ISOWA NEWS LETTER

Vol.116:Interviews about department assignments of new employees

12/01/201811/30/2018ISOWALeave a comment

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ISOWA NEWS LETTER
2018/12 Vol. 116
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The ISOWA NEWS LETTER is a newsletter for the benefit
of special customers only.
Each month we bring you information about our company
and its products – information you won’t find on our home page
or in our catalogs.
We hope the ISOWA NEWS LETTER will help you feel closer to us.
─┬───────────────────────────────────────────
1├　Interviews about department assignments of new employees
2├　ISOWA’s Historical Heritage
From President Isowa’s Blog, ISOWA DIARY
─┴───────────────────────────────────────────
Hello, everyone. This is Matsumura from Export Department

I went out on a business trip abroad at the end of October.
After arriving at the airport, I got on a train to head to my final destination.
It was on the train that I realized that I had lost my mobile phone.

Judging from my current situation, I guessed that it was stolen from me
right before I boarded the train from the platform.

Losing my mobile phone which contained important information
was a shock to me, and I ended my business trip among days
that were full of anxiety and reflection.

I felt that I should have been more careful,
and next time I will use a neck strap so I can keep my mobile phone
on me at all times.

To all of you who are reading this, please be careful.

And now, let’s turn to Vol. 116 of the ISOWA NEWS LETTER.
We hope you like this edition.
—————————————————————————————————-
Interviews about department assignments of new employees
—————————————————————————————————-
Hello!
This is Kurata, a sale representative of the Customer service
Department.

Half a year has already passed since the start of this new fiscal year.
This year is my second year since joining the company.
At this exact time last year, I accompanied a staff member of
Engineering G and engaged in machinery installation work.
I clearly remember frantically keeping up with the atmosphere
of the work site while experiencing the summer heat inside of the factory.

Assignments to departments for this year have been decided,
and the thoughts and ambitions of 10 new staff members
who have taken their new first steps are introduced in this issue.

[Y. H] < Adjustment and Installation Department >

In my training thus far, my aim has been to understand the job content
and role of each department, but I am now working hard to
understand things, by asking questions until I understand and
by continuously asking myself “why”, so that I will be able
to explain what I have learned from senior staff to our customers.
Therefore, in the future, I would like to become able to explain things
in a way that will be easy for junior staff to understand.

At first, I would like to ask many questions as I discover things
that I do not know.
Confident that I am the one who knows the most about this machinery,
I will work hard toward my goal of being one of the ISOWA people
who can answer the questions of our customers.

[H. MZ] < Adjustment and Installation Department >

Every day, I have been frantically keeping up with the senior staff.
Approaching training with the attitude that I would be content with
being assigned to any department, I had intended to understand
the work of each department. However, after being involved in actual
work, I felt that I should not underestimate work training.

I recognize that there are so many things to memorize, and I am
working hard to learn what I do not know. Going forward,
I would like to increase the work that is entrusted to me as much
as possible, and become able to confidently tackle my work.

In order for me to achieve this goal, I feel that I need to grasp
my own level and solve problems one at a time.
A theme for me going forward will be to continue to always have
the aspiration to improve my work.

[A. T] < Export Department>

I have learned how to proceed with my work from the senior
staff and made a manual, and by actually performing the tasks
from watching and following the examples of the senior staff,
it would be the time to finish my work in an instant.

During training, I was keenly aware of my lack of basic knowledge
of machinery. For example, when I translated notes for a change
in specifications to English, I first had to have each piece of
machinery terminology that I didn’t understand carefully explained
to me. Even when I attended a meeting about the specifications
with the Engineering Department, I couldn’t even read the specifications.
So, thanks to the assistance of the senior members and my colleagues,
I started to learn the terminology bit by bit.

First, I would like to steadily memorize each item one by one,
to become able to tackle my work confidently.

[M. K] < Design Engineering Department >

Currently, my duties are observing die cutters, understanding
structures, and helping with the development of test machines.
My knowledge of machinery and electronics are both insufficient,
thus I am not even used to how I should proceed with my work,
so my goal is to first grow accustomed to my current environment
and job and to then become able to think and act on my own.

Together with my superior and the senior members, I have set the
lofty goal of becoming proficient in both mechanicals and electricals,
and I would like to work hard toward achieving that goal.
Design Engineering Department does not only work in machine design,
but also sometimes goes out to perform installation work or repairs.
In the future, I too will go visit customers.
I would like to become able to understand what customers want
and what they are troubled by, and to then respond.

[K. A] <Assembly S>

My duty every day is to put forward my best efforts at the instruction
of Mr. I at the Assembly Dojo.
I have experienced a lot this month by using various tools,
going to the Komaki Factory, and the like.
Going forward, I would like to absorb many techniques from my
superior and the senior staff, increase my capabilities
as much as possible, and become able to work at customer sites.

