Japanese Matsunaga Kouki Develops New Scaffold Anchor Bolt

Matsunaga Kouki Co., Ltd, a specialized scaffold construction company, developed a new removable scaffold anchor bolt that can reduce danger caused by anchor bolt corrosion in the building. The feature is that it can be easily removed by electric tools regardless of the worker's level of dexterity so as to complete construction in a short time. The product is pending for patent and is expected to be sold for 3 million units in 5 years.

The product is named "Anchor Bird". It can replace average anchor bolts used for building or bridge constructions. Average anchor bolts are usually left in the concrete after construction, but if they rust in the concrete, the building will start to deteriorate or crack. Conversely, Anchor Bird can be removed after construction and therefore increases better appearance and safety of the building.

Although there have been removable anchor bolts since the past, they have fixed thickness and are mostly cylindrical. Anchor Bird has the characteristic of springs at its front tip. At setup, the hole expands from the inside. This increases the strength of the anchor bolt and broadens its application. It is priced between JPY 250 to 550, but the company will lower the price by increasing production in the future. Sales will launch after this summer.

Matsunaga Kouki's target is to reach an annual sales of 2 million units and a revenue of JPY 500 million by 2021. According to the company, Japan uses a total of 140 million units of average anchor bolts a year that can be replaced by Anchor Bird; therefore the company expects to attain 10%-20% market share in the future while expanding sales to overseas countries like the U.S. and Singapore.