Good luck!!

A total of 15 recent graduates from the Philippines majoring in mechanical and electrical engineering visited ISOWA over a two-day period. 

They participated in a full-day program that ran from 8:30 am to 5 pm.

First thing in the morning, we started with self-introductions. 

Hitomi introduced ISOWA, and we went on ISOWA's factory tour.

We enjoyed lunch at the three-star ISOWA restaurant, then we tackled technical issues and reflected on the day.

They managed their very packed schedule.

They were selected from a document screening of 1,700 applicants and were the best candidates who had a strong desire to work in Japan. 

They passed several months of intensive Japanese language study in the Philippines and were able to speak a little Japanese, or even more than a little in some cases. 

There are many excellent students in Japan, but at the same time, there are also students who lose sight of their own abilities in this job applicants' market.

In that respect, their enthusiasm was completely different. The serious look in their eyes and the enthusiastic questions they asked during the factory tour were wonderful.

Moreover, the ISOWA engineers who welcomed them were also incredible.

I thought the ISOWA culture was evident.

Among the ISOWA People, some were able to fully demonstrate the results of their regular English studies, while others realized their own lack of study, which I thought was a good stimulus for them.

One of them, Mr. N (second from the left in the front row), from the Philippines, who has been working at ISOWA for two and a half years, also attended to us fully.

He is close in age to them and can communicate in Tagalog and, of course, in English... but he said, "I haven't used English in a long time, so I was nervous."

But he did a great job and seemed to have a lot of fun spending two days with his motivated compatriots.

So, how many ISOWA people will be born from them?

We also want to take their passion seriously and carefully select our future colleagues.

Thank you to all 15 of you. Good luck!!

Congratulations and thank you

Continuing from the last issue, I introduce more about the Porter Prize.

Last year's Porter Prize is featured on pages 32-33 of the January 24, 2025 morning edition of the Nihon Keizai Shimbun.

ISOWA is one of the four awarded companies. 

This is not an article but an advertisement for Hitotsubashi Business School.

However, it is a double full-page spread.

When I woke up in the morning, I received a congratulatory message from Mr. I, who was my senior at the boarding house during my college days and a former vice president of “S” bank.

After that, I received more emails from several customers and classmates.

Although it was an advertisement, it was not one that we paid for ourselves, and I think this is the only time, ever, that we have been featured on both sides of a spread in the national edition of the Nihon Keizai Shimbun.　It is a great honor.

In the interview with Professor Kusunoki introduced in the article, he said “it is not only strategy but also great management.”

There are two points about this.

One was Professor Kusunoki told the ISOWA-bito who attended the ceremony on the day of the award ceremony,

“You are all very lucky to work for a really good company.

There is not such a good company, but may be about 30 companies. (laugh)”

Rather than simply saying, “There is no other company,” it is more realistic to be told, we are “One of 30 companies.”

The other is what Professor Kusunoki says “excellent management,” while Professor Noma, describes it as “ISOWA has a unique strategy...” as per the lower left corner of the article.

That is right.

I have come to believe more and more that the “excellent management” that Professor Kusunoki mentioned through the judging of the Porter Prize, is a part of “strategy,” as Professor Noma said.

Professor Nawa's keynote speech introduced in the upper left corner.

The two concepts of compliance which are “not doing wrong” and ethics which are “doing right and good.”

The “fairness and justice” that ISOWA is trying to have at the heart of its strategy is precisely “doing what is right and good.”

“It is necessary to foster a corporate culture in which each employee makes what is most important to each company his or her own,” which is exactly the kind of 'Jibun-gatari(ISOWA story)' we are doing at ISOWA.

The “decision-making axis based on belief” is nothing other than what ISOWA has been working on for 25 year, since we started working on corporate culture reform.　So, to think, ISOWA is a quarter of a century ahead of its time in this point. Isn't that right? (laugh)

Mission, Vision, Values, Purpose, Principle...　

With the times, words and books appear that are much hyped, but I feel they are not particularly new, but only replacing the packaging and labels of the same ideas.

ISOWA is NOT wavering.

That is what Professor Nawa says “the decision-making axis based on belief”.

Thank you, Porter Prize Screening Committee members, for choosing ISOWA.

Receiving the prize is the “goal” so far, but it is also the “start” for the future.