First, I will work to get my slinging license.

[H. MN] <Design S>

The three things I am currently focused on achieving are:
learning about the machinery of ISOWA, increasing my skills
in design and drafting, and memorizing the fundamentals of
the corrugated paper industry.

Specifically, my training for becoming able to imagine a machine
by looking at an engineering drawing is to color-code each part
of the assembly diagram and look at the actual machine while
checking the color-coded drawing, and to practice CAD operations,
I do design, construction, and the like of plates and brackets for
mounting measuring equipment.

I have decided that the first three years for me will be the period
during which I lay my foundation.
At this point, I would like to create a solid foundation and continue
to grow daily by taking on many challenges, experiencing failures,
and reflecting back on what I have done, in order to be able to
develop good machines.

[S. TK] <Purchasing Department>

Currently, my duties are mainly focused on shipment processing
and billing. There are various types of parts which comprise
the machines of ISOWA, and the delivery dates and inventory
status of each of them are different. In order for those who work
at sites to be able to smoothly proceed with their work,
I determine how to set delivery dates and the kind of information
that should be picked up and passed along. However, there are
still some areas where I lack knowledge, such as regarding the parts
and the flow of duties of workers at the sites, so I still cannot perform
my work by myself.
My goal is for the company to feel at ease with entrusting this work
to me.
Therefore, even while I am learning the fundamentals, I would like
to search for the areas that I am proficient in and in the future,
I would like to have a job where I am one of the most important
staff to lead it.

[T. M] <Machining Department>

I am currently engaging in machining using lathes and milling
machines as my main work.
I would like to continue working hard to learn difficult machining
methods that I did not learn while in training and machining methods
that will allow me to make products according to dimensional tolerance,
and become able to perform my work quicker, even if just by
a single second, and more efficiently.

Also, I now only work with lathes and milling machines, but
I would like to become one of the almighty ISOWA people
who is permitted to work until I am at the level where I could
pass the National Trade Skills Test of another type of machine.
Now, I fail often, and I am still a beginner, but I am working hard
to quickly become a full-fledged member of the company and
provide high-quality products.

[S. TD] <Machining Department>

I have become more aware of my responsibility for each of my actions.
During transport of materials, incorrectly positioning material
in the engineering drawing
may lead to machining that is different from what is shown
in the engineering drawing during the next process,
so I have been tackling my work with a particular sense of responsibility.

Thus far, I have given top priority to safety when practicing
machine operations, but now, in addition to naturally handling
machinery safely and correctly, I have started performing my
work while also keeping efficiency on my mind.

First, I would like to carefully tackle each item one by one so that
I can accurately perform the work that is given to me.

[K. I] <Assembly Department>

Currently, I am learning various things from Mr. I,
who is a trainer of the Assembly Dojo.

My current goal is not to forget the things that Mr. I has taught
me and to make them my strength. After assignment, Mr. I
immediately told me that “For now, during the year, we will
practice various things, with the methods of tools and electric tools
at the dojo, but you will probably forget them.” Therefore, I must
always keep those things in mind.

I was taught many things, but I felt that it was difficult for me to
think about them and then master them through experience.
However, in order to quickly become a full-fledged member of
the company, I would like to continue absorbing as many things as possible.
How about that?

During training at ISOWA, trainees first visit each department to
learn about the connections between them and the work performed
at them, and then the trainees are assigned to a department in July.
Currently, the new employees who have undergone training are
tackling their work daily while specifically thinking about how to
reflect their own ideas into their work.
Such growth is the result of ISOWA people conducting training
while respecting the ideas of these new employees.
By all means, look forward to these new ISOWA people who will
fulfill new roles in the foundation cultivated by ISOWA thus far.

Thank you.
—————————————————————
ISOWA’s Historical Heritage
From President Isowa’s Blog, ISOWA DIARY
—————————————————————
The machine being installed inside ISOWA’s main shop.
It’s one of our greatest machines of all time from ‘60s.

▼To read more about it, visit the below website
(President Isowa’s blog, ISOWA DIARY)
http://h-isowa.blogspot.com/2018/11/isowas-historical-heritage.html

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We thank you for reading through the ISOWA NEWS LETTER.
How did you like our press letter?
If you have an interest in a particular subject,
please kindly inform us. We are willing to bring your subject to the press.

Vol.115:Finally achieving the 100th IBIS Machine 2

11/01/201811/01/2018ISOWALeave a comment

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ISOWA NEWS LETTER
2018/11 Vol. 115
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─┬─────────────────────────────────
1├ Finally achieving the 100th IBIS Machine 2
2├　Comrades in Corporate Reform
From President Isowa’s Blog, ISOWA DIARY
─┴─────────────────────────────────

Hello! This is Nagai of the Overseas Service Department.

