We aim to prosper together with everyone!!

The other day, we held the ISOWA social gathering.

 

It is an annual event in which our subcontractors, we call “TASUKE-bito”, participate.

 

In recent years, it was held online because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but we were able to meet face-to-face for the first time in four years!

 

80 people participated, including ISOWA-bito.

 

We first explained our strategy which we are working very hard on and the status of orders we received this fiscal year.

 

Afterwards, we held a get-together with lunch.

 

(With everyone at the same table at lunch.)

I expressed determination, “We have set the goal of “coexisting and prospering with everyone in TASUKE-bito” and have been working on it.

Although we haven’t been able to take steps yet, we really want to realize the goal to prosper together with everyone!!”

 

After that, we gave letters of thanks and monetary awards to three corporations, which contributed to us during the previous fiscal year, K, D, and Y corporation.

 

In addition, we introduced five corporation, which celebrated their anniversaries this year, M corporation (90^th anniversary), Se corporation (70^th anniversary), K and D corporation (both 60^th anniversary), and Si corporation (50^th anniversary).

 

Thank you all for your participation, and please come to the ISOWA social gathering from now on!

 

We aim to prosper together with everyone!!

New World Record

Company M is a Canadian customer of ISOWA's Falcon (made in 2014).

It is located at the eastern end of Canada, the opposite shore of Prince Edward Island, the setting of "Anne of Green Gables."

I visited there 8 years ago, a little after we installed the machine. (Japanese site)

 

It was a heavenly place where "ISOWA would love to open its summer office."

This time, Company M informed us of the production record of last May 25, in one shift (12 hours).

Total running time: 11 hours 37 minutes

Downtime: 5 minutes

Number of orders: 15

Average set time: 1 minute 31 seconds

Total production：240,736 boxes

Average production speed：344 sheets/min.

Falcon's maximum production speed is 350 sheets/minute, so an average speed of 344 sheets/minute means that the machine has been running at its maximum speed for almost all hours of the shift.

This is a world record for the ISOWA Falcon.   

Congratulations!     

To celebrate, ISOWA America members planned to visit them and their Falcon several times, but the visit was postponed three times to be sure everyone could attend. 

Finally, it happened this March!

We were able to give them a gift of the world record plaque and take a commemorative photo with the managers and operators.

"This is a great example of what a great staff, a great machine, and great discipline can accomplish.

Even eight years after installation, a feat like this is still possible with proper maintenance.

Thank you, Company M.

Please continue to love Falcon as your "Ai-ki" (favorite machine in Japanese) for a long time.

ISOWA will also contribute to the reduction of opportunity loss for Company M!

Farewell to Mr. M. His Fans will miss him.

Mr. M had been working as an overseas engineer for several decades. He haｄ a lot of fans in many places in the world. I was one of them.

He retired and left ISOWA at the age of sixty. His many fans and ISOWA people miss him.

I told him that I wanted to have a farewell dinner when I saw him on his final day. He requested to go to an Indian restaurant. Indian cuisine is my favorite. So, I had no reason to turn it down. Haha!

I invited Mr. H, who had joined ISOWA at the same time as Mr. M. I also invited Mr. O, who had been working hard together for the overseas sales department. 

We talked a lot about our past stories. 

The customer in Thailand really wanted to work with Mr. M one more time. So, he went on a business trip to Thailand just before his retirement day.

Mr. M said,

“It was a little bit hard to say goodbye when I was leaving.”

“Just completing the tasks is not enough. By maintaining a good relationship with the customers, I can get them involved.”

“Even though the customers and I did not have a common language, I spent break time with them. Then, they were willing to help me. If Japanese people go abroad with other Japanese, they rely on each other. It prevents their growth. I know it is challenging, but young people should go overseas on a business trip alone.”

Wow! I really want young ISOWA people to inherit Mr. M’s wonderful spirit. 

His coworker Mr. O told me a secret story about Mr. M.

This is the hand wash counter in our machinery assembly factory.

Since it is made of tiles, the tiles and grout get dirty. Mr. M always cleaned it.

Like above (This is a sample photo. Haha.)

Mr. M said, “I did not do a special thing. I just poured a chemical, and the counter became clean automatically.” (I forgot the name of the chemical.)

His act was awesome.

Mr. O added, “One day, Mr. M found that there was no soap dish at the counter. Then, he paid for three soap dishes out of his own pocket. He also refilled the detergent bottle. He always did these things when no one was around him.”

He was not only the popular overseas engineer but also very helpful in the office. As the ISOWA president, I felt very sorry that I didn’t realize that he was doing so much for the office and staff.  

