The other day, I had the opportunity to meet Governor Juichiro Sato of Oita Prefecture, where three of our group companies (SumiRiko Kyushu Company Limited, SumiRiko Oita Advanced Elastomer Company Limited, and Tokai Chemical Kyushu, Ltd.) are located, thanks to an introduction from Hideo Hato, Executive Vice President of Sumitomo Electric Industries (hereinafter referred to as Sumitomo Electric), who was my junior colleague in my previous job.
We introduced our group's products, and a friendly conversation ensued.
Towards resolving issues for the prefecture and three companies in Kyushu
We introduced our three group companies located in Bungo-Takada City, Oita Prefecture, and discussed the need to acquire talented personnel for business expansion and growth, and requested support measures from the government.
We also brought a demo unit of our product, "Refleshine" (a heat-shielding and heat-insulating film for windows), to demonstrate its effectiveness, and Governor Sato and other related parties were able to confirm its performance.
We also explained that "Refleshine" not only provides safety in the event of glass breakage, but also contributes to improving comfort near windows and reducing air conditioning power consumption, and that it will lead to an improved environment when elementary and junior high schools are used as evacuation centers during disasters.
Governor Sato showed great interest, and I felt confident that we could leverage our respective strengths to find solutions to each other's challenges.
The Current State of Automation/Jidoka
The aim of this visit was not only to meet Governor Sato, but also to have Sumitomo Electric's Vice President Hato inspect the automation/Jidoka lines of three Kyushu companies, with the aim of showcasing the strengths of our group's technological capabilities through “Genchi-Genbutsu.”
At each production line, Vice President Hato witnessed employees vividly explaining the processes, and he enthusiastically asked questions.
Across the three companies—SumiRiko Kyushu, SumiRiko Oita AE, and Tokai Kasei Kyushu—they are not only entrusting tasks previously performed manually to machines and systems, but are also advancing "Automation/Jidoka " by introducing machine vision cameras, IT tools, and robots.
Automation/Jidoka enables humans to make decisions based on calculations and analyses performed by machines, making it possible to tackle more complex and difficult problems.
This initiative can be seen as an evolution of the kaizen efforts we have built up so far, and it will also lead to improved quality and reduced waste.
Taking Kaizen One Step Further: Insights and Challenges Gained through Automation/Jidoka.
Regarding automation/Jidoka, our group is also working on it as one of the solutions to our key challenges.
During this visit, Vice President Hato commented, "It was a very meaningful visit, as we were able to confirm that the three Kyushu companies are operating their factories very properly."
Furthermore, we also arranged a separate tour of our company's facilities for Governor Sato, who has a deep understanding of research and development fields such as robotics.
We believe that by leveraging the strengths of both robots and humans to improve operations on-site, we can gain new insights and take on the challenges of achieving more advanced kaizen.
Let's pool our knowledge and continue to challenge ourselves to expand automation/Jidoka initiatives across the entire group and to create systems that lead to further quality improvements.
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