November is the season during which the red autumn leaves
are at their most beautiful, but are you aware that Japan is
an astonishingly long island nation, approximately 3,000 km
from the north to south islands?
Hokkaido to the north is at the same position as Montreal,
Canada, 45 degrees north latitude, and there is already news on TV
about its first snow of the year.
On the other hand, Okinawa, the island to the south, which is
at the same position as Disney World in Florida, is surrounded
by many beautiful coral reefs, and during November, as the sea is quiet,
it is a diver’s paradise.

Mt. Fuji, which is 100 km to the west of Tokyo, had its first snow to
settle at the peak of the mountain at the end of September.
During November, elegant Mt. Fuji, with its fresh air and snow cap,
is enjoyable and amazing, even from afar.

Japan, stretching a long distance from south to north,
is an island nation with four seasons, is surrounded by the sea,
and has an abundance of greenery.
However, were you aware that it is possible to easily go through
the Japanese Alps, 3,000 meters in height, by train within
two or three hours?

Now, I think it would be nice if there were no earthquakes or typhoons,
but wouldn’t that be hoping for too much?

I am talking with my family about our trip plans for next year,
and the top candidate is a castle town, with a castle and townscape
as they were during the Middle Ages, and with beautiful cherry blossoms.
I am now looking forward to the cherry blossom season next year.
And now, let’s turn to Vol. 115 of the ISOWA NEWS LETTER.
We hope you like this edition.

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Finally achieving the 100th IBIS Machine 2
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Hello, everyone!

In last month’s issue, with the welcome of the achievement
of the 100th IBIS, I interviewed two developers about their
difficulties and joy during the development, and such an episode
characteristic of developers, of their difficulties and joy leading up
to the IBIS boom, filled myself as well with emotion.

This month’s issue continues with the two developers from
last month’s issue, with comments on the welcoming of the 100th IBIS,
the hopes for the 200th IBIS, and their dream as developers.

Also, I interviewed the salesperson responsible for the 100th IBIS,
and learned about his intense feelings concerning that time.

Please have a read through it when you have time.

┏━┳━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
┃II┃　Interview with People in Charge
┗━┻━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

The persons responsible for the machine design and electric design,
who were deeply involved in the development of the IBIS,
looked back to that time.

4. Comments on the welcoming of the 100th IBIS
5. Hopes for the 200th IBIS and dream as developers

[Mechanical design engineer Ｓ]

4. Comments on the welcoming of the 100th IBIS

We are extremely grateful for your praises of the IBIS.
We believe that the reason why the IBIS has been able to
grow thus far is thanks to ISOWA people sincerely listening
to the voices of our customers and continuing to work on problems
without giving up.
We also think that there are many things we have yet to
achieve, but we think you can definitely look forward to the IBIS
which continues to grow
5. Hopes for the 200th IBIS and dream as developers

The IBIS is full of the passion of ISOWA people.
We think that it is the accumulation of carefully manufacturing
each machine in order to benefit our customers.
Our dream is to produce “machines that make our customers happy.”

[Elec. Design engineer Ｎ]

4. Comments on the welcoming of the 100th IBIS

In recent years, the IBIS is the only piece of finishing equipment
by ISOWA to exceed 100 units. We frankly think that the fact
we were able to achieve that in just under 10 years is amazing.
We don’t think we would have seen such a number without
the collaborations of all of you involved in the sales,
engineering, manufacturing, service, and other departments,
as well as our vendors.
We would like to say, “Thank you! Congratulations!” to all of you
who were involved! (However, isn’t this number just a passing point !?)
5. Hopes for the 200th IBIS and dream as developers

We do not know if the IBIS will continue to progress as is,
thereby welcoming the 200th unit, or if its technology will be
succeeded by the next generation (or model).
At the very least, we think we must continue with the concept of
“i Machine”. I also would like to put forth my best efforts to
grow together with the IBIS (However, I don’t want to get any older…).

Also, I interviewed the salesperson responsible for the
commemorable 100th IBIS.

[Salesperson S]

1. Joy during the business negotiations and after delivery of the IBIS

After delivering an IBIS to a customer who had no previous
dealings with ISOWA, I felt extremely happy when the customer
praised the IBIS by saying, “The IBIS is an amazing machine
which surpassed our expectations. We are glad that we selected
an IBIS from ISOWA.”
As a salesperson, that was also the first customer who, motivated me
to think “I will put forward my best efforts for anything
if it is for the customer!”
Also, I felt glad when another customer praised the IBIS
by saying that, “Our image of ISOWA completely changed
after we introduced the IBIS. To be honest, we only had
an image of the older machines, but you have become
able to produce very good machines.”
2. Difficulties during business negotiations and
after delivery of the IBIS

At the initial development of the IBIS as well, there were
factors which did not sufficiently meet the demands of customers,
and adjustments were made after delivery. We felt terrible for
our customers in such events.

