Masahiro Kamiya, Executive Director, DENSO WAVEMasahiro Kamiya, Executive Director
DENSO WAVE, a part of the DENSO and TOYOTA group, stands as a front-runner in the supply of ODM and OEM goods. Serving as a cooperative partner, it enables client engineering departments to focus on their core technology, while leveraging DENSO WAVE’s value in providing new technology and flexible resources. The company’s in-house project management capabilities enable the timely completion of tasks while maintaining transparent communication regarding progress of work and potential challenges with their customers.

“As we have a lot of cross-pollination with DENSO, we are able to leverage a plethora of technologies and capabilities from the automotive space into new and exciting developments for our customers,” says Masahiro Kamiya, executive director, DENSO WAVE.

The company understands that many of its customers are currently encountering problems with delivery issues due to a dearth of semiconductors. This impinges on their business prospects. DENSO WAVE is well-equipped to tackle this issue by utilizing DENSO’s existing relationships with component suppliers. Moreover, its design and manufacturing prowess plays a vital role in the prompt substitution of parts with viable alternatives in the event of a component shortfall. Additionally, the company’s sturdy testing division and self-certification capacity expedite the integration of new parts into product designs swiftly and effectively.

As opposed to other external manufacturing or design providers, DENSO WAVE offers comprehensive solutions from the initial ideation and planning stages, through to prototyping, development, manufacturing, QA, certification and post-sale services. Simultaneously, the company offers insights on specifications and recommends innovative technologies or manufacturing methods to fully align with the intended functionality of the specification.

“By having close integrations with customers and their future product plans, we are better equipped to react quickly to rapid design and software changes,” says Kamiya.

DENSO WAVE caters to the unique needs of its client partners by providing adaptable terms and payment structures. Standard arrangements often involve discussions around Non-Recurring Engineering (NRE) charges at the culmination of the development stage, and product pricing determined by projected volumes. In certain instances, it also allows for the distribution of NRE costs across product prices, enabling customers to reduce any immediate engineering expenditure.

These capabilities have been instrumental for DENSO WAVE to sustain enduring relationships with numerous customers—some surpassing three decades.

As we have a lot of cross-pollination with DENSO, we are able to leverage a plethora of technologies and capabilities from the automotive space into new and exciting developments for our customers

For instance, a North American electronic industrial controls provider sought more cost-effective PLC products for straightforward industrial tasks like autonomous machine tools and plant doors. They saw this sector as a burgeoning market, as their PLC products were being utilized for more complex industrial machinery and processes. Participating in this business required the provision of more affordable PLC products. DENSO WAVE engineered a budget-friendly PLC product featuring integrated input/output electronics, a consolidated power supply, and plastic packaging. Beyond cost-effectiveness, these products quickly exhibited high reliability. This combination fostered customer acceptance across new markets.

Success stories like these validate DENSO WAVE’s aptitude for embracing fresh challenges. As the sole ODM firm with early exposure to advanced automotive technology and a versatile resource network, it is well-positioned to cater to organizations that face resource limitations or have gaps in technology.

“We take pride in being more of a partner to our customers than a manufacturing or design supplier,” says Kamiya.

Side Panel: “As part of our product planning process, we identified some key unmet needs in the market that required a differentiated industrial design and a need to hit the market in less than 9 months. We turned to Denso Wave to be our development partner as we had high regard for their engineering capabilities and manufacturing prowess to deliver a quality product on time and within our specifications” - Prakash Bedapudi, Executive VP & CTO Lennox Industries.