That is a book that Mr. H, one of my blog readers, told me about before.
The story is about a Japanese company named Nippon Paper Industries Co. where Mr. H used to work and how one of their factories recovered from the huge earthquake that hit Japan on March 11th, 2011.
It’s located in Ishinomaki city that was one of the hardest hit areas.
The book had many facts that I never knew.
How serious the tsunami really was
That each publishing paper has different colors.
And that about 40% of the whole publishing papers in Japan is produced by Nippon Paper and Ishinomaki factory was their main one.
After stricken by the tsunami, they didn’t even know where the factory was with the enormous amount of debris.
They didn’t even know what to do.
Then the factory chief told them that all they had to do was to start operating one of the machines again within six months
Everyone else thought it was impossible.
But, in the end, that was what made it possible for the Ishinomaki factory and Ishinomaki city to pick up from the damage.
I know a lot about cardboard because that’s the industry we’re in.
But I knew little about printing papers.
It’s always nice learning something new.
I’d like to say thank you to Mr. H for giving me an opportunity to do that.
One-on-one meeting with the executives after the multisource evaluation.
Finished it all as scheduled. 23 people, an hour per person. Which means I spent almost one whole day on this.
But I'm really glad I did it.
It wasn't just about something related to work. It was something much deeper.
We usually don't get to talk this much.
As for Mr. S who I talked with today, to be honest, I've hardly ever talked to him before.
It's not like I haven't talked to them all but that doesn't change the fact I should have done this a long time ago.
It might be late, but it's much better doing something than not doing it.
I'm glad they all opened up to me and we got to talk about something honest.
Even though sometimes I had to give them harsh feedback, they accepted it and were even thankful for that.
One of them even wanted to do it again next year.
I also shook hands with each employee I interviewed, which turned out a great idea.
It helped us get even closer.
With the foundation we've built this time, we'll work towards a better future for us and the world in 2015.
Today was a monthly meeting day.
Normally I speak for half an hour but this time instead I asked Mr. U and Mr. S to do it.
Mr. U made a speech a few days ago when we had some visitors over, which really was a good one.
That’s why I wanted everyone else to get to hear that.
He is in charge of parts procurement. He found out something about our slogan “ISOWA keeps you going – always on the go!”
“People always think on their own terms.
When they say it’s almost ready, you interpret with your own standard.
But the point is, our standards are never the same.
I’d come to subcontract factories every day and talk to get a mutual understanding. That’s how I built my relations with them.
ISOWA keeps you going – always on the go!
This is something that will take us a long time to achieve.
But if you understand each subcontract factory and customer well and have a good bond with them, it will be easier.
And since our machines are used in a long term, we need to set up a firm foundation with them that won’t change with time.”
This is the part that impressed me a few days ago.
It’s amazing how he works based on our big strategy.
Mr. S was next.
He delivered a presentation about the IBIS and the film I mentioned in the last entry the other day.
This presentation was also great.
So I had him come to Nagoya.
“One of the customers told me that ever since they had the IBIS, the work place’s been lit up and the operators have been working vigorously.
The customers have the same passion that ISOWA put into the IBIS.
And the IBIS is starting to affect more and more people.
My wish is to be there when they renew the machine 20 years from now."
By making them happy, he got a huge joy. I’m sure this experience will always mean something to him in his life.
Their passion and energy have sure reached our hearts.
Thank you so much to both of them.
There is a film I would like to talk about.
The film was made by the customer of ours that bought our printer “IBIS” last year and showed to their customers at the completion ceremony of their new factory.
Thanks to their effort, the IBIS is working well and has made a great contribution to their productivity and the quality.
We already got another order from the customer nearby that actually went to go see it.
Our staff who were at the ceremony were really moved by the film and asked them to borrow it so we could all see it.
Our machine brought smile back to them, and it became one great film.
Give benefits and happiness to our customers’ businesses.
That’s what we’re trying to do. And the movie made it clear that we are going in the right direction.
Customer satisfaction is what makes us happy.
Any great films can’t beat this one for us.
I’d like to say big thank you to company K.
We’ve been looking for a land for our new factory.
Fortunately, we found property 15-minute drive from our office.
Its location is good and the factory perfectly meets our condition.
It’s been under repair ever since we bought it this summer.
