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Why did Casio choose an Environmental Policy?

Circuitry Casio Green Star Products Electronics Calculators

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#1 KamimuraCal

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Posted 07 December 2020 - 08:48 AM

There are several countries, especially in Southeast Asia, that are not getting their waste management under control. These include the Philippines, Indonesia, India, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and unfortunately also China. Basic rules such as waste avoidance, waste incineration, waste disposal and extensive recycling don't work at all or only insufficiently in these countries. In this area, Casio has adopted an environmental policy for a large number of its products. That means fewer batteries, a higher proportion of recycling in production (40% - 70%) and a resource-saving manufacturing process. Under these circumstances it should also be clear why the circuitry of most devices was adapted to these challenges.

There is also a very insightful article on the same topic called Building a Recycling Society. But that doesn't mean that all products fall into this category without exception. A further article also describes the future plans for relieving the burden on the environment under the title: Environmental Management. Take the time to read this!



#2 MJim

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Posted 07 December 2020 - 10:06 AM

I only had a brief look at the two articles, but the second one seemed more about restructuring in anticipation of environmental policy changes, without much mention to what is actually being done to curb environmental impact.  I see that there are more links at the bottom of the articles you linked, which may be worth a read when I'm more awake so that I can be a bit fairer in my judgement!

 

The first one had this important bit though:

FY2019 Scientific Calculator Graph 35+E II

Environmental Features
・Energy consumption during use reduced by 50%
・Product volume reduced by 23%
 (compared to Casio’s CY-802AY9 model)

 

Something that has been bothering me for a while is why Casio calculators have to be so big when they were quite capable of making them both small and sturdy in the past.  If new environmental policy will be pushing for less plastic usage and as a consequence we will see more compact and energy efficient calculators as a result, I'm pretty keen to see that come about as that seems like a win-win to me :D



#3 Hlib2

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Posted 07 December 2020 - 09:08 PM

Why did DuPont support the campaign to protect the ozone layer? DuPont patented a freon substitute and started making money selling it.
CASIO could always fulfill (and partially fulfilled) all its beautiful declarative statements. Most likely, this formal policy is imposed on CASIO from the outside to use this corporation as a tool to put pressure on weaker competitors.
++ CASIO products have always had a long service life and high reliability, which reduced environmental pollution from used and faulty equipment.
++ in the past, pocket devices were sold in cardboard packaging with manuals and guides on high-quality coated paper, which are sometimes exceeded twice the weight of the device itself. It is difficult to say how burdensome all this was for the environment.

Here are some quotes from the Building a Recycling Society:
・Transport efficiency increased by 34% by reduced packaging
・Contains at least 70% recycled plastic
・Energy consumption during use reduced by 50%
・Product volume reduced by 23%
・Blank space at the beginning and end of the tape reduced by 76% compared to the conventional model (label printer).
Frequently repeated words in "Product environmental assessment items": recycle, disassemble, improve, regulate.
As an ordinary consumer, I do not care about all this policy absolutely.

#4 KamimuraCal

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Posted 08 December 2020 - 07:44 AM

Most likely, this formal policy is imposed on CASIO from the outside to use this corporation as a tool to put pressure on weaker competitors.
++ CASIO products have always had a long service life and high reliability, which reduced environmental pollution from used and faulty equipment.
++ in the past, pocket devices were sold in cardboard packaging with manuals and guides on high-quality coated paper, which are sometimes exceeded twice the weight of the device itself.

 

Your assessment isn't entirely correct; in fact, there are guidelines from our own government that encourage such measures. At the same time, Casio is also facing its competition, which has a similar company policy. Such measures are often associated with financial advantages and subsidies that no serious company would easily do without. Apart from that, the company's board of directors is convinced that it will also take on an important role model function. Influences from outside, no matter what kind, have no meaning and therefore don't form a perceptible basis for decision-making.

 

As a rule, Casio listens to its customers, but the decisive factor is always the service that customers expect, and that includes attractive, sturdy packaging and at least one printed quick guide with appropriate accessories. As far as printing on glossy paper is concerned, this too has already been made environmentally friendly through improved processes over the last 30 years and should therefore no longer be a criterion today. In the 1990s, Casio couldn't simply assume that every customer had an Internet connection, so it goes without saying that a printed operating manual, even if it's 600 pages long, is available. That's why the company is more successful than many others. B)


Edited by KamimuraCal, 08 December 2020 - 08:58 AM.