Also, by using some existing machines, such as a prefeeder
and a tying machine, we were unable to sufficiently exert
the performance of the IBIS, something with which customers
were not satisfied.
Such introspection has become a major asset in our current
business activities.

3. Thoughts as the salesperson responsible for the 100th model

The 100th IBIS was delivered to a customer outside of Japan.
Being involved in the turning point of the 100th model as
the Export Department is something that made me feel happy.
I would like our customers to improve their productivity with IBIS,
satisfy all of their employees, and hear them say, “I want to buy
another IBIS” 10 or 20 years later.
I joined the company in the year during which the first IBIS
was delivered to a customer (2008).
My own growth may not have kept up with the growth of the IBIS,
but the fact the IBIS has been praised by so many customers
brings me happiness. Compared to the number of IBIS units
operating within Japan, the number outside Japan is low.
As a person involved in international sales, I would like to
work hard to propose the IBIS to more customers
and have more IBIS in their facilities.

┏━━┳━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
┃III ┃　IBIS won’t stop
┗━━┻━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

With regards to the IBIS, which finally welcomed its 100th unit,
all of them are like the children for ISOWA people.

We are extremely happy to hear stories from our customers
about how well the IBIS performs. We will continue advancing
the IBIS, without stopping, to provide “new value” to our customers.
ISOWA will not stop, so that we can see the smiling faces of our customers.

Finally, we would once again like to extend our gratitude to
all of you who have helped the development of IBIS thus far.
We would be grateful for your continuous support.
—————————————————————
Comrades in Corporate Reform
From President Isowa’s Blog, ISOWA DIARY
—————————————————————
As our labor union reshuffled its organization last month,
the officials have changed and rejuvenated.

▼To read more about it, visit the below website
(President Isowa’s blog, ISOWA DIARY)
http://h-isowa.blogspot.com/2018/10/comrades-in-corporate-reform.html
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VOl.114: Finally achieving the 100th IBIS Machine 1

10/01/201810/01/2018ISOWALeave a comment

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ISOWA NEWS LETTER
2018/10 Vol. 114
———————————————–

─┬───────────────────
1├　Finally achieving the 100th IBIS Machine 1
2├　How innovation happens
From President Isowa’s Blog, ISOWA DIARY
─┴───────────────────

Hello! Greetings from Mr. Hirofumi Ogura, Overseas Department.
Hot summer is over. How did you spend your summer holidays?
The number of tourists visiting Japan from overseas has been
increasing year by year. This year is expected to see the highest
number of foreign visitors in the past.
The purposes for visiting Japan may vary from tourist to tourist.
Many visitors suggest that their love of Japanese anime which
brought them here.
I myself also grew up with anime in the childhood.
Many Japanese anime productions depict the future,
including robot anime series.

Among many anime works, the most impressive work that
I still remember “Mobile Suit Gundam.” This Mobile Suit Gundam
is an anime depicting the battle between some people living
in the universe and those living on earth when humans began to
live in the space.
In this war, a humanoid robot weapon (mobile suits),
“Gundam”, was created as one of the kinds of robot weapons.
This anime, a human drama, depicts people manipulating
the mobile suits, fighting and growing.
In Japan, there is persistent popularity regardless of generations,
and even the statute of a life-size Gundam has been produced and decorated.

As for the life-size Gundam picture, take a look of this.
https://momomon.club/omoshiro/odaiba-unicorn2

Recently Gundam has become more popular overseas.
An American film company recently announced that they would
produce a movie of this TV anime, “Mobile Suit Gundam.”
This time it will be a live action version rather than an anime.
It is the first time for the work to be made into a live action film.
Although details, such as release date, are not announced yet,
I am already looking forward to it.
If this work is made into a film and screened – You must watch it!

And now, let’s turn to Vol. 114 of the ISOWA NEWS LETTER.
We hope you like this edition.

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Finally achieving the 100th IBIS Machine 1
—————————————————————————
Hello, everyone!

Flexo Printer “IBIS” has been receiving favorable feedback
from many customers.
The IBIS machines have finally exceeded 100 orders,
reaching the triple digit!

It’s not ISOWA’s policy to unnecessarily expand the assembly
line capacity. This corrugated paper manufacturing facility has
a super long renewal cycle of 20 years.
To ensure our customers to use the facility for such an extensive
period of time, we believe that the company need to survive and grow
steadily rather than simply repeating unnecessary expansion and reduction.

Based on this fundamental concept, we are very proud that,
despite the limited production capacity, we were able to provide
the 100 machine units over the past decade.

The other day, Mr. Hideyuki Isowa, President visited a customer to thank
them for ordering IBIS. The customer spoke to him,

“Now we see IBIS everywhere. I’m sure IBIS is booming, isn’t it?”

This is all because of your great support extended to us day by day.
Thank you very much.