Mr. O! Why did you wait to tell me about these important stories until the final day of Mr. M!? It was too late. I wanted you to tell me earlier!

When it comes to “out of his pocket,” I would like to mention the original hats for ISOWA’s 100th anniversary.

When he went to Thailand for business purposes, he ordered 100 hats and presented to the ISOWA people. I really loved the nice design, and Mr. M presented two for me. They are still my favorite.

I told Mr. M repeatedly, “If you get bored after retirement, please come back. I always welcome you even if it is tomorrow! Haha.”

Seriously, I really look forward to it.

Until then, please take a break and take good care of your lower back pain. Please visit ISOWA sometime and show me your cheerful face.

Mr. M., thank you very much for your 42 years as a wonderful ISOWA-bito!

A spirit of never giving up despite failure

January company-wide morning meeting.

We presented awards to those who passed the 2022 National Technical Skills Test (first half of the year).

Mr. F and Mr. H both passed Grade 1 of Machinery Assembly and Finishing Work, and Mr. Nn, Mr. I, and Mr.Nk passed Grade 2 of the same class.

However, Mr. F is currently on an overseas business trip, so the other four members received awards on this day.

Each of the four gave a speech, and they all said, "I was able to pass the certification test thanks to my seniors, my supervisor, and Mr. K of the proficiency test office, who continued to guide me even after the work hours."

 

It is not just an event for ISOWA employees who take the exam; the whole company's support has taken root as a corporate culture.

 

The best part was the speech by Mr. H, who passed Grade 1.

 

He said, "I first took the test when Covid-19 was just starting to catch on. At the time, I never dreamed that either my exam studies or the Covid-19 craze would last for three years."

 

Even though he did not pass the exam the last two years in a row, he tried again for the third time this year and finally passed the exam.

I was impressed by his gentlemanly spirit that never gave up, kept trying, even when he failed, and still could talk about his efforts with a sense of humor.

That's just what you'd expect from someone who's passed the 1st grade of the Proficiency Test!　Well done!　

Another machinist, Mr. M, also passed the Numerical Control Lathe Operation Grade 1 course.

The efforts of each and every one of these individuals are the very essences of ISOWA's technical assets.

I hope that many more ISOWA employees will take on this challenge in the future.

After the morning assembly, I tried to take a commemorative photo, but I couldn't find Mr. K from the office.

Then, everyone said, 

　"Mr. K is the star of the show, so we really want to take a picture with him."

So I returned to the site and called Mr. K back, and he agreed to be photographed, although he seemed reluctant and embarrassed.

This was another typical ISOWA moment.

Two overseas guests to ISOWA

In December, we welcomed two guests across the border.

The first guest was from Thailand.

 

This is a photo from 6 years ago.

The gentleman in the photo visited ISOWA for the first time in 6 years, and we had dinner together last night.

When we had dinner together 6 years ago, he asked me questions from various aspects about our company’s management philosophy and corporate culture.

He immediately took notes as I explained each of them.

I was impressed by his enthusiasm.

I gave him a shikishi (Japanese-style message card) on which Tsunobo(my wife) had written a Japanese message, "Kitto saku (it means surely it will bloom)," with a calligraphy brush as a gift.

There is a reason for this: his name is “Kittisak”

I was sure that "Kittisak" would bloom in the near future if he kept running his business like this, so I sent him the word "Kitto saku" with my wish.

When I met him this time, he told me that he keeps the photo and shikishi on display.

And he also said, “Since you told me the idea of "Employees' Happiness" the last time we had dinner together, I've been running my business based on that idea for these six years. As a result, I was able to lead my company to great growth with ISOWA's machines.”

What an incredible story he told!

See! I knew he had been blooming!

And again, last night, he asked me a number of questions about new initiatives at ISOWA over these six years, and he promptly took note of my answers on his phone.

Proving that, the thank-you e-mail I received late at night said, "I wrote down the 8 points tonight. I will put them into practice as soon as I return home."

I was impressed by his sincere attitude, which was the same as six years ago.

This is exactly what “Making folks happy in the corrugated world” means!

It was a blissful reunion.

Thank you, Kittisaku-san.

Here is the story of the second guest.

International Paper Board Industry is one of the corrugated industry trade magazines published by Brunton Publications from the U.K..

Mr. David, a reporter of the magazine, visited us for the first time in a while.

His first visit was in August 2008.

Then he came here for the second time in August 2012.

 And this was his third visit to ISOWA.

As you can see above, we have both grown old over these 14 years.

He also appeared in ISOWA’s centennial commemorative magazine; therefore, I dedicated the commemorative magazine to him before we started the tour.

Though it's all written in Japanese (laugh.)

