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| MOTOR SPORTS CULTURE |
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| Motor sports culture : The heart of RAYS |
| Motor sports culture is the basis of RAYS corporate identity. To promote and support this passion, the company quickly became involved in race activities and has come to supply racing wheels to competitors all over the world. Currently RAYS racing wheels feature prominently in F-1 (Formula 1 Championship) and the WTCC (Worldwide Touring Car Championship) centered on Europe, the Japanese Super GT championship, the North American ALMS (American Le Mans Series), and other major competitions.
By natural inclination and market positioning, RAYS is committed to continuing participation in motor sport. At the same time, fierce competition in the arena of motor sports drives RAYS to actively develop forged wheels and cast wheels, and provides motive force for the creation of attractive products. Moreover, racing excites the passions of user, gets them thinking about their cars, and increases their satisfaction with RAYS wheels. RAYS also views racing as a laboratory that generates ideas and refines technology that can be developed for aftermarket wheels.
Around-the-world involvement in racing is also a great advantage when it comes to market strategy. As a means of promotion that strongly appeals to buyers, as a spur to research, and as an ongoing challenge for our engineers, serious participation in racing remains an essential part of the RAYS approach. |
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Decisive advantages result in winning wheels.
Complete confidence won from painstaking Japanese industrial skills. |
Made in Japan is also integral to the decisive appeal of RAYS. It underlies confidence in RAYS wheels as winning wheels and drives the growth of RAYS in the aftermarket. Made in Japan creates more value than cost saving that might come from overseas production. Keeping production in Japan ensures speedy development, efficient decision making, and enables the management of the company to stay in tip-top condition. RAYS believes that Made in Japan will remain a decisive advantage through the coming generation.
RAYS possesses plenty of advanced forging equipment, including a world-leading 10,000-ton forging press. At the same time, to remarkably improve the performance of cast wheels, the company rapidly established patented wheel-making technologies such as RCF forming and RM8000 forging methods. Along with highly efficient manufacturing processes, these exclusive technologies have enabled the production of wheels with superior performance and extremely fine quality. RAYS can offer a variety of styles and sizes owing to its advanced technology and expertise. This has enabled RAYS forged wheels and sports cast wheels to establish a reputation as supreme products in the aftermarket for wheels. Besides taking pride in its Made in Japan policy, RAYS is also proud that, from design to manufacture, all its wheels are completely produced by RAYS. This goes for the company’s won brands and its OEM products. It is true for all types, from inexpensive cast wheels to custom-made forged magnesium wheels for racing.
RAYS is able to add so much value to its products because of the success of RAYS racing wheels and by employing exclusive methods at advanced production facilities maintained entirely within Japan. This has allowed the company to consolidate a system to stably supply the market and earn the trust of buyers ranging from end users to corporations. |
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| “By RAYS,” all the customer needs to know |
RAYS sells plenty of wheels in the aftermarket. Many of RAYS wheels are made with radically new technologies such as Formec and RCF forming. RAYS has also come up with stainless steel jackets, titanium coating, and numerous other innovations. The company’s creative technology strives both to improve quality and efficiency and, importantly, to excite the feelings of users. In addition, concerned to keep on improving strength and safety, the company insists that all RAYS wheels pass rigorous in-house JWL+R standards. RAYS is also aware that, in today’s market, users require companies to act with corporate social responsibility. Mobilizing the confidence that RAYS has acquired for wheels that embody ‘Quality, performance, and impressive style,’ the company is also making rapid advances into the car supplies segment.
Over time, RAYS has developed skills as a trading company and built up a national sales network. Continuing to effectively use this network, RAYS is expanding into the car supplies segment where, as a leading brand, it can use its knowledge, power, and buyer confidence. The same ‘ability to see through to true value’ that enabled the company to flourish in a fiercely competitive market will enable the production of original high-quality products, and the recognition of superior overseas products for import and sale. RAYS already has a system in place to enable a smooth transition to this new business. This has been proved by success in using the sales network to market, as OEM wheels, products that are not RAYS brands.