Since the development, many efforts have been made to evolve
IBIS and present new values. There are stories to be passed on
as many as the number of IBIS machines. In this issue,
we would like to look back on the history of IBIS through interviews
with the developers in those days, and salespeople who dealt with
the 100th IBIS machine. A lot of episodes that now they can talk about,
such as their passion for the development and untold hardships.

Please read through it when you have time.

┏━┳━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
┃Ｉ┃　History of IBIS
┗━┻━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

In July 2007, the development of IBIS started.
To develop a New Flexo Folder Gluer, one machine that
can produce various types of cases –It was the passion that
drove us to the development of IBIS.
Unlike conventional ISOWA’s projects for the development of
new machines, we raised opinions, not only from design
related, but also across the departments. We, as the whole company,
worked together to crystallize the thoughts and ideas of ISOWA into “IBIS.”

At the beginning of the development, we might not have met customers’ expectations.
In an effort to help our customers,
however, we have repeatedly made improvements one by one.

And now we feel that we have developed a printer that we can
present with confidence to any customer. Including IBIS,
ISOWA calls our machines “i Machine,” meaning we developed
them with passion.

The name, “i Machine”, includes three different concepts:
“i” for ISOWA, “i” for the subject I, and i (synonym for the
Japanese word “ai” or “love”) by our customers.

Also, “i” of “i Machine” is written in lowercase. The lowercase
“i” also shows the shape of a human. Here, you can see the passion
for a “human” which is also the fundamental business philosophy upheld
by Mr. Isowa for 30 years.

As a member of ISOWA people, the CEO himself wrote the logo and
acknowledged his determination as the following. That is, “i (human)”
sincerely faces against a “machine” with the feeling of awe, repeating
the dialogue with the machine as if talking to a real human, maturing
and creating new values.

We ISOWA people face IBIS day by day with such passion.

[History of IBIS Development]
July 2007 IBIS development started
January 2009 The First IBIS Machine was completed/started operation
(Open / Close-type Printing Unit / Two-stage Counter Ejector)
May 2010 Over Stacker was developed
December 2010 Fixed-type Printing unit was developed
March 2011 One-stage Counter Ejector was developed
January 2013 Chambered Doctor Blade type was developed
October 2013 2-UP capability (with wooden Die) Printing Unit was
developed
September 2014 Edge Opener was developed
December 2016 Batch Separator was developed
January 2018 2-UP Feed (Variable Lead Edge) Feeder was developed

┏━┳━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
II┃　Interview with People in Charge
┗━┻━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

We interviewed two members of staff in charge of the mechanical
and electrical design. These members who were deeply involved in the
development of IBIS recalled the days back then.

1. Difficulties you had during and after the development.
2. The best experience you had during and after the development.
3. Memorable events during the development

【Mechanical design engineer Ｓ】
1. Difficulties you had during and after the development.

In my third year at the company, I was so excited to be able to
get involved in the major development project. Thus, initially,
I was getting ahead of myself and trying to do this and that.
However, once I tried to get rolling, I found that many of the
ideas are only based on ambiguous images like “I wish they were.”
I was not able to see how to realize them, struggling with difficulties
for a while because, even when looking back at the day’s work, I found
we were not able to make any progress.
Also, shortly after the development, there were times that we could not meet
our customers’ expectations and felt very sorry to disappoint them.

2. The best experience you had during and after the development.

Although we wanted to give it a try, there were only a few
that we were able to put into realization. The path for it was also
paved with many failures. However, I remember I was so excited
when, overcoming all those difficulties, the product what I expected
was completed. In order to repay the support that we’ve received
from many people, we must develop IBIS to be a better i Machine.
With such a belief, I was more committed to my work.

3. Memorable events during the development

Early on, when we started assembling the First IBIS Machine, we found
a serious failure where a specific component was not installable.
Delivery might take some time for the element; usually, close to
one month. Even if we decided to manufacture the part from the beginning,
we would fall behind the schedule significantly.
Not knowing what we should do to cope with the problem, we were
entirely at a loss, then a senior worker lent a helping hand to us.
It was something memorable for me because thanks to the support,
we were able to make a successful shipment without delay.
【Elec. Design engineer Ｎ】
1. Difficulties you had during and after the development.

At the time of the launch of the project, the target customers that
we were trying to sell were somewhat different from the current ones.
Thus, we were promoting the development based on “cost” conscious.
I remember that we made calculations over and over trying different
means and methods before making decisions.
Even after the First IBIS Machine was shipped, the project members
met many times to discuss, focusing on developing higher-value and
lower priced machines by using new methods such as VE
(Value Engineering) and standardization.

