A Company Valuable for Both Employees and Customers

Last autumn, Mr. Nishiura, who is my senior at the university, approached me about a new book.

He is also the CEO of Attax Group, which is a consulting firm targeting the small or medium-sized enterprises.

 

On that day, he said to me,

“I’m planning to publish a book, and I would like to introduce ISOWA in it.”

“This book introduces some companies whose customers are willing to pay, and tries to find out the key

 

I replied instantly,

“No way! We are trying to be that kind of company, but we still have a long way to go.”

 

However, I accepted that offer in the end, because he still was eager to write about us not as a company whose customers are willing to pay, but as the one which is trying to be.

 

Mr. Nishiura and I have been developing the relationships since I joined ISOWA. And in recent years I was invited to their seminar as a lecturer. In other words, they know everything about me and ISOWA.

 

Moreover, Mr. Sugiyama, who is a member of Attax Group is in charge of this project. He is a big fan of ISOWA Diary and familiar with what’s happening in ISOWA and my family every day.

 

That’s why all we had to do this time was review and make sure they didn’t leave out anything important so far.

 

Other than that, a lot of ISOWA members were interviewed at their request.

This is what had happened until last December.

 

And then they said,

“We would like to visit your customer for an interview.”

 

When I heard this, Mr. Takaoka popped into my head, because it was right after ISOWA Open House where Mr. Takaoka gave a presentation about our new maintenance contract to the guests.

 

He readily agreed to my request and the interview was carried out in January.

 

A few months later, Mr. Nishiura and Mr. Sugiyama completed the rough draft and we checked the copy, correct proofs and confirm the contents.

Although I thought it would take a lot of time to actually publish it, Mr. Sugiyama visited soon after that.

 

“The title is ‘A company valuable for both employees and customers’. The cover design is almost finished.”

 

I got overwhelmed by this surprising speed, and he explained me why;

 

“We’ve given it all of our energies. We were all so particular about the details that sometimes we didn’t have much time for sleeping.

 

When I saw Mr. Nishiura, he said,

“I’ve read the copy so many times that I’m starting to learn it by heart.”

 

15 years of corporate culture reform.

I think it will take more time to be able to provide value for customers.

 

But I believe that if employees who provide value for customers don’t like the company, we never realize customer satisfaction.

 

Can we become a company that brings true consumer satisfaction?

 

Our challenge has just begun.

 

This book contains four examples of mid-sized firms including ISOWA and will be put on sale at the end of this month.

I can’t wait to read it.

We Start a Delivery Service!

 

Mr. S and Mr. T, who joined our technology division last year, have been working on crisis experience device as one of their first projects. It's finally finished and today we held a presentation.

First of all, they explained why they chose this project and how the device functions.

"Nipping accidents account for half of all labor accidents. We'd like every operator to know how it happens and how dangerous it is, in order to prevent these accidents."

Then we got to experience the fear of getting caught in the machine.

Participants tried to insert a cardboard sheet into the device, they were dragged into the device, even when it was just idling. When they increased RPMs, we were all overwhelmed by the machine’s power, which was way beyond our expectations.

This was just a simple project for our first-year staff, but we are now planning to bring this device to our customer's office and demonstrate it for their operators. It will show them the true meaning of fear.

If someone needs a delivery service, please let me know. 

I want to say thank you to Mr. S and Mr. T for making this amazing device. I hope it will help improve safety for our customers.

 

 

Ninety-eight Years in All

We held a retirement party for Mr. M and Mr. I who have made a huge contribution to ISOWA for a long time. I’d like to look back on their histories in ISOWA.

 

Mr. M joined ISOWA in 1961 and Mr. I in 1967. Together they’ve been working for 98 years in all. That’s remarkable.

When Mr. M joined our firm, the office had already been transferred to Kasugai, but he started his career nevertheless in the former office in Nagoya. At that time there were 30 people. And there were only five employees in the technical division.

My father went to the U.S. and commercialized the Flexo-folder gluer under a technical cooperation agreement. That was back in 1970, and the machine had the functions of a printer and carton former. Since then Mr. M has played an important role as a specialist.

Mr. I joined six years later. He recalled that ISOWA had about 70 employees at that time. “I was so glad I could join ISOWA, because I always wanted to work for a final product manufacturer rather than a parts manufacturer.”

Unlike Mr. M, he went through a lot of different divisions and finally he got to the technical division. He has been mainly in charge of printer slotters.

The other day, he came to me and we had a little talk after hours. He loves golf, but he’s not good at playing golf. We played together several times many years ago and always competed for the lowest position. That’s what I really liked about him.

He started the conversation by saying, “ISOWA has changed.” I was just wondering how he felt about it and was anxious about what he was going to say.

“Meetings between different groups never happened before. There was a great distance between the various groups. On the other hand, it became quite a typical thing for the design and manufacture sections to meet and talk quite frankly.”

I was more relieved than happy to hear that. I have been working on changing our corporate culture, although sometimes I have to ask too much of our staff, especially of veterans such as Mr. I and Mr. M, but he expressed his opinion positively like that. It really was a relief.

I’ve been trying to reduce our company debt. But lately I’m starting to feel that the way we have improved our debt ratio is really by increasing our assets through more efficient use.

This is far from enough, though. We have to push forward with the reform.

Mr. I talked to me at the end of the party and said, “I often see ISOWA’s service trucks around my house. Every time I see one, I will quietly root for it.”

We will do our best so you two don’t have to worry. Thank you so much for your 98 years.