By working together as one team (it is my role to unite ISOWA-bito as one) and increasing the value we provide to our customers, we will achieve the happiness of TASUKE-bito and ISOWA-bito.

After 4 days…

Since we all won the Porter Prize together, let's rejoice together!　That's why we held a “party to celebrate the prize together” in the factory after regular business hours,

I have been president for 24 years,　I honestly wish I could have come up with such a strategy earlier anyway.

However, when the professors interviewed said, “The difficulty of imitating ISOWA's strategy lies in ISOWA-bito,” I think it is precisely because we have been reforming our corporate culture for more than 25 years that we were able to come up with and realize this strategy.　

It is exactly “Slow and steady wins the race.”

Since I have a certificate of commendation that I received at the ceremony last December, I showed it in front of all employees this time and had Mr. N of the Support Department receive it on behalf of all employees.

Why was Mr. N the representative?

That is the point of ISOWA's strategy that received the prize,

　　Repositioning machine sales, which was the goal, as the start.

　　And, taking the maintenance seriously after the machine sale.

Therefore, the strategy up to now, and only 'up to now', has been mainly on the service side and

Mr. Nomura of the Support Department was my partner in the strategic planning dialogue.

My new goal is to make our existing strategy story longer, thicker, and stronger.

The longer, thicker, and stronger it gets, that is reason why the more difficult it will be to imitate.

For this purpose, we will spread our strategy to the rest of the departments now more than ever, so I ask all in Manufacturing, Engineering, Sales, and Administration department help us.　

I want ISOWA-bito in various departments to be my dialogue partners.　

Otherwise, the strategy will not expand.

Then, Hikaru said, “Everyone, it's not a bad story to hear, so listen up for a minute,” and he then informed us of the special bonus for the Porter Prize, and we toasted!

And once again, we invited seven kitchen cars and everyone enjoyed the delicious food.

We carefully selected seven kitchen cars that were well-received at the ISOWA Family Open House a year ago.

Well, all of ISOWA-bito have made my longtime dream come true.

Once again, congratulations on the Porter Prize! And thank you for the Porter Prize!

Next time, I want you all to be employee representatives and receive the next Porter Prize certificates.

I look forward to it!

ISOWA joins the Porter Prize Club – award for the difficult imitability of ISOWA’s Competitive Strategy

Happy New Year! May you have a blessed year full of success, love, and health.

 

We were awarded the Porter Prize–2024.

ISOWA was invited to the award ceremony. Before the ceremony, I attended the Porter Prize Club meeting, which only the awarded companies could attend and officially certified as a member. We feel so proud that we can join the club since all the members are very famous corporations for their own competitive strategies. However, the details of the meeting are confidential and not open to the public. I am sorry that I cannot share them with you.

 

As I found the poster of the Porter Prize Club, I took a selfie.

Then, Professor Kusunoki appeared and said, “Let’s take a photo.” He is a leading authority on the competitive strategy in Japan. Our first encounter was in 2016, and to this date, I have a lot of stories with him. He is a member of the steering committee of the Porter Prize.

By the way, the meaning of the unique logo of the Porter Prize was explained at the award ceremony. There are two meanings. One is to take strategies that differ from other companies, which is “Out-of-Box Thinking.”  The other is that the arrow symbol, sticking out of the box, has a barb on it like a fishhook. It represents the indomitable will never go back but take a step forward in the strategy. That makes sense.

After the “confidential meeting” of the Porter Prize Club, it was finally time for the award ceremony, the official name, “The Porter Prize Conference on Competitiveness 2024.”

When I was waiting for the opening of the ceremony in Hitotsubashi Hall, Professor Kusunoki came and asked, “Are you with Tsunobo-san today?” (“Tsunobo” is my wife’s nickname.) I answered, “Yes, she has already arrived.” He said, “Could you introduce me?” “Sure.” So, I introduced my wife, Tsunobo, and my daughter, Hitomi, who were sitting together, to him.  At the time, “Maybe…” I had a feeling that something was going to happen.

 

The ceremony started.

The representatives of the four awarded companies were interviewed by Professor Kusunoki.

The first interviewee was ADVANTEST CORPORATION, the second was Hulic Co., Ltd, and the fourth was Japanet Holdings Co., Ltd. ISOWA was the third interviewee.