2. The best experience you had during and after the development.

In those days, a member who was involved in the sales and installation
said, “To be honest, I felt reluctant to sell IBIS at first.”
As the words show, it was very distressful for us, too, because of the troubles
the machines caused our customers until the successor machines to
the First Machine got off the ground.
Still, our efforts in improvement and enhancement allowed
the machines to become gradually stable; enough to receive
an evaluation from the industry as “ISOWA’s IBIS is good.”
Now it has grown to achieve the 100th Machine.
Now, I don’t have any anxiety or negative feelings at all when
IBIS is shipped. That is something that I feel the happiest.
So, I certainly feel more confidence in IBIS these days.
3. Memorable events during the development

I received advice from late Mr. Eiichi Isowa (then advisor)
as necessary from the beginning of development until right before his passing.
One of the most memorable advice for me was
“we must have enough discussion with our customers regarding
why they are going to introduce IBIS, what kinds of expectations
they have, and we must fully understand what they think!
It is very important for both our customers and ISOWA to speed up
the launch of the machine!” Hinted by his words, ISOWA started
to provide “preliminary research” so that our engineers can understand
the production situations surrounding our customers before the delivery
of our machines. That passion has been inherited and still thoroughly
alive, and it has become a driving force that allows a full-scale production
immediately after the installation of IBIS.
How did you feel about the interviews?
In the next issue, we will ask these two developers we interviewed
this time, to share their comments on the achievement of the 100th Machine,
their thoughts towards the 200th Machine, and their dreams as developers.
Furthermore, we will also introduce interviews with a salesperson,
who was responsible for the commemorating 100th machine.

Stay tuned for the next issue!
—————————————————————-
How innovation happens
From President Isowa’s Blog, ISOWA DIARY
—————————————————————-

When I was walking around the shop the other day,

I found a few people doing something by the machine.
▼To read more about it, visit the below website
(President Isowa’s blog, ISOWA DIARY)
http://h-isowa.blogspot.com/2018/09/how-innovation-happens.html

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Vol.113:2018 Introducing Our New Employees Part 2

09/01/201808/31/2018ISOWALeave a comment

———————————————–
ISOWA NEWS LETTER
2018/9 Vol. 113
———————————————–

─┬─────────────────────────────────────
1├　2018 Introducing Our New Employees Part 2
2├　A scene from pre-shipment inspection
From President Isowa’s Blog, ISOWA DIARY
─┴─────────────────────────────────────

Hello, everyone. It’s nice to meet you!
This is Akari Tsurumoto. Since July, I have been officially
assigned to the Export Department. It is already
four months since I joined ISOWA as a new employee
in April this year and I am learning new things every day
and trying frantically to keep up. Since this year’s rainy
season ended, Japan’s heatwave has pushed temperatures
to record levels, making me realize I can’t live without an air
conditioner. The “feels like” temperature goes over 40 degrees
during the day. Going outside is like stepping into a natural sauna
and after just a 5-minute walk, I’m dripping with sweat.
To help me get through this fierce summer, I keep my fridge
at home stocked with a bit more upmarket ice cream than I would
normally buy, and I have been buying more brightly colored
clothes than in spring and planning to go to the beach with friends.
I want to do all the things you can only do in summer and enjoy
this summer with a smile. How do you plan to spend August?

And now, let’s turn to Vol. 113 of the ISOWA NEWS LETTER.
We hope you like this edition.

——————————————————————————
2018 Introducing Our New Employees Part 2
——————————————————————————

Hello.
In the last issue of the ISOWA NEWS LETTER, I introduced
some of the new employees who joined ISOWA this year.
In this issue, I would like to introduce three new mid-career
employees who have also joined the ranks of ISOWA people
and to present views on mid-career hiring at ISOWA.

ISOWA’s new employee recruitment activities value above all else
finding students who empathize with ISOWA’s corporate philosophy,
namely “Creating a company with the best corporate culture
in the world that makes us and our families happy.” It is just over
ten years since we started recruiting with a focus on finding such
students and thanks to this company-wide push, ISOWA’s corporate
culture and climate have grown to such an extent that they are
attracting the attention of various media and companies.

In these circumstances, why have we now started hiring
people mid-career? I talked to F-san who works in the Service
Section of Customer Department which is closely involved in
mid-career hiring about the background to this situation.
Q1)
Could you tell us what has triggered this mid-career hiring?
Hiring people mid-career wasn’t something that we considered
doing from the beginning. I myself only began wanting to hire
new employees locally (in Osaka) after I was assigned to
the Osaka Domestic Sales Department.

The main reason was none other than a feeling that
local people get along well together.

I myself was transferred here from the head office and
as a member of the Osaka Domestic Sales Department,
I worked really hard every day to support customers
in the Kansai area. However, after witnessing the interchanges
between local Osaka ISOWA people and customers, I felt an urge
to recruit new employees locally and train them as ISOWA people,
both for the sake of ISOWA and the sake of the customers.