When I decided to work with ISOWA

Last weekend we had a customer at our office who came all the way from Tokyo.  We’ve been doing business together for three years now. That’s not what we'd call a long-term relationship, especially in the cardboard business where equipment sometimes lasts over 20 years.

 

But he suddenly said, “Actually, we decided to do business with you at your father’s farewell party. I remember you saying at the funeral that your predecessor had been working hard to get Rengo to use their machines someday. And I could see that the spirit was coming down to the next generation, with a clear process of development.

 

“That was exactly what we were trying to do too. So that was when we made up our minds.”

 

Those words really inspired me. We will never make him regret it.

 

We must always cherish such words from our customers. Let’s not forget the great principles of my father and grandfather about manufacturing.

ISOWA Keeps You Going – Always on the Go!

For last two days we’ve been talking about our new goal. The Cardboard Collaboration was a project we worked on from August 2010 to March 2011 where we discussed how to make sustainable profits in the medium-term perspective.

ISOWA Keeps You Going – Always on the Go! That’s the goal concept we set up during this project. If we can do this, we will get our customers to become our fans.

Since then, the concept has penetrated the whole company slowly but surely. Now how can we make that concept a higher priority than conventional numerical targets? That’s what we talked about this time.

Through the discussion, I found that conveying thoughts to someone means repeating it until he or she understands. That’s true for corporate culture reform, in which I’ve always held onto my own belief.

Tonight we had lots of very nice remarks.

Mr. T of the technical division said, “Development for the world, for the people – that’s what I’m always saying. But I’ve realized that I’m really doing it for myself. I can’t help feeling guilty for sitting here.”

No way! That’s just like ISOWA. That sounds exactly like a company where you can work for the happiness of yourself and your family.

Mr. N of sales said, “I think the ultimate goal of that concept is to enable the customers to keep themselves going.” That’s really impressive. You got me!

Mr. Takahashi from SCHOLAR said, “Mr. Isowa is suffering from a gap between heart and sales. Why don’t you just focus on sales that the heart will generate? “

It was a really stimulating off-site activity.

 

                                                                                 

Renovating Our Shinto Shrine

We have a little Shinto shrine on the company property, and it has just undergone a renovation to coincide with Shikinen Sengu, the regular removal of the Grand Shrine of Ise.

 

Our own little shrine is kind of unique. It is surrounded by an outer structure, which keeps the shrine from weathering, but of course the outer structure got old and worn out. The priest comes to our office every month to read a Shinto ritual prayer, and he suggested renovating the shrine.

 

There have been a number of twists and turns. Now the construction work is over and the shrine has been rededicated in a magnificent new shrine structure.

 

Today the cold has moderated, and I feel that spring is just around corner. Red-blossom plum trees in my garden are starting to bloom.

 

In addition to the shrine refurbishing, the block walls have been replaced by wire fences. Plantings within the wire fences are also finished. The plants look fragile since they were just planted, but I hope they will grow thick and tall to make people feel relaxed and comforted when they pass by.

 

The roof of the shrine is now covered with brand new copper so it shines in the bright spring sunshine. The fresh scent of the Japanese “hinoki” cypress wafts in the air.

I hope this shrine renovation project will be a good opportunity for us all to reappraise safety.

Managers from Nepal

Today 20 participants in The Program on Corporate Management for Nepal came to visit our office, at the request of the Overseas Human Resources and Industry Development Association (HIDA).

First, Mr. I of the management group told a story about himself including the company introduction.

That was cheerful and vigorous. Some members were so enthusiastic that they were wearing helmets even during the introduction.

After that, we announced that it was time to depart for the Discover ISOWA tour. It seemed they loved that name.

First up was Mr. A from the assembly process management section.

We didn’t have headsets so we couldn’t make out clearly what he was saying, but he said that the IKEA furniture company has a management philosophy similar to ISOWA’s, and that’s why he loves ISOWA even more.

Second up was Ms. I of the electrical technology division.

She showed us the touch panel that she developed herself. That caught everyone’s attention.

Last was Ms. S of our Nagoya sales office.

She spoke passionately about her working relationship with her colleague Ms. N.

In advance of the tour, we asked them to follow some rules written on their welcome cards. Even so, some of them were walking around the factory with their hands in their pockets. I cautioned them: “It’s not allowed to walk with your hands in your pockets, for your own safety. Breaking rules can prevent you from building up a trusting relationship with your staff.”

Then we went back to the conference room for my lecture and Q&A session.

The following is what I said. “Investment means purchasing equipment. But employee salaries are considered as costs. That doesn’t make sense. Human beings have unlimited possibilities, whereas machines don’t.” They gave me applause on hearing this, and I was glad.

Then they were divided into two groups for discussion with us.

 

I guess our management style looked quite novel to them.

One visitor said, “I’ve never heard that kind of story. That was impressive.” Many others said things like this and asked me lots of questions.

Finally, their representative gave us an appreciation speech and a “pashmina” muffler as a souvenir from Nepal.

At first it was like they were doing sightseeing or something, but I could see that they got very serious during our Discover ISOWA tour and my lecture. The open house as a whole was very successful. The way we welcome guests also got a high rating.

We couldn’t have done this if they hadn’t come all the way from abroad. I’m so glad we can have such a wonderful experience. I am so proud of ISOWA that we can offer a great opportunity like this to my staff.

I hope they will work hard on cultural reform in Nepal. I wish them the best of luck.