Hochiki Corp. sets the highest standards in fire safety systems

Over the past couple of decades, we have seen the rise of regional manufacturers who can replicate certain manufacturing processes and products from Japan at a cheaper cost and with economies of scale. Could you please tell us what is the essence of the Japanese monozukuri philosophy and why should someone in a highly globalized world choose Hochiki products instead of similar Chinese products?

With regards to the domestic market, no products from China or even the US have penetrated the Japanese market. One reason for that is the strictness of Japanese fire prevention law. There is a very thick book which contains all the different fire prevention standards that you need to be in compliance with in order to operate in Japan, and all products must comply with incredibly high inspection standards, and these strict inspection standards are something that our overseas competitors are not able to easily meet so for that reason they cannot penetrate into the domestic market. In the US, they have their ‘UL’ standards. In Europe they have ‘EN’ standards. In those markets their products meet those standards, but Japanese standards are different.

Within the Southeast Asian market for fire prevention and fire alarms, there's the high end, low end and middle end. It’s the low end of the market where the costs are extremely cheap and that's where you see China being the largest player. When it comes to high end and middle end, you see US, German and UK manufacturers. Our company is still not well known but we are really looking to compete in the high and middle end section of the market.

Hochiki Fire Alarm

Many Japanese buildings traditionally were constructed using wood and Japan has been subject to several natural disasters over time which caused fires. Over the course of your company’s 100-plus years of operation, can you tell us the role that fire prevention has played in society, and how the sector has evolved during that period?

I started working at this company in 1973. At that time there wasn’t such a widespread awareness of the importance of fire prevention in Japan, but slowly, with different fires happening over the decades, we started to see a greater awareness of the importance of having devices like fire alarms to enable as many people as possible to evacuate a site as soon as possible. We also started to see an increase in the importance and value placed on human life as well as the importance of protecting assets.

When I first started working at the company, the manual for the various different fire prevention standards was 1/3 the size of the book we have today which indicates that this country has strengthened its efforts in this field. Furthermore, the book of standards is still increasing all the time as a result of the government’s drive to continually increase awareness of fire risk and its mitigation.

Fire alarms play a major role in saving life and minimizing damage to building infrastructure. Could you please tell us how are you using innovative technologies such as IoT (Internet of Things) in order to minimize damage and save more lives?

There is certainly a large trend towards utilizing IoT and a move towards the digitization of everything. Incorporating digital technologies into business operations is just the flow of the times. In fiscal 2020, we conducted a demonstration experiment of a system using cloud services together with our partner companies. In addition, we are conducting joint research with universities in Japan. In order to provide better products and services, there are cases where know-how and technologies outside our field of expertise are required. However, we believe that we can enhance our products and services by combining them with innovative technologies, and we will continue to make use of our strengths while considering our next move.

And let's not forget about quality. This is the basis of everything we do. At Hochiki, we not only meet guidelines and standards such as UL standards, but we also set high standards that go beyond them.

We actually have a headquarters for quality control. In a sense, it’s a department that is just taking care of quality and ensuring the highest standards. Inspections are undertaken daily and we're really focusing on how we can continually improve the quality of the product.

Being in charge of our Overseas Department for three years before becoming President, I really was able to understand the ways in which our products were of high quality compared to other products in the market and I received many comments from our clients overseas, highly praising our Hochiki fire alarms. They particularly liked the accuracy of when the fire alarms went off and we pride ourselves on such performance.

Your firm began by making fire alarm systems. Then you moved to include fire extinguishing systems and more recently you’ve also started to offer information and communication systems for sensors in security systems such as intruder detection systems and access control systems. How are you able to create synergies between these four business segments and why did that evolution take place?

One thing that fire alarms and security alarm systems have in common is that they are usually monitored quietly and reliably, but when an emergency arises, they alert people to the danger and force them to take action. We believe that the synergistic effect is that we can utilize the transmission and display know-how we have gained from manufacturing fire alarms in security alarm systems.

We were able to utilize the kind of technology and know-how that we had already developed through the creation of our own fire alarm systems towards these other fields and create products that could really serve that same purpose of protecting the security and safety of people around the world.

The global construction industry is set to continue growing quickly over the next 5 years or so. As a president with a vision of making this company go global, could you please tell us what strategies you are implementing to take advantage of this growth, and which countries do you believe hold the future for Hochiki?

In terms of the domestic market, we have expanded into the four businesses that I mentioned: fire alarm systems, fire-extinguishing systems, information and communication systems and security systems. However, when it comes to overseas markets, we are only dealing with fire alarm systems. The reason for that is because we believe that there's still great business growth potential for this market and we are putting all our energy and efforts into expanding in that area. Currently our sales and revenue for overseas alarms system sales is 14%, but we are looking to grow to 20%.