The reason is that I felt that, in communication between people
from the same locality, “a good chemistry” or “a sense of unity”
is formed on the spot in no time at all and communication proceeds
very smoothly. In fact, from the standpoint of the customer, it struck
me that local ISOWA people are better at building long and secure
relationships than transferred employees who change every few years.

Based on my experience at Osaka Domestic Sales Department,
I found myself recommending to the company that “each base
should hire new employees like the recruitment activities
of the head office.”

However, even in ISOWA head office’s new employee
recruitment activities, it has taken at least ten years for
mutual understanding and trust between local universities
and high schools to reach its present form. On that basis,
even if the bases started hiring new employees, naturally
the company was wary that, without fostering a relationship
with local universities and high schools, there would be little
probability of coming across students who identify with
ISOWA’s philosophy.

As a result, we concluded that at the present time it is difficult to
1) find students who emphasize with ISOWA’s corporate philosophy, and
2) hire new employees locally.
Q2)
Could you tell us how the three new ISOWA people
came to be employed?
In response to the result of the study that hiring new employees
at ISOWA bases is difficult at the present time, it was decided
to go for mid-career recruitment. But the problem of who to hire
still remained.

And then Hideyuki-san* suggested, why not get current
ISOWA people who understand and empathize with the ISOWA
corporate philosophy to introduce someone (a relative or friend)
who identifies with the ISOWA corporate culture and way of thinking.

So, I immediately contacted the Tokyo and Osaka bases and
Tokyo put forward one and Osaka two human resources that
current ISOWA people could recommend with confidence.
Of course, the company was not so easygoing as to hire them
unconditionally simply on the word of ISOWA colleagues.
Through interviews, we talked frankly about the nature of the work
of ISOWA service technicians, about the challenges as well as the
harsh reality, and whether they really empathized with ISOWA’s
corporate culture and philosophy.

In the end, we decided to hire N-san from Tokyo, O-san and
U-san from Osaka since they have a strong desire to “make
themselves and their families happy.”

They are currently undergoing training at ISOWA head office
and after that, they will be assigned to other sales/service
departments. We sincerely hope that they will build a long-lasting
relationship especially with customers in the Kanto and Kansai
areas and receive their warm, constructive guidance.

(*) In order to create a company with a better corporate culture,
from this fiscal year, we have abolished referring employees
using their managerial positions.
“Hideyuki-san” refers to Mr. Hideyuki Isowa, the president of the company.
For details, please refer to the April 6 article on the ISOWA blog:
https://blog.goo.ne.jp/h_isowa/e/1dd295edbb8b22948d41158afda77bc7
(In Japanese only)

Against this background, here are some comments from the
three new employees who have joined ISOWA.
Q3)
Looking back at the period since you joined ISOWA in April
until today, how do you feel about ISOWA?
Is there any difference before and after joining the company?
• Since April, I have been undergoing training in different
departments. My days are very fulfilling as I am in an
environment where I can learn about the workflow in each
department and build ties with various ISOWA people. (N.O.)

• In my previous job, I was involved in sales. To be honest,
since I didn’t graduate from a technical high school, I was very
nervous at first. But once I joined the company, unexperienced
as I was, many ISOWA people kindly and conscientiously taught
me a lot. The training, too, incorporates excellent programs and
even though it is still early days, I feel that I am making sound
progress. (S.U.)

• After undergoing training in various departments, I returned
to the Service Department in May*. My impression is that ISOWA
people are kind and cheerful. As for the job itself, there is a lot that
is new to me and that I don’t understand, but thanks to detailed
guidance and advice, though it’s hard going, I feel that it’s all
worthwhile. (K.N.)

*K.N.-san joined ISOWA last summer, so he has been
with the company for one year.
Q4)
Since you already have experience as working adults, could you
tell us what you would like to achieve in three years?
• The personnel in the Service Department at the head office
advised me to make myself so indispensable to the Tokyo Domestic
Sales Office in the Customer Department that the staff there would
say, “As long as you’re here, everything is OK!” I really want to be that
kind of person. To achieve that, I need to be more committed to work
than anyone else. I don’t want to spend my time trying to keep up with
someone. I want to do my best I can in my own way and tackle my job
head-on and still be maintaining this stance three years down the line.
(K.N.)

• I want to have as many customers as possible trust and rely
on me and to be able to build relationships where we can discuss
frankly and honestly. The more customers who feel that they can
turn to me at ISOWA if anything comes up, the more rewarding I will
feel my job is. And I want to be a service technician who can be
relied on not just by customers, but by my colleagues. I will do my
best every day to grow into the kind of person who is attractive in
all kinds of ways. (S.U.)