Since he is very interested in ISOWA’s approach of improving the corporate culture, he asked me a lot of questions about that apart from the main interview this time as well.

As a result, the interview, including the factory tour, lasted nearly four hours.

Afterward, we had dinner together and talked about various topics for another two hours.

As a machinery manufacturer, ISOWA is passionate not only about technology but also about “people (involved with machines)” and “(their) feelings.”

We could have a great talk as he shares that idea.

“Let’s meet a little more often from now on,” I said.

“Please take me to ISOWA’s customer’s factory next time,” he said.

“Of course!” I replied.

I would have a variety of topics ready for next time.

See you again, Kittisak.

See you again, David.

Two overseas exchanges

I’ll introduce you to two overseas exchanges we had recently.

The first is about Mr. N, who began working at ISOWA in the middle of October.

We started to hire new employees by recommendations of other ISOWA people.  For now, only service technicians.  

I interviewed one of the candidates, Mr. N. 

He has a degree in computer science from a university in the Philippines and came to Japan 9 years ago after graduation.

He had little chance to speak Japanese because his former place of work was almost all Filipinos, so I talked in English with him.

I said, “Did you hear anything about ISOWA from Mr. M, who recommended you to us?”

He answered, “I heard about work, only that ISOWA manufactures machines of corrugated paper, and I heard that ISOWA people are all good people.”

I think he understands that not only “What you do” is important but also “Whom you work with.”

America, Switzerland, Germany, Brazil, China, Korea, and the Philippines.

With the additional cross-cultural exchange, I am looking forward to seeing what new fusions will be created with us. 

The other overseas exchange we had was about Mr. Ron, the president of ISOWA AMERICA Inc.

I had talked with him online for the recent two years, but now, he has come to Japan after three years, and I had a face-to-face and long talk with him!

I realized a good point of a face-to-face talk once again because we could feel the passion of each other.

On the day of Mr. Ron’s return to America, Mr. O, Mr. A from Export Department, my wife, and I went to dinner with him. 

 

Ron, Mr. O, and Mr. A are all good fellows, and we had a fantastic dinner together, suitable for the restaurant’s name, “TGI Fridays!”

(We went to dinner on Thursday, though, ha-ha.)

Basting on our discussions in the meetings, let’s do what we all need to do in Japan and the U.S. to win bigger success in the US market!

ISOWA tour with a new type of machine

23 customers from 8 companies visited ISOWA to see the new type of machine from the beginning to the middle of September.

To welcome customers day after day, many ISOWA-bito and TASUKE-bito (staff from partner companies) changed their schedules each time and cooperated in preparing for the machine demonstrations.

 

Thanks to that, we also were able to show the various machines currently being assembled. Above all, we think the customers were able to feel the atmosphere of ISOWA's manufacturing site, which produces "i-machine."

 

One of the customers said, "As soon as I came to ISOWA, I felt the passion."

I asked, "Wasn't it "over the top," and not just "passion?" (laugh) The reason I asked was that someone in the past said he felt it was "over the top."

 

ISOWA-bito always welcomes our visitors. Some people say they feel "passion," while others say it seems "over the top."

 

This is because of the various values. 

 

Do we respond to everyone conservatively, or do we put our own values upfront and leave it to the customers to decide whether they like it?

There are various thoughts, but for me, I want to have something that describes ISOWA's uniqueness and stick to it.

 

I always think that I want to value "difference" rather than being safe and value "acceptable."

 

So, I was very happy to hear the customer say they feel "passion."

We will continue to aim to be a company that outpours enough passion to be “over the top"! 　

 

Mr. Y, who presented his ISOWA story (Jibun-gatari) with a machine behind him, is a technical engineer. He did the presentation while emitting " passion" in his own way.

Also, even if it is the same machine, it is enormous. It cannot be developed by one engineer, and multiple members work together as a team.

 

There is no specific employee in charge of Jibun-gatari (ISOWA story), but various ISOWA-bito are in charge each time.

 

Various customers came to this tour almost every day to see the same machine.

 

So, I thought that one of the members who already did the ISOWA story would be doing a presentation today, but it was Mr. I, who newly presented his ISOWA story.

"Making folks happy in the corrugated world."

 

Everyone in ISOWA thinks and works towards this same big vision, but there are 300 ways, as there are 300 members.

However, everything is connected to one corporate philosophy, vision, and strategy. 　

 

We are still halfway there, but we will aim for that as team ISOWA.

 

I was thinking about this while listening to Mr. I. presenting his ISOWA story.

 

Once again, I want to thank all the customers who came to ISOWA, as well as ISOWA-bito and TASUKE-bito.