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Ogura Jewel Industry: more than a century of experience in jewel processing

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Interview - June 3, 2021

Ogura Jewel Industry Co., Ltd. has maintained a dominant position as a precision manufacturer of jewels, non-ferrous metals and metals since the company was founded in 1894. Specializing in a high level of micro machining and nanometer technology, Ogura is one of the strongest SMEs in Japan. We had a deep discussion with Kyotaro Ogura, the current president of Ogura, regarding the Japanese manufacturing industry and the company’s dominance in the market.

MR. KYOTARO OGURA, PRESIDENT OF OGURA JEWEL INDUSTRY CO., LTD.
MR. KYOTARO OGURA | PRESIDENT OF OGURA JEWEL INDUSTRY CO., LTD.

Could you please briefly discuss the Japanese manufacturing industry?

In the past 40 years, the Japanese industry has faced drastic changes. As someone who has been in the industry for over 40 years, I did experience the changes in trends. The Japanese industry used to be a more mass-manufacturing industry with a focus on the scales of production. In the present day, Japanese companies are focusing more on the importance of research and development to create things that have not yet existed. Furthermore, the industry has set quite a high standard of quality rather than scale.

I believe that Japanese companies need to not only have the capability to produce, but also the capability to penetrate the international market. As for that, these companies need to follow and adapt to the changes in trends and customers' demands. I believe that Japanese companies are able to export their fine level of processing to the global market.

 

You mentioned the importance of going international, how does Ogura manage to satisfy international needs and compete with other companies from other countries, such as China?

As a company, we are providing the supply of products to large corporations in the same industry based on what they require under agreements of only selling that product to them. In some cases, several international companies requested us to sell the exact same products, but we declined. This is our way of getting the trust of large international corporations.

Since the increase of China’s impact on the market, the importance of having international strategies in the market is very important. Keeping the guard high to gain dominance from China’s cheaper production cost is needed. China’s standard is rising day-by-day and they will definitely catch up with the game.

 

How do you believe that Ogura’s competitive advantages are able to maintain the company’s position in the market?

Our long corporate history is what gives us our competitive advantages in the market. The process we did in the old days is what brings us to where we are today. As an example, we started the business of the hole drilling process (utilized as a wire guide for EDM machines, coating dies for magnet wire, and nozzle for water jet) from the shifting trends of customer demands from rotating axis (bearing) for watt-meters. Our adaptability to the situation keeps us able to answer the needs of the customer.

Moreover, we have very close relationships with clients on a continual process of making machines. We do repetitive meetings with our clients by taking things to the drawing boards where we brainstorm the client’s needs and our proposed improvements, such as minimizing costs and optimizing machines.

We created the New Production System (NPS) group, inspired by Toyota and its corporate structures. The NPS utilizes the kaizen assembly line that focuses on improving productivity by eliminating wasted space and time. 30 years ago, our company’s assembly line was not time and space efficient. Time and space were wasted due to factory workers moving around too much and machine layouts were not placed well. We restructured the layout based on the kaizen assembly line where we utilized more workers in the wasted space and relocated machines to create a productive environment in the working space. By doing so, we were able to work faster in production with one step of kaizen at a time.

In addition to those, we also have the competitive advantage as the NO.1 company that has the diamond grinding technology that is able to produce a conical type of diamond measurement stylus by knowing the orientations of the diamond to make it completely smooth and constant.

 

What is your view on the trend of electric and hybrid vehicles? How is Ogura able to contribute to that trend?

In the production of electric motors, magnet wires are used. To produce a magnet wire, coating dies are needed. We are producing not only round types of coating dies, but also rectangular types of coating dies for a flat type of magnet wire which increases space factor in winding coils.

 

How important is customer satisfaction when dealing with the demands of clients and how do you deal with challenging demands?

As a company that deals directly with clients on a daily basis, there are always clients that have demands that we cannot fulfill due to the high requirements. In this case, we are obliged to decline the clients’ requests for designs and blueprints. We evaluate every client’s declined demands in a monthly reporting meeting where we brainstorm ideas about how to resolve the issues for the clients and how we can make it possible.

 

Where do you see Ogura’s future? What growth does the international market play within the company’s growth strategy?

We have been in the overseas market of the record stylus for cartridges for the last 40 years. If I am not mistaken, there are only five companies that operate in the record stylus and machines in the world currently, and one of those is us. Our international growth strategy started off by supplying record stylus to famous companies.

When we talk about the record stylus, it has huge relevance with grinding wheels. We started producing those to grind and sharpen the record stylus within our factory. And by utilizing that technology we started producing measurement stylus to expand our business to other sectors.

As an SME, our company name is often not known in the international market. This is a challenge that makes it hard to expand overseas. However, we do believe that we can export many things overseas to penetrate the international market, such as a measurement stylus, coating dies, water jet nozzles, and many more.

 

Looking to the far future when the new generation will take over your position, what legacy would you like to leave behind?

To be a president, I believe that you need to have the ability to think on your own terms. Expanding and holding a strong sense of yourself as an independent thinker is very important. A company’s philosophy is always a major guide; however, you should act more than that. When you want to take the position as a president, you have to be able to grasp the needs of the time, create a good sphere of influence around you, and gather the people around you that can help you with the job. I would say that expanding in your own way and capacity is the advice I could give to the new generation.

Furthermore, you should always be ready for any kind of unexpected challenges that you are going to face. The covid-19 pandemic is an example of a situation that a president needs to be prepared for as the main representative of a company.

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