No matter what dimension of quality and refined taste a product engenders, as long as RAYS is involved, you can be assured of its safety and reliability. By bringing to Japan only things that are worthy of the ‘By RAYS’ tag, and then supplying them to the world, RAYS strives to be a company that comprehensively supports car users who want to derive full enjoyment from their cars. |
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Governance system set up to advance
RAYS vision of motor sports culture |
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As a globally active enterprise, RAYS has acquired ISO9001 certification of its quality management system, and has obtained TUV marks for products for the European market.
Meanwhile, to responsibly carry out planned sales, the company has implemented a supervisory system. To ensure compliance, RAYS Engineering, which is in charge of the development and production of forged wheels, and RAYS C.W.P., which looks after the development and production of cast wheel production, undertake independent supervision of each other.
As a global corporate citizen, RAYS is keen to minimize the ecological impact of it operations. The company constantly strives to minimize the carbon emissions of its manufacturing processes. To reduce packaging, RAYS has introduced a returnable crate system. Meanwhile, by promoting RAYS Ecoproject, the company has been strongly advocating lighter wheels as a means of improving vehicle fuel performance.
As a company, while RAYS constantly strives to supply better products, equal or greater precedence is given to corporate social responsibility and willing compliance. In addition, it goes without saying that RAYS is determined to repay the trust of shareholders, trading partners, employees, customers, and other stakeholders by making properly ethical decisions. By discharging these various duties, RAYS hopes to contribute to the advance of motor sports culture. These are the basic principles that propel and guide RAYS corporate governance. |
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| RAYS New wheel intensity standard, JWL+R |
JWL+R is a new alloy wheel intensity standard that RAYS has created internally which applies to all alloy wheels that will be fitted to automobiles.
Compared with the JWL standard, which is currently Japan’s intensity standard for aluminum wheels, JWL+R standard imposes alloy wheels endurance and weariness trials which are two times more severe than the JWL standard, and imposes shock trials with heavier weights. In addition, RAYS drops a weight of one ton in a 90 degree angle against a wheel fitted with a tire, and then subject the wheel and tire combination to a drum endurance test which it must pass more than 80,000 times in its transformed state. We include original trials to help simulate potential hazardous road conditions and test our wheels for endurance and stability if these situations occur.
Increasingly powerful braking systems which are housed by larger wheels and lower profile tires provide many benefits to cars, however, there are negative factors such as the increase of unsprung weight and the increase of stress to the inner rims. In order to avoid the increase in weight of alloy wheels, and to ensure security and peace of mind in everyday driving, RAYS introduced JWL+R. The items included in our performance trials are not limited only to the intensity standards, but also to synthetic quality standards such as rigidity analysis at the design stage and coating endurance. JWL+R aims to overcome all of the challenges to produce light alloy wheel. |
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| RAYS quality assurance |
| Demonstrating commitment to internationally recognized quality management system standards, RAYS has acquired ISO9001 certification. The stated aim of ISO9001 is to both assure quality and to improve customer satisfaction, an attitude with which RAYS wholeheartedly agrees. Similarly, German TUV certification, which demonstrates compliance with safety standards assured by disinterested third-party inspection, is sought for RAYS products. Active compliance demonstrates the superior quality of RAYS wheels. |
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| Dealing with environmental problems |
How can RAYS contribute to society? One way is through the things it makes, but it can also make a difference through its corporate conduct. Concerned with environmental issues, RAYS developed ECO DRIVE GEAR, a superlight wheel product. Third-party testing has demonstrated that these wheels can definitely cut fuel consumption. Success came from applying the company’s accumulated expertise with lightweight wheels to the problem of fuel efficiency.
RAYS has also been re-examining many aspects of its business operations. For example, production lines that use harmful chrome are being phased out, and the company has been developing alternative technologies to produce polished effects similar to the beauty of chrome. Meanwhile, consumption of packaging and other secondary materials has been reduced.
As a leading maker of aluminum wheels, when it comes to social responsibilities, RAYS takes an active role. Involved in racing, RAYS is committed to responsibly promoting motor sports culture. |
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