During the interview, Professor Kusunoki referred to my blog “ISOWA Diary,” which was my important weapon to build up ISOWA’s corporate culture. And from there, he said “Mr. Isowa has wonderful relationships with his wife. I am learning from him, too.” He said this kind of thing suddenly, and next he said, “Today, his wife is here. Mrs. Isowa, could you please stand up?”

I knew it! My prediction came true!

But she could not stand up as she was very shy. That was so her.

During the interview, she listened to it while holding the portraits of my deceased parents.

I am sure that they are so delighted in heaven.

When I got the 20-minute interview, time went by so quickly. That was not enough time to explain ISOWA’s competitive strategy. As ISOWA is a little-known company, the mystery must have only deepened why ISOWA won the prize.

But it is true in a sense.

I believe Professor Mikiharu Noma’s (he is a member of the steering committee of the Porter Prize) feedback explains it. - “The difficult imitability of ISOWA’s competitive strategy lies on the ISOWA-bito (ISOWA team members)”

Because it is a mystery and incomprehensible, nobody can imitate it.

This is exactly the strongest imitability which was born through consecutive efforts to improve the corporate culture over the past quarter century.

After the ceremony, I had an official photo session.

The female photographer was hyper, and she made me excited, like a photo session at a kindergarten. It was a fun time.

This is the certificate of commendation.

The name Hitotsubashi University Business School (ICS) and the university’s emblem were hot stamped on the front cover. It reminded me of my graduation ceremony 45 years ago.

Since the Porter Prize is hosted by my alma mater, I have a special feeling about it. I am very happy to receive this award.

When I open the front cover, I can see the certificate of commendation, which has the signature of Professor Michael E. Porter of Harvard University, on the bottom left.

This is the stylish commemorative gift we received.

I did not notice it, but my wife Tsunobo said, 

“It is made in the shape of a book.”

Oh, this is certainly a book with open pages!

Then, what kind of book is it?

Is it the COMPETITIVE STRATEGY written by Professor Michael E. Porter?

But for me, it is Professor Ken Kusunoki’s translated version.

Mine is the very first edition. Though it has many finger marks, it is definitely my commemorative item.

Three days before the award ceremony, I sent an email to Professor Kusunoki.

“Could you take a group shot with us? Many of your fans from my company will participate in the ceremony.”

He gave me the prompt reply, “Sure!”

Then, not only the Tokyo branch but also many members from the headquarters in Aichi; a total of 30 people joined the group photo. (See the top photo of this blog post.)

There were a lot of members who had read his book in our company’s study meeting about competitive strategy.

Furthermore, he was considerate in suggesting a family shot.

The photo is memorable. It is the family heirloom now.

After the ceremony, the ISOWA team had a private celebration party at JOSUI KAIKAN next to Hitotsubashi Hall.

I asked every member for a short speech.

Some of them said,

“It was my first time to see you get nervous.”

I was surprised. I was not nervous at all and enjoyed the ceremony very much, but I must have looked nervous.

Another comment was,

“Today, I saw your happiest day. I am thrilled to see that you feel so happy.”

Yes, I felt extremely happy.  

The award ceremony was great. However, the speeches of ISOWA team members at our celebration party were ‘super’ awesome.

It was where “ISOWA’s corporate culture,” the source of the difficult imitability of ISOWA’s strategy, was overflowing.  Because of that, my tears were about to overflow, too! 

Again, I realized that ISOWA is a wonderful company.

I am extremely happy to be the president of ISOWA.

Thank you to all ISOWA-bito, Tasuke-bito, and our valued customers.

We will contribute more and more to reduce our customers’ opportunity losses.

Let’s go, ISOWA America!

 

I have not been to the U.S. for a long time, since the pandemic began.

The last time I traveled on business was,

LINK TO THE PREVIOUS POST.

in December, 2018.

 

During that time, we bought our own office, three times larger than the one we had rented,

and the number of employees has doubled to now 25.　It’s thanks to the IA team, who have contributed to the patronage of our North and South American clients and their Kikai (“machine” and “opportunity”) Loss Reduction.

 

What a gorgeous welcome, by the way. I am overwhelmed.

