The Tsukuba Manufacturing Plant is Mitsubishi's latest and most sophisticated carbide production facility. Built just a few years ago at a cost of $200 million, this high technology and automated production facility boasts a high degree of automation from robotic power transportation systems, to computer-aided product design, to ultra contemporary unmanned 24-hour/day automated carbide pressing equipment. The Tsukuba Manufacturing Plant, despite Japanese currency appreciations, has continued to be one of the most highly productive and economical-high quality producers of carbide in the world.