1955
- Created a corporate slogan, "From country building to rice making".
1957
- Advanced into the arena of housing-related materials.
- Started production of "Colorbest" housing material.
1960
- Developed and commercialized first Japanese farm tractor.
- Received and completed an order for an overseas water supply project for the first time in Japan.
1962
- Full-scale entry into the environmental improvement business.
- Started production of paddy field tractors.
1963
- Began production of vending machines.
1964
- Initiated production of municipal incineration plants.
1969
- Launched a new corporate slogan, "Create and environment affluent to human beings".
- Started production of combines.
- Completed an integrated system for agricultural mechanization.
1972
- Full scale entry into the field of incinerators.
- Established Kubota Tractor Corporation in the US to fully enter the US tractor market.
1980
- Received an order for an irrigation system from the state of Sharkia, Egypt, and worked on desert greening.
- Launched a new slogan, "Pursuing a promised future with our technological strength".
1984
- Received an environmental award from the Environmental Agency for their night soil treatment system, "U-tube nitro system".
1986
- Started production of electronic circuit boards, hard discs, and radio-controlled lawnmowers.
1989
- Participated in desert greening projects, the Sahil Greenbelt Plan and the Green Earth Plan
1990
- Celebrated 100 years in business.
- Altered the corporate name to Kubota Corporation.
- Introduced new corporate symbol and visual identity system.
- Co-presented a fountain and water splitting equipment ALEPH at the International Garden and Greenery Exposition.
1992
- Launched a new slogan, "Let's make our habitat more beautiful".
- Initiated the research and development of incineration plants with high-efficiency waste-generated power facility.
- International Environmental Planning Center was established in the Faculty of Engineering, the University of Tokyo, supported by a donation from Kubota Corporation.
1993
- Announced business guidelines "Vision for our Second Century of Business" toward the 21st century.
- Kankyo Chosa Center and the Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun awarded the Director General's Prize and Excellent Prize of the Environmental Agency to Kubota's domestic wastewater treatment system with immersion-type organic flat membrane.
1995
- Started the Environmental Audit System for environmental protection in accordance with standards stricter than existing laws and regulations towards continuous environmental improvement.
1999
- Kubota's Underwater Dioxin Decomposition Unit won the Nikkei Outstanding Product/Service Prize and the Nikkei Shimbun Prize of Excellence.
2001
- All domestic establishments achieved ISO 14001 certification.
2002
- Total production exceeded 20 million units for Kubota's industrial engine.
2005
- The Teshima Illegal Waste Dump Raw Material Recovery System won the Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry Prize at the Excellent Environment Equipment Awards.
- Total production of tractors exceeded 3 million units.
2006
- Formulated "Corporate Mission Statement", "Management Principles", "Charter for Action", and "Code of Conduct" of Kubota Group.
- Created new corporate slogans: "Building foundations ", "For Water, Soil, Air, and People's lives. ", and "Let's make our habitat more beautiful ".
- "Sewage sludge concentrator " won the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Prize at the Excellent Environmental Equipment Awards.
- Completed a new factory for implements in the United States.
2008
- Started the "Kubota E-Project" social contribution activities
2009
- Completed the first tractor production plant for a Japanese company in Thailand.\
- Completed a ductile iron pipe plant in India.
2010
- Certified as an "Eco-First Company" by Japan's Ministry of the Environment.
- Started production of combine harvesters in Thailand.
- Established a pump production and sales company in China.
2011
- Kubota combine harvester "PRO688Q" for Chinese market won the Nikkei Business Daily Awards for Superiority at the 2010 Nikkei Superior Products and Services Awards.
- Established Regional Headquarters in China.
- Started operation of the Eco-Products Certification System.
- Completed a cast steel product plant in Saudi Arabia.
- Completed a construction machinery plant in China.
- Established a company specialized in the import, milling, and sale of Japanese rice in Hong Kong
2012
- Acquired and transformed Kverneland AS, into a subsidiary.
- Established an engine production plant in China
- Established "Kubota Identity," a global corporate principles, and adopted a new brand statement logo.
- Acquired water treatment engineering company and established KUBOTA KASUI Corporation.
2013
- Established a parts procurement company in Thailand
- Established a production plant for compact tractors in the U.S.
- Established a company specialized in the import, milling, and sale of Japanese rice in Singapore