• I think that from around my third year with the company, I will have
a grasp of the business and will start being able to manage my work
by my own approach. In a good sense, I will be more used to the job
by then and the work will gradually become more interesting, but
at the same time, more tasks will be entrusted to me and I will also
have more responsibility. Machines made by ISOWA are widely used
all over the world and if they stop working due to some problems
or other, it is a major inconvenience for many customers.
Based on this fact, in three years’ time, I want to be an ISOWA person
with a sense of responsibility and a mastery of skills and techniques
relating to the machines. (N.O.)

How was it?

When you set ISOWA’s corporate philosophy of “Creating a company
with the best corporate culture in the world that makes us and our
families happy” against your own values, how far can you honestly
empathize with the philosophy? This might well be the focal point
of ISOWA’s hiring activities.

Having said that, I too was captivated by ISOWA’s corporate
philosophy and strongly aspired to join the company. For the
remainder of my ISOWA life, I will devote unremitting effort to
my work every day in order to realize ISOWA’s corporate philosophy.

Finally, let’s look forward to the future growth and success
of the three new employees who have made a new start as
ISOWA people.

———————————————————————
A scene from pre-shipment inspection
From President Isowa’s Blog, ISOWA DIARY
———————————————————————

Ahead of one of the busiest installation seasons of the year,
many customers come visit us for pre-shipment inspection.

▼To read more about it, visit the below website
(President Isowa’s blog, ISOWA DIARY)
http://h-isowa.blogspot.com/2018/08/a-scene-from-pre-shipment-inspection.html

*** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Vol.112:2018 Introducing Our New Employees

08/01/201807/31/2018ISOWALeave a comment

———————————————————————
ISOWA NEWS LETTER
2018/8 Vol.112
———————————————————————

─┬───────────────────
1├　2018 Introducing Our New Employees
2├　Important part of ISOWA from President Isowa’s Blog, ISOWA DIARY
─┴───────────────────

Hello everyone, how are you?
This is Shingo Saegusa of the Export Department.

I have been assigned to the Export Department since April.
I worked in the Domestic Sales Department at ISOWA for 10 years.
It’s nice to meet you!

As you know, Japan is a country which there are many earthquakes
throughout the year. In recent years, the earthquakes where the
damage was enormous were the Tohoku earthquake of March 11, 2011,
and the Kumamoto earthquake of April 14, 2016. And just the other day,
there was a big earthquake with magnitude 6.1 and intensity of six (6)
in Osaka on 23rd June, 2018. Our customers in Osaka were also
affected by the earthquake. Our service staff instantly visited and
helped in restoring customer’s machine. We received a word of
gratitude from our customers for our prompt response.

Although the Japanese are accustomed to experiencing earthquakes,
I’ve heard that people who came to Japan from abroad are very
surprised by the earthquake. Have you ever experienced
a strong earthquake?
There are many natural disasters such as earthquakes, typhoons
and heavy rain in JAPAN. I think this is JAPAN. Don’t be surprised at
disasters when you come to JAPAN.

And now, let’s turn to Vol. 112 of the ISOWA NEWS LETTER.
We hope you like this edition.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
2018 Introducing Our New Employees
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Three months have passed already since the new fiscal year started.
As we see fresh green summer leaves, we see fresh smiling faces
of our new employees who joined ISOWA this year in various departments.

When facing the ISOWA people who newly joined our company,
I feel like shaping up and determining to make the best possible
new year. I think I am not only person who feels that way.
In this issue of the ISOWA NEWS LETTER, through interviews,
out of the graduates who joined ISOWA in 2018, I would like to
introduce a total of ten new ISOWA people.

Q1)
There are many companies offering employment opportunities.
Could you tell us why you decided to join ISOWA?

• The first time I heard about ISOWA was when, at a company
information session on campus, I was recruited by an employee
of ISOWA and listened to story by Hideyuki-san (*). During my
job-hunting activities, I placed importance on the key factors
of the employees who are working there and the corporate
culture. ISOWA exactly fits in those key factors. (M.K.)

• In the summer holidays when I was in the second year of high school,
I worked at ISOWA through the “High School Craftsman Internship
Program” and at that time I thought I wanted to join this company.
(K.A.)

• The primary reason is that “it is possible for even females who
major in liberal arts to work at a place close to manufacturing.”
Since I was a child, I have enjoyed making things and I thought
it would be nice if I could engage in manufacturing-related work.
In an ISOWA company information session, I heard the story of
female employees who actually work on site. I realized that there
are jobs for females, who can be active in the factory, and I was
impressed by employees who can passionately talk about their
job details this much so I decided to join ISOWA. (S.TK.)

• I was fascinated by ISOWA’s machines. When I saw corrugators
at ISOWA’s plant, I felt the strong yearning to work with a machine
of such an enormous size! During my job-hunting activities, that feeling
never disappeared so I chose ISOWA. (H.MZ.)

• I decided to join ISOWA because of the personality of ISOWA
people. Even now, I can never forget the kind and polite responses
I got during a plant tour. Unlike other companies