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#5 KamimuraCal

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Posted 08 December 2020 - 08:37 AM

Something that has been bothering me for a while is why Casio calculators have to be so big when they were quite capable of making them both small and sturdy in the past.  If new environmental policy will be pushing for less plastic usage and as a consequence we will see more compact and energy efficient calculators as a result, I'm pretty keen to see that come about as that seems like a win-win to me. :D

 

Energy efficiency has always been a serious issue for Casio from the start, regardless of the type of device involved. The design of various devices, especially those that should not exceed certain dimensions, are subject to the laws of ergonomics, anthropotechnics and usability in general. The experience that Casio has made in the past with extremely small devices in particular has shown that compactness alone doesn't guarantee sales success. The demands that today's programmable graphic models make, simply don't allow savings to be made on dimensions. Customers are demanding more and more - these are in detail: functions, storage space, programmability, larger color displays, touchscreens, expandability, computing power and speed, and the fastest possible data exchange with other devices. And now try to stay compact and more energy efficient under these circumstances, I would like to see that! B)

 

I am sure that even you should be aware that, especially in the recent past, the lack of individual functions and keys on various calculators has been criticized again and again. Customers also criticized the durability of the key switches on some models, either they weren't sensitive enough, or they were far too sensitive to pressure and prone to key bounce, or the build quality was poor, and so on and so forth. Stability and durability are especially indispensable for handheld devices, here, contrary to all common sense, the dimensions must not be reduced endlessly. But all of this together isn't a question of environmental compatibility! ;)


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#6 MJim

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Posted 08 December 2020 - 10:24 PM

TIL the word "anthropotechnics" :D

 

"The experience that Casio has made in the past with extremely small devices in particular has shown that compactness alone doesn't guarantee sales success. The demands that today's programmable graphic models make, simply don't allow savings to be made on dimensions."

 

Any modern smartphone will tell you that it is easily possible to make savings in size.  I do admit though that I do very much like Casio's commitment to standard battery sizes (I use rechargeable AAA Sanyo Eneloop's in both my fx-9750GII & fx-CG50).

 

"Customers are demanding more and more - these are in detail: functions, storage space, programmability, larger color displays, touchscreens, expandability, computing power and speed, and the fastest possible data exchange with other devices. And now try to stay compact and more energy efficient under these circumstances, I would like to see that!"

 

I very much appreciate Casio's energy efficient designs and am rather glad they haven't switched to rechargable lithium-ion's which need to be charged every week (or couple of days), but I don't see why it isn't possible to make their calculators smaller without having to sacrifice energy efficiency.

 

"I am sure that even you should be aware that, especially in the recent past, the lack of individual functions and keys on various calculators has been criticized again and again. Customers also criticized the durability of the key switches on some models, either they weren't sensitive enough, or they were far too sensitive to pressure and prone to key bounce, or the build quality was poor, and so on and so forth. Stability and durability are especially indispensable for handheld devices, here, contrary to all common sense, the dimensions must not be reduced endlessly. But all of this together isn't a question of environmental compatibility!"

 

The first modern Casio I bought was the fx-991ES Plus, followed quickly by the fx-115ES Plus (when I realized it had more features than the fx-991ES Plus).  I was not happy with both the build quality and screen contrast, so both sat unused until I gave away the fx-991ES Plus and eventually I sold the fx-115ES Plus.  I was also disappointed with the build quality of the fx-CG50 (The screen is beautiful, but the keyboard problems and overall fit of the case wasn't all that great).  I then purchased the fx-991MS 2nd Edition and was hugely disappointed in the flimsy build quality, and the LCD to a certain degree (bad viewing angles and some of the flags aren't centered like the Radians symbol).  I pretty much gave up on Casio producing good quality products, as my general feeling was that newer products were going to be of even more poorer quality.

 

In particular it bothered me that my now deceased second-hand fx-991W was both smaller, more energy efficient and more durable than the brand new fx-991MS 2nd Edition.  I don't equate a larger size with being more durable as I have seen the opposite.  I bought the fx-991EX purely as I wanted to compare it to the Sharp EL-W516X and prove to myself how much better it is than the Casio, but when I got my hands on it I was rather surprised at the good build quality, well thought out keyboard layout and the efficient implementation of certain functions (for example displaying the stored variables or statistics variables as a list instead of having to recall each variable individually).  Of course you know about the solar cell experiments I did and I was once again impressed at this calculator.  Still the label printing on the calculator is probably the worst I have seen yet, and I would love to see the statistics functions and engineering units return to being second functions of the keyboard as they were with the fx-991W and earlier calculators.

