Naniwa Pump: Pumping tomorrow

In the last 25 years, we have seen the rise of regional competitors who were able to replicate the Japanese monozukuri process. Could you tell us what is the essence of monozukuri and how do you implement it in your production process?

Speaking about monozukuri, I think, first of all, it is necessary to know the needs of the customers to be able to manufacture products that satisfy those needs. The customers will not be happy if those needs are not met, and the products will not sell.

Steel is the primary material used in shipbuilding; nevertheless, we have seen the increased demand for lighter parts. Could you please talk to us about the strengths of shifting to lighter materials in shipbuilding, and can you please introduce us to your first ultralight-weight pump?

Let me talk about the reason behind the development of the CFRP pump. The main material we are using is not steel, but copper alloy and as our products are used in the ocean, we are required to use a product which resists corrosion. However, when we look at world reserves of copper, it is said that they will run out in the next 30 years. For this reason, we need to find an alternative material that can replace copper. Consequently, we started R&D into CFRP. In the beginning, we looked for a material that could be mixed with FRP (Fiber Reinforced Polymer), either carbon or glass. We initially chose glass, so we looked into GFRP (Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer) and we found that we could produce a pump with this material, which achieved high-level performance and corrosion resistance. Subsequently, we moved toward the development of CFRP because it was a request from Kawasaki Heavy Industry, who were looking for a material to replace aluminium. An example of monozukuri - satisfying a customer’s needs.  

As the President of the company that developed the world’s first lightweight pump, what vision do you have to expand it? Where do you see it in the future?

In general, ship-making companies prefer lightweight materials. This is not limited to commercial ships, but it also applies to ships for defense purposes. At some point the world will run out of copper and when that happens, I believe the world will turn their attention to new materials, such as GFRP or CFRP. In line with this, we are continuing our R&D into these new materials and are currently engaged in informing potential customers of the product’s advantages.

In 2013, you launched the Naniwa Ecological Operation Project, which is a project for innovation and environmental conservation, and energy-efficiency issues. Can you please talk to us about this Naniwa Project and what solutions you are able to provide to your customers for the environmental regulations?

The Naniwa Ecological Operation Project was implemented to include energy consumption savings. In general, when the pumps used for ships are turned on, they continue to rotate at a constant speed the whole time until someone turns them off. That is why we developed an inverter control, where the pump’s rotation (and energy consumption) self-adjusts according to the required demand. The overall concept of this project is to contribute to the customers’ energy-saving efforts and for us to develop a type of product that reduces the consumption of energy or power.  This kind of product has already been launched in the market and we have delivered such products to customers.

The next step we are working on is to contribute to the trend in the maritime industry of reducing labour or promoting unmanned operations. One way is to come up with a kind of pump that can do operational diagnosis autonomously and detect potential risks, breakage, or performance monitoring function. It is still in the research and development stage.

As a company that is linked to the Chinese and Japanese shipbuilding sector, what is your take on the current state of the shipbuilding sector in Asia? How do you think it will evolve?

In addition to Korea, China also subsidizes shipbuilding. Conversely, the Japanese shipbuilding industry is not supported by the government. I understand that there is a feeling of unfairness among the Japanese, however, in the case of China and Korea, the subsidizing only highlights their government’s position. It is evident that they want to strengthen that particular industry. In my personal opinion, the shipbuilders in China and Korea are indeed in a better position than their counterparts in Japan, because of these unfair subsidies. That is the reality, but we still have to compete. In any event, we are ready to face the challenge.

Japanese companies have told us that to be able to compete with China and Korea, they have been looking for business alliances and partnerships, especially in Europe. Could you please tell us the role that international co-operation plays in your company and looking toward the future, are you looking for more business alliances to become more competitive on a global scale?

At this moment, we don’t have alliances or co-operation plans with any foreign companies. Back in 1975, we had a technological alliance with a European maker, but for now, it is not in our strategy. On the contrary, we have ongoing ventures and collaboration with domestic shipbuilding companies. We are working on the monitoring system that I talked about earlier.

Since your foundation in 1921, you have built upon your unique strength of developing your complete “built-to-order” system, in which you are able to provide custom-made products to your customers. Could you please tell us about the competitive edge of your complete “built-to-order” system?

Our strength is how we respond to the needs of our customers. There are some makers who cannot respond to customer needs, and they tend to show and recommend their standard products as they are. However, users see these products and realise that they are not aligned to the requested specifications they want. For us, we understand the needs of customers and make the utmost effort to meet their desired specifications. All of our departments, including manufacturing, sales, and design, have a strong commitment to doing so. This is how we came up with 350,000 types of products; obviously, it is a high mix of a small-large production system. It is very difficult to manage such a large number of different products, but we can do it because it is one of our commitments.

In April 2021, you celebrated your 100-year anniversary. Looking towards the future, what would be your main goal in order to continue to grow? What strategies are you implementing to become the world’s premier supplier?

I think we should start by knowing the market, understanding its needs well, and we have to be competitive in order to grow as a business. Recently, we can see new trends, such as being carbon-neutral, eco-friendly and unmanned operations. Based on these trends, we have to carefully examine whether our existing products can remain competitive or will we need a new product mix to adapt to them.  We are working on this analysis now as the next step for our monozukuri.

We know that your company is global, and you have offices in Germany, Shanghai, and Singapore, as well as a network in New York. What is your future international strategy? Do you have any specific country that you would like to introduce your products to? What strategies will you be implementing to tackle these countries?

The marine or shipbuilding industry originated from the UK and since then, the leading nations have been Japan, Korea, and China. It has changed over time; Japan took the lead in the 1970s to 1980s, but currently, China and Korea have taken over. We went to the overseas market at an early stage, that has enabled us to gain very good brand recognition in China and Korea. It is important to strengthen brand recognition for Naniwa in the shipbuilding industry in order to survive. At some point, China and Korea may step down from the leading role in this industry. Nonetheless, ships will continue to be built somewhere in the world - it may be India or Vietnam, because of low labour-costs and their massive potential. Wherever the ships are made, I think that as long as the Naniwa brand is recognized, we can continue to have good sales for our pumps, which are indispensable for ships. In the mid-term, it is important to focus on the existing business which is the shipbuilding industry. 

As the President of Naniwa, could you please define the Naniwa brand? What message would you like to tell our readers, and of course, to your customers?

My message to the international readers is that Naniwa is able to satisfy and give shape to your needs. I would like Naniwa to be recognized and regarded as the only company that can realize customer needs and develop their wants. I think it is very hard to find that kind of maker, hence we would like to be that kind of company.  We are now focusing on the ship-building industry, but going forward, more importance will be put on environmental issues. We are producing products that are eco-friendly, products that we want to supply to other industries, aside from the shipbuilding industry.

Imagine that we come back here in 10 years to have this interview again; what goals would you like to have achieved both from a professional and personal perspective?

My mission is to grow Naniwa over the next 10 years and become a company that is indispensable for customers, the community, and society. It is a noble ambition that I cannot do by myself, but I believe that we can achieve it with the existing support of my employees, management staff, partners, and our customers. For the next 10 years, we would like to prosper as a company and strengthen our presence in the market we are in. We want to bring happiness to all people involved with this company, together with social peace and prosperity.