The place hasn’t been taken care of in a long time and had a lot to be repaired, which made the repairing work harder.
Now that it’s all done, we held a completion ceremony.
It cost a lot of money, but seeing how it’s been reborn makes me sure that it was worth it.
There’s another factory on the right side of the one in the picture.
Right outside of the factories we also have a nice stockyard with a crane.
In the office, we have a shower and restrooms on each floor. It’s more like a little apartment.
It’s located on a hill where the pleasant wind blows.
There’s a bamboo forest behind the factory, which makes you feel like you’re in Kyoto.
Lastly, I’d like to say thanks to Mr. Chiba for supporting us during this.
This is the first step of the renovation of our production system leading to the reconstruction of the main factory next year.
Let the Komaki factory begin!
8 guests from Adept Technology, Inc., Germany finally came visit us after pre-research in March.
Their goal was to feel the atmosphere of us working towards the world’s best corporate culture and hear our voices first-hand.
This is Mr. K speaking about our corporate cultural reform.
It was really nice!
While he was showing them pictures of ISOWA staff, he kept asking,
“They all look happy, don’t they?”
And he also looked very happy while asking that.
There couldn’t be a better way to describe our good relation.
“Employees shouldn’t be satisfied to be just part of their company.
A company always has to have compassion for its employees.”
Honestly, he could even take my place. Thanks, Mr. K!
I was given an hour for my speech. But it needed translating, so taking that into account, all I got was just half an hour.
I was worried if this would work but Mr. K performed amazing translation.
But there’s one thing that’s not right.
I wonder why there is no picture from my speech.
Someone should’ve taken one…
That’s something we still need to work on!
I was curious about what the guests thought about the speech.
“It touched my heart. Your speech was really worth listening to. It made me glad I came to Japan.”
He took over his family business that’s the same size as ISOWA just like I did.
The fact that those words were from someone who has the similar background made me even happier.
Including a free discussion afterwards, I’m sure we could make them see our spirits.
We were quite surprised to find material for the visit tour this time Mr. Y left behind.
A picture of the janitor room appeared in it as if it was our main office.
They must have thought it would be a waste of time to visit a so small company.
I’m really glad they came after all.
Thank you to everyone who was involved in this!
Mr. N, who has worked for ISOWA for 50 years, retired today.
We had him over at the Nagoya office to give us a retirement speech.
It was about his memories from childhood to when he first came to ISOWA and now.
Each and every one of the stories touched our hearts.
The one that moved me the most was about when he left his mother for ISOWA at the age of 15 in 1965.
She runs after him as the train starts. He said that was when he burst into tears.
And good old days with the matron and seniors at the dormitory.
Transfer to Tokyo. Acting Tokyo office manager after working in a few different sections.
Led the reform as an Osaka office manager.
I felt his love for ISOWA in every word he said.
Some of us got tears in their eyes. I was one of them.
He had prepared a note for the speech but after all it seemed like he simply spoke what came to his mind without looking at anything.
Only words from one’s heart can truly move other people.
We record every morning assembly so those who missed it can check it out later.
That means now we have a video of the speech.
I want everyone who will be working with us to listen to what he told us.
Here’s another story that he shared with us.
Soon after he started a career at ISOWA, on the way to fix a machine with Mr. M, they fell off their bike and they injured but they still fulfilled their duty.
Mr. M, who is 10 years elder than Mr. N, is still working.
Mr. M told us about when he let Mr. N stay at his place.
“I remember how neat the bed was after he slept. That shows his polite personality.”
Mr. M is 65 and he is still tougher than I am.
All the customers that he has met loves him.
That’s why I want him to be working with us for a little while longer.
But he has a 93-year-old mother in his home, and he wants to put his energy that he has devoted for ISOWA into taking care of his mother.
If he keeps working, he will be working too hard to look after his mother.
Never slack off. That’s who he is.
There is no way I can hold him back anymore.
It’s been 30 years since I started working for ISOWA.
The first half was 15 years of confrontation with him.
And the second half was 15 years of gradual mutual trust. Now he has become the one that I can really rely on.
Especially after what we went through in the first 15 years, I cherish the last 15 years spent with him.
I believe his son-in-law Mr. Y will take over his spirit.
I hope you will have a great time with your mother without having to care about the work.
Thank you very much for your 50 years at ISOWA.