 

While I may have diverted from the original topic considerably, I think size and durability is an important consideration when taking the environment into account.  A small, durable calculator with well implementated functionality should generally be better for the environment since there is less wasteage (even Casio made a point in the articles you linked about their reduced calculator size).


Edited by MJim, 08 December 2020 - 10:38 PM.


#7 KamimuraCal

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Posted 09 December 2020 - 10:50 AM

@MJim

 

OK. I don't want to replay the whole story here, but if you ignore handiness and questions about usability, in my opinion you have no picture of the actual reality. As I have already stated above, it makes absolutely no sense to downsize something at the expense of usability, the supposed gain in resource conservation is so marginal that it is pointless to discuss it. Every manufacturer can try to save material in this area, but in the end this always has an impact on durability and quality as a whole. Apart from that, you can rest assured that Sharp, Canon, Citizen and some other manufacturers are also subject to the same laws of material selection and manufacturing technology, they cook with exactly the same water. For Casio, questions of ergonomics and anthropotechnics are extremely important, as one has learned from past mistakes in this area and they will not be repeated.

 

If you take a closer look at the keyboards in particular, you can clearly see how much effort and research has been invested here in order to achieve the best possible operational safety. Some of the keys have a concave shape, while others are convex. If the device were to be reduced in size, the keys would also be smaller, again at the expense of operational safety. Another aspect should not be overlooked here, as we know, there are also people with a visual impairment, if a display were made smaller only because of the reduced size, then the readability of the inputs would also be worse, since these are now also smaller. So we all know that customers usually expect a larger display, and that is incompatible with reducing the device dimensions.

 

As you know, I own the fx-CG50 myself and, despite critical comparisons with other devices, I haven't found any defects or serious weaknesses over the years. If you read "Made in China" on the back, then every consumer is already sceptical as to whether the device delivers what it promises. For the majority of customers, the handiness and weight are decisive factors for the durability of a device, devices that have an excessive minimization of the dimensions are also subject to a shortened service life. The consequence of this is that the consumption of resources is significantly higher in the long term than if one had decided on a more reasonable size right away. And please stop telling me that you have had the opposite experience, because it lacks any credibility. Of course, you have the right to sell a device that you don't like, but if this happens to you all the time, it sounds like hypocrisy to me, as you use more resources than anyone else! (The list under your avatar says a lot about that!)  <_<



#8 MJim

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Posted 09 December 2020 - 10:33 PM

I think there is a translation issue, as I don't believe I said anything particularly offensive in my last post.

 

"For the majority of customers, the handiness and weight are decisive factors for the durability of a device, devices that have an excessive minimization of the dimensions are also subject to a shortened service life."

 

Perhaps, but I'm not talking about excessive minimization, I'm referring to older models that Casio have produced in the past that were both smaller and durable.  My Sharp EL-506P from 1984 is my smallest scientific calculator I own (70mm x 130mm x 10mm roughly), and is still working perfectly fine 36 years later.  Small and durable aren't necessarily mutually exclusive.

 

"The consequence of this is that the consumption of resources is significantly higher in the long term than if one had decided on a more reasonable size right away. And please stop telling me that you have had the opposite experience, because it lacks any credibility. Of course, you have the right to sell a device that you don't like, but if this happens to you all the time, it sounds like hypocrisy to me, as you use more resources than anyone else! (The list under your avatar says a lot about that!)  <_<"

 

Yeah, I think there might be a problem with how I'm explaining myself, as I don't dispute that shortened service life results in higher consumption of resources, in fact that was a point I was trying to make in my previous post.  I'm all for good quality stuff that lasts decades, which is why I tend to hold onto my old stuff tightly as I'm always wary of "newer and better" products.

 

Most of the calculators on my list were sourced second hand, only these ones were purchased brand new:

-Casio fx-CG50

-Casio fx-991EX

-Casio fx-991MS 2nd Edition

-Sharp EL-W516X (I bought 2, but gave one to a friend)

-Casio fx-991ES Plus (given away)

-Casio fx-115ES Plus (sold)

 

 

I do have to admit that I bought another 4 x fx-991EX's (on the way) because I liked the calculator so much I wanted another spare for myself, so planned to sell the other 3 to try and cover the costs of that spare.  Perhaps then I am a hypocrite and should keep to only purchasing those calculators I plan to use for myself only, but I never buy a calculator with intent to throw it away, I much rather give it away for free if I was unable to sell it.


Edited by MJim, 09 December 2020 - 10:43 PM.




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