 

Mr. S, who has only been here for a few days as a successor to Mr. Y, who has been here for 3 years, has been completely Americanized and brightened up. I have high expectations for him.

 

Unlike most American companies, IA follows the philosophy of ISOWA Japan and is committed to Japanese-style management with an emphasis on Corporate Culture. It has evolved every year, and people who saw the evolution and admire the culture of thinking as a team rather than as an individual, and by extension, Japan itself, are now joining us.

 

Exactly “choose who rides the bus” and “choose by who rides the bus”.

 

This further creates the evolution of IA. Of the 23 people, excluding expatriates from Japan, the number of bilinguals who spoke fluent Japanese had increased to 4.

 

 The iceberg under the surface matters.

 

It is a virtuous cycle toward a philosophy-based management.

ISOWA America is nice. Really nice.

 

To contribute to the Kikai (“machine” and “opportunity”) Loss Reduction, we need people and parts. Parts inventory is essential.

Behind the larger office is an even larger and more orderly warehouse, which holds 3.5 times more spare parts than it did a few years ago.

In the evening, Mr. Y's wife, Mrs. A, and her daughter, Miss Y, joined us for dinner. It was a friendly and enjoyable dinner party.

 

Let's continue to do our best! Let’s go, ISOWA America!

Unchanged feelings even after 14 years

In mid-September, I visited the United States on a business trip for the first time in several years. Looking back, the last time I visited the United States was in 2018, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

I was surprised to realize that I hadn't visited the United States for such a long time!

 

The reason of the trip this time was for an exhibition called "Super Corr" in Orlando, Florida – often referred to as the Mecca of theme parks.

My primary objective was to deepen the personal connections between our company, ISOWA, and our important customers, not just our business-to-business relationships. To that end, over the course of three days, ISOWA America hosted a dinner at a different venue each evening.

 

Day 1.

Day 2.

Day 3.

A total of 12 companies and 31 customers attended.

In addition, 5 representatives from ISOWA America and 5 from ISOWA Japan attended, including Hikaru, Mr. A (who oversees sales in America), and engineers Mr. Su and Mr.Sa from ISOWA Japan.

Every night, I gave a short speech to the guests at the start of the event.

"My grandfather founded the company in 1920, and my father joined in 1949.

At the time, ISOWA was only the 6th largest manufacturer of corrugated board machinery in Japan.

My father first came to America in 1964.

That was a small step for him but one giant leap for ISOWA.

He had been hoping to establish a technical partnership with General Corporation in New Jersey for the production of semi-automatic gluers. After writing to them for 10 months without a response, he finally managed to visit the U.S. in person.

My father stayed at a hotel in New York and was determined to make the partnership a reality. Despite the fact that it was the middle of winter, he took the bus to their factory in New Jersey every day. After ten days of persistence, they finally reached an agreement.

Although the gluer that they had partnered with was not as successful in Japan as they had hoped, fortunately, when General Corporation saw the flexographic printing presses that ISOWA was manufacturing, they approached us with a counterproposal: "We want to sell these to our customers in America."

And so, in 1966, our export business to America began.

This was the beginning. And thanks to your continued patronage, ISOWA has been able to come this far.

I can't help but think that my late father would have loved to be here.

There are many cardboard companies. However, we do not want to create just "so-called customers."

We always want to foster long-lasting partnerships with customers who share our values.

That's right, we exist for "eternal true customers" like you, who have gathered here today.

I have been in this industry for 40 years. Of course, I will continue to work hard for you. Beyond that, I am confident that my son Hikaru, along with ISOWA America and ISOWA Japan will continue to strengthen the bonds built over the years."

In July 1969, when I was still in elementary school, I watched the first human landing on the moon by the American spacecraft Apollo 11 on TV with bated breath. I've quoted the famous words of the captain of the ship, Neil Armstrong.

As you can imagine, I was nervous when it came to English.

14 years ago, when I first visited one of the companies participating in this event, I was asked to give a presentation introducing ISOWA to their top management as we had no prior business dealings up to that point.

Among the guests at this dinner party was someone who had been present at that time.

That person shared with me his memories from that day.

He recalled, "During the Q&A session after the presentation, when a colleague asked you how ISOWA was going to approach the American market in the future, you responded, 'ISOWA does not look at the market. What we look at is the customer. ' I was really surprised by that."

I was moved that he still remembered what I said 14 years ago.

The speech I gave this time reflects the same core principle. In other words, it is "the unchanging basic stance of ISOWA."

Ron from ISOWA America, who was also at the event 14 years ago, said to me, "Every time I see him, he talks about that time. He says, 'When I think back on it, I still get emotional.'"

I am grateful to hear that. I really felt that they are our 'Best Customer forever.'

We gave each participant a Hina doll as a gift.

I was able to share a wonderful time with everyone who attended. I want to thank you all.

I would also like to thank everyone at ISOWA America, including Nick, for all the hard work behind the scenes in making everything possible.

What an honor!

We are proud to announce that we have been awarded Porter Prize - 2024.

Thanks to our team members (ISOWA-bito), our business partners (TASUKE-bito) and our customers.

"The Porter Prize was established to bestow recognition on Japanese companies that have achieved and maintained superior profitability in a particular industry by implementing unique strategies based on innovations in products, processes, and ways of managing.

The name of the award is derived from Professor Michael E. Porter of Harvard  University, a leading authority on strategy with a longstanding interest in Japan."

"Since the essence of strategy is doing different things from others, the prize will recognize those companies and business units that have deliberately chosen to compete in a distinctive way in a particular industry by delivering a unique value proposition, based on innovations in products, processes, and methods of management. This singular focus on strategy and innovation is what sets the Porter Prize apart from the other awards presented in Japan."

(Quote from Porter Prize website)

 

The reasons for receiving the award are as follows:

ISOWA Corporation is a company specializing in the development, design, manufacture, sales, and maintenance of corrugated machinery. They are a leader in the two major fields of corrugated sheet manufacturing machinery and corrugated box making machinery, with a wide range of products and many patented technologies, especially in the segment of small-lot, high-speed machines.

ISOWA's strategic feature lies in their preventive and planned maintenance services. They convey to customers the losses caused by sudden and long-hour machine stoppages, and the value of preventive maintenance. They go beyond regular parts replacement and offer suggestions to keep customers' production lines running, and encourage customers to use planned maintenance services, and successfully monetized maintenance services. Improving customer satisfaction with maintenance services will also lead to sales of new machines.

Customer satisfaction with field service is highly dependent on the quality of personnel, and ISOWA is reforming its culture ahead of its focus on preventive and planned maintenance services. In 2006, they established a corporate philosophy of "Aiming towards having the best corporate culture in the world where we can work for the happiness of ourselves and our beloved ones". In this atmosphere ISOWA-bito (ISOWA team members) can proactively think and act to satisfy customers on their initiative, and has created the organization made up of colleagues who share "fairness and justice" as a core value.

50 years, 40years, and 3years

We honored two ISOWA Bito for 50 years and 40 years of dedicated service at this morning's meeting.

 

This time, it was Mr. I, who has been with ISOWA for 50 years and is from the same graduating class as me, and Mr. T, who has been with us for 40 years.

They are strong figures who have experience in various departments, domestic and international business trips, and work locations.　

After I handed them letters of gratitude, they made speeches.

 

Mr. I,

“I felt inferior to others, so I found seniors I admired and learned from. Shohei Otani said, 'Let's stop longing,' but I think we should long for something.”

 

Mr. T, who lived in Seattle, U.S.A.

“40 years have passed in a blink of an eye, but looking back, I've met so many people.”

 

It seemed Mr. I. didn't get enough time to speak, so I made him a special offer for his 50 years of service: “Please talk as much as you want. I will make a video of it to publish company-wide.”

It was such a captivating speech.

 

The other speaker was Mr. S, who has been with us for 3 years.

 

However, this is not an award for 3 years of service.

He will be transferred to ISOWA America next week.

He said,

“I have fewer years in my career than any of my seniors who have been stationed at ISOWA America in the past. If I have any questions, I will call or e-mail you guys from America, so please be kind and support me. Especially Mr. O.”

 

Let’s show him our support, everyone!

 

And finally, from me to all of you, ISOWA-Bito.

 

There is no ISOWA-Bito who is not part of “Contribution to Kikai (“machine” and “opportunity”) Loss Reduction for NEXT Customers.” Thinking about how you are connected and what you can contribute is what it means to “live ISOWA.”

 

I am counting on you!