We established our first overseas site in Los Angeles, ‘Hochiki America’, in 1972. Then about 20 years later we opened one in the UK. In the 2010s, we expanded our sales offices to Australia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Dubai and India. We believe that we have almost prepared the foundation for our overseas business.

In overseas markets, Hochiki is not as well known as in Japan, and we are competing with huge companies. We have adopted a strategy to differentiate ourselves by providing technical support and other customer services. We believe that we are able to provide the kind of detailed support that giant companies cannot provide because our headquarters are located in Japan. In Japan, quality does not only mean the quality of the product. In Japan, quality is not only about the products, but also about the attentive support. Our basic philosophy is to develop such high quality products of Japanese quality on a global scale. Each of our sales offices will provide customer support that is tailored to the characteristics of each region.

Hochiki office building

In terms of the global fire alarm market we currently hold, I think it's between 3 to 6% and so from that perspective there's still a great opportunity for us. Domestically, we hold about 25% of the market share. Our goal is to expand the share of overseas sales in our total company revenue from 14% currently to 20% and I think it's a realistic goal.

Among your overseas projects has been the installation of fire prevention systems for the State Bank of Australia and also Royal Holloway College in the UK. Is there a particular project or a particular product either internationally or at home in Japan that you are particularly proud of?

It's a great honor that many well-known institutions around the world have been utilizing our fire alarms and sensors. In Australia a lot of their airports use our fire alarm systems. When I went to visit airport staff over there they recognized that Hochiki fire alarms just don't break down. They don't need replacing; they are just so solid. Actually, we have been wanting to upgrade our systems but there's no need to because they found that Hochiki fire alarms were still being used 30 years after installation.

Do you have any upcoming products that you are about to release that you would like to showcase to our international readers?

Whilst we need to keep the details of our planned new products confidential, I can say that we are putting a lot of effort into always making sure that we adapt to the latest standards and guidelines across the world. This includes the UL as well as the EN standards.

You have offices in Europe, in America, in Mexico, as well as in Southeast Asia. These different regions have different standards, as you mentioned, and these standards tend to change over time. How are you able to remain on top of these standards, both from a regulatory and technical point of view? How do you ensure that you apply the principles of monozukuri in always adapting to these changes?

Among Japanese fire prevention firms, we were the first to expand overseas and we quickly made sure that we were certified and were able to comply with both the UL and the EN standards. Once you're able to gain certifications in these two - in the US and Europe - then there's no problem. Your products are accepted everywhere else. For example, if we were to go to India then they would just ask us to adhere either to the UL standards or the EN standards. So in that sense adapting to changes in standards hasn't been a big issue for us since we are already certified in those standards.

Moving forward, we definitely want to continue to strengthen our presence globally and provide even more technical support to our clients and promote ourselves more. We consider it a big deal that we are certified in both UL and EN standards and we see this certification as a platform upon which to further expand globally.

As the president of Hochiki, how would you define the brand of your company and what message would you like to transmit to your customers when they buy your products?

I have always held the belief that the ultimate mission of those working in the field of fire prevention is to strive to ensure that zero people die from fires. Zero victims. I know that seems really idealistic, but it is still something that is the ultimate goal and objective of those working in this field, and is something I hold myself to. From that perspective, we will continue to really strive to ensure that we are able to make that a reality for not only people in Japan, but people across the world.

We will continue to strive to create fire alarm systems and fire prevention systems of the highest quality. Not just the alarms themselves, but the entire system should be of the greatest quality, and I believe that it is this mission that has enabled us to become a 103-year-old company and it will also be something that will motivate us further, moving towards the 110th anniversary and even to 200 years.

I am 70 years old so I really hope and expect that the person who will succeed me will carry on this mission of ours and I'm pretty confident that we are going to be able to maintain our long history for many years to come.

When you finally hand the company over to the next president, what objective would you like to have achieved? What vision would you like to leave as your legacy to the next generation of Hochiki employees?

Right now the company is not necessarily in a position where I can personally choose the next president. There's an entire board that selects the next president and makes that kind of appointment. However, if you were to ask me what kind of person I would like to have as my successor - what kind of person should they be - I believe that that person needs to be somebody who has limitless dedication and love for the company and believes in the company.

This person should have a long range perspective and be able to not just see things in the short term, but really maintain a long range vision for the next 5-10 years and make the kind of decisions which move the company forward in a manner befitting a 103-year-old company. And as I said earlier, I hope that the next president will also push forward toward the ultimate mission of those involved in fire prevention, which is to reduce the number of people who die in fires to zero.