With the widespread proliferation of computers in the late 1980s, hardware became increasingly compact and lightweight. One result was the rapid increase in demand for the development of small machine parts. Due to the complex part processing and short delivery time involved, most of our competitors were hesitant to accept such orders. However, we changed our way of thinking: the more difficult it is, the more opportunities we have to become a top-notch company and survive global competition. Since then, we have been engaged in manufacturing with high added value, featuring the combination of small, complex shapes, deep holes, and honing process.

Public awareness of Dainichi Co., Ltd. was widely enhanced by our accepting orders that seemed difficult for our competitors, and by using advanced techniques, such as drilling a hole 0.02 mm in diameter (smaller than the width of a human hair); the drilling of a hole measuring 32mm in diameter up to 2 m in length; and the processing of various types of materials, including titanium, stainless steel and other hard-to-cut materials. We have also provided easy-to-understand information on our techniques and expertise through our unique web page "Ana (hole) Stories."

Our company's manufacturing philosophy is to introduce machine tools that our competitors cannot introduce, after considering the range of application, and resolve technological problems that confront our customers, ahead of our competitors. It is notable at our factories that expensive and complex machine tools are operated by employees'- whose average age is in their 20s, not highly skilled workers. We always encourage our young employees to courageously try to learn complex micro-fabrication technology.

With the aim of developing a new project, in 1994 Dainichi and six other small and medium-size companies started cooperation between various industries. With increasing attention focused on the roles played by robots in hazardous areas, such as nuclear power plants and outer space, and expectation that there will be demand for human-type robot hands that can skillfully manipulate tools, our company and Gifu University's research team, led by Prof. Kawasaki, in 1996 organized the Gifu Robot Hand Research Group, using subsidies from the Gifu Research & Development Foundation.

In December 2001, we finally initiated sales of Gifu Hand III, the third phase of robot hand development. Dainichi's micro-fabrication technology enabled the production of a robot hand with five fingers that can functionally move like a human hand. We have received orders from leading robot researchers, and our "Japan's one-and-only" expertise has been proven, further increasing public confidence in Dainichi.