Ogihara America Corp., a Thai Summit Group company, has been chosen as the winner of the 2010 Energy Saving Commercial Project of the Year presented by DTE Energy and The Engineering Society of Detroit. This award recognizes a company that has made the most effective contribution in reducing energy by implementing a significant project through “hard” equipment or technology that was installed in 2009. Ogihara America’s winning project was for the installation of a remote laser welding cell for the upper door of a two piece door assembly. Traditional resistance welding methods for automotive sheet metal joining consume electricity at an alarming rate. A spot weld for example, consumes over 70,000 watts of electricity per second. A remote laser weld consumes approximately 94% less electricity to produce a weld as compared to a traditional spot weld. Janet Bottesi, Sales Engineer and Diversification Team Leader, accepted the award on behalf of all Ogihara America associates on Tuesday 4 May at the Energy Conference and Exhibition at the Rock Financial Showplace in Novi, Detroit, Michigan, US.