Seisan Nipponsha: Pioneers in zipper bag technology

I would like to start off by asking you about the Japanese manufacturing because we know that Japan is famous for its quality craftsmanship, the relentless pursuit of perfection in production processes and how companies proudly display the “made in Japan” mark as they operate internationally. This pursuit of perfection is generally called monozukuri so can you please tell us what is your interpretation of monozukuri?

It is still fresh in my mind that Japan was devastated and lost the Greater East Asian War (World War II) 75 years ago. In order to revive our country that was scorched with no supplies and food, the Japanese had no choice but to manufacture and sell something to support their livelihood. In the postwar reconstruction period, manufacturing was the only type of business in which people could survive. It was inevitable that we gradually learned to manufacture superior products that could sell and beat out the competition in the world market. At the same time, “monozukuri”, which is manufacturing activities for the postwar reconstruction, may have cultivated Japanese people’s grit, obsessiveness, pursuit, ambition, and the spirit of catching up and overtaking Europe and the United States, in combination with the industriousness nature of the Japanese. It may have been the foundation of the brand called “Made in Japan”.

We also need to continue to embody the strong spirit that that first founded “Monozukuri”. Recently, Japanese companies have shifted their management to enhancing corporate values such as funds and profit, and this is too sad to see, that “monozukuri”, which is Japanese strength, is fading.  　

You have been able to develop both the Unipack since 1955 and later the Lamizip, so you obviously have a vast know-how or a long history in developing these products. Could you tell us more about the synergies that you have been able to create between the different zipper bags that you are offering? How are you covering each sector with your products?

Zipper bags, which we invented, are now available in a variety of materials, functions, shapes and applications around the world, and are so pervasive in our lives that it is difficult to grasp all of their concepts.  It is an undoubted fact that we were the first inventor of the zipper bags, its history is old, and I will talk about it including what I have heard.

To my knowledge, the first zipper tape made by PVC came from Denmark.

We were one of the first company to adopt this zipper tape, but realized that it was really inefficient to weld the zipper tape to the body film by high frequency weld processing, and so we invented the world’s first zipper bag “UNIPACK”, in which the zipper was molded with polyethylene; a molding process using polyethylene film.

After a while, the poor haze (low transparency) particular to polyethylene was pointed out by the market for the polyethylene single-layer zipper bag, so the material was changed to PP (Polypropylene), leading to the creation of the mono-material zipper bag (trade name: Mini Grip) that improved the transparency.  The characteristics of PE and PP are completely different. Therefore, we can see the hard work of our predecessors when it comes to the improvement of the zipper bag. 

What we developed next was “Die-lami” (PP/EVA/PP 3-layer structure) co-extruding zipper bag, with improved residence for cold resistance and impact. Next, we developed “Lamizip” and “Lamigrip” which have oxygen and moisture barrier properties and directly adhere the zipper to the laminated film, making it useful for food preservation. Since then, we have been developing the multi-layer structure and the shape of the zipper bag. The fact that we were able to develop such a wide variety of zipper bags is nothing but nurtured by market needs.

What we have seen throughout the long history of our developments, improved know-how, and production of our numerous items, is the fact that it is completely impossible to meet the requirements of the market with one material and one bag shape.

This has encouraged our company to always be aggressive in immediately taking into consideration the markets requirements, and to ensure that all our employees are aware of our own strengths, and that they embody it in our daily operations. We are working hard every day, to realize this goal.

As a company that has exported Japanese packaging technologies what do you think are the biggest differences today between Europe, America and Japan? Also, as your company goes abroad, what kind of technologies can you bring to such foreign markets?

The big difference between overseas customers and Japanese customers, is that Japanese customers demand perfection in their purchases. Therefore, we conduct strict inspection of our products. We are a manufacturer that produces mainly zipper bags for packaging materials. Zipper bags, however, are consumable materials and are disposed of after one time or several uses by end-consumers.

Many Japanese companies are expected to meet the strict quality requirement of consumers such as: standard dimension, functions, appearance, safety, durability, delivery, and supply responsibility. This unrelenting effort may raise the level of “monozukuri” dramatically.

A few years ago, a European partner visited our factory. He inspected our factory and picked up one of our defective zipper bags, and asked me “what is defective about this product?” When I explained that, “it is because the printed characters are slightly blurred,” he said, “I can read it.”  When I answered, “customers will not accept it in the Japanese market,” he said, “there is no problem, that’s crazy.” This example, exactly portrays the difference between Western and Japanese market expectations. European customers are tolerant of small defects as long as they can be guaranteed that the product has functionality, durability, and safety.

With the number of Covid-19 cases rising we are seeing online shopping drastically increase. Even as Covid-19 begins to subside we expect that e-commerce will continue to rise. As a plastic zipper bag maker, what plastic bags solution are you providing for e-commerce customers and how are you looking to meet this rising demand?

E-commerce is certainly on the uptrend, and it is increasing significantly due to the current demand from the Covid-19 pandemic. On the other hand, the sales amount from our customers and agents at physical stores have been decreasing year by year.

We currently have more than 400 types of standard zipper bags that we have originally designed with specific dimensions, structure, packing components, and they are in stock at any time, and we will further expand our line-up of zipper bags that consumers and distributers need for e-commerce. We aim to build a system that can provide higher quality at faster rate, and that can be requested at any quantity to any region.

As a plastic maker, environmental concerns are something that you must take account of in your business strategy and we know that last year you launched Unipack Bio which is certified by the Japan Bio Plastics Association for its ability to biodegrade as it contains no harmful heavy metals that harm the environment. Could you tell us more about your environmental policy as a bag maker and what efforts you are making to meet this demand for environmentally friendly products?

Our business is to manufacture zipper bags, from purchased raw materials. However, within this business, the ability to develop raw materials that have a minimal environmental impact, is not widespread. However, it is one of our corporate missions to promote activities that help us reach SDGs. It was so difficult for us to develop zipper bags made from carbon-neutral biodegradable raw material in a short period of time, even with continuous efforts experimenting with the physical characteristics of the raw materials.  However, after a strong effort, our company was able to develop Unipack Bio, Unipack biodegradable bags, plastic-reduction Lamizip, etc.  Additionally, reducing food waste is also environmentally friendly, and we are also developing bags that can preserve and keep foods fresh for longer time frames, as an initiative to reduce food loss.

Although these products have only been released recently, what I sensed is that, the environmental awareness of consumers has not become common knowledge, leading to a price gap, because the product has not become popular yet.  In addition to our own business efforts, government initiatives are greatly expected to support eco-minded companies and boost their corporate actions regarding this agenda.

You explained the difficulty earlier in the interview of spreading the Lamizip overseas when you were trying to introduce it in Europe and America. Moving forward though, what markets are you looking to penetrate and what particular products do you see as being sought after overseas?

After all, packaging materials including zipper bags, which are required by the global market, are nothing but packaging materials that do not contribute to the health of the global environment, in which deplasticization and carbon neutrality are a main focus right now.  We believe that it is our duty to continue our research and development, and provide packaging materials in accordance with SDGs, rather than aiming to develop the global market; and it is a common trend in overseas markets to push forward toward this idea.  

You mentioned that the former head of the company pioneered the Unipack technology. Now of course today you are the chairman and in the long distant future, you will eventually step down and there will be a new generation of executives that will take over. When that happens, what objective would you like to have achieved? What goals or what legacy would you like to leave behind?

Who will be the next successor of our company, is the biggest question for me, and I think it is a very common issue for many Japanese companies, especially manufacturing companies. The reason is, that the number of human resources who are familiar with Japan’s manufacturing strengths is decreasing year by year.

The zipper bag market is entering a mature phase. In this oversaturated market, further technological capabilities, development and improvements are required, making it even more difficult to manage a business that can survive the increased competition.

While zipper bags are necessary and convenient for end-consumers, the process of putting contents into the zipper bags, or filling process, is often inefficient for customers. We received a consultation from our customer about improving the efficiency of the filling process into the zipper bags, so we developed and provided a custom-made filling machine that could meet their requirements, and our customer was very pleased.

We will continue to grow into being an excellent company that can contribute to a wide range of customers, always keeping in mind that we will help customers with problems, by optimizing the process of customers who use our zipper bags. We will continue to develop zipper bags in accordance with the SDGs, which are environmentally friendly, and still continue to be “a company that sticks to the spirit of monozukuri.” We will continue to pursue our corporate philosophy of “monozukuri does not reach the best in all fields. We always pursue the best.”