Japan studies noisier hybrids to protect blind

An appeal of a hybrid or electric car is its super-quiet drive. But worries are growing blind people may be endangered by their silence.

The Japanese government has set up a panel with automakers, organizations for the blind and consumers groups to come up with a solution, which could have such vehicles emitting what sounds like engine noise or musical sounds like a cell-phone ring-tone, officials said Tuesday.

A legal change would be needed to equip the vehicles with such special features.

"We are still listening to different opinions and trying to figure out the best solution," said Yuta Kaga, spokesman for Toyota Motor Corp., which makes the hit gas-electric Prius hybrid and is represented on the panel.

The panel, which began meeting in July, plans to have a proposal by the end of the year, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.

It was set up partly in response to worries voiced by the blind. The Japan Federation of the Blind, which submitted a request in June, is asking the government to instruct hybrid-makers to make the vehicles safer for the blind.

An informal survey of 52 blind people carried out by the group last year found that more than half of the respondents said they were terrified of hybrids because they were so quiet, although none reported being in an accident.

The Yomiuri, Japan's biggest newspaper reported Tuesday that such measures may be available on Toyota cars going on sale in 2010, possibly with radar to sense nearby pedestrians and making noise only at slow speeds.

Such measures are more useful for Japan's crowded streets than the U.S. and other nations where cases of pedestrians getting hit by a car are fewer.

Sales of hybrids are booming in Japan because of government incentives and tax breaks to encourage green car sales.

Toyota's Prius has been the top-selling car in Japan for four months straight. Honda Motor Co.'s Insight hybrid is also selling well, and hybrid models are expected to keep growing.

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. began selling the i-MiEV electric car this year, and other makers are planning electric vehicles.

Siemens offers ‘tailor-fitted’ solutions for RP industries

AS three of the country’s important industry in areas of manufacturing, utility, and transportation brace for challenges amid economic slowdown and domestic population growth, the local subsidiary of Europe’s engineering conglomerate giant Siemens Inc. has vowed to provide tailor-fitted or comprehensive industry solutions for Philippine companies.

“We are determined to become a helping partner as the Philippines moves forward to achieving greater success in those major industries,” said Adrian Wood, president and chief executive officer of Siemens Inc. Philippines.

Wood expressed confidence that exporting companies dealing in industrial processes today are more optimistic to integrate automation and solutions to maximize their efficiency and production.

Filipino food exporters, for instance, are enjoying a good following and demand for marine and agricultural products in Taiwan.

According to Antonio Basilio, resident representative of Manila Economic and Cultural Office, the country’s exports to Taiwan improved by 25 percent to $10.1 million from $8 million last year.

The anticipation for exports improvement is further extended by economists to manufacturing electronic raw materials.

Wood said “that’s why for every manufacturing process, we assure clients’ operations are streamlined and optimized.”

“More efficient production processes mean higher production volume which translates to cheaper goods. Siemens is committed to provide the modernization needs of the Philippines’ industry sector, which will pave the way for the country’s progress as well,” he said.

Among corporations that utilized the Siemens’s patented factory automation solutions include Monde M.Y. San Corp., San Miguel Corp., Asia Brewery Inc., United Laboratories, Holcim and Lafarge.

Under Siemens’s affiliated companies which comprised of Siemens Power Operations Inc. and Osram Philippines Ltd. Corp., utility needs of residential, industrial and agricultural communities have been empowered.

Its water treatment systems have provide relief to people with previous struggles in sanitation and distribution, while its lighting solutions promotes both cost and energy efficiencies for energy-centered types of businesses.

“We are committed to continue bringing innovation that would impact the lives of the next generation of Filipinos,” Wood said.

Siemens’s key businesses in the Philippines include automation and control, industrial solutions, information technology products and services, medical solutions, power (generation, transmission and distribution), Siemen’s IT solutions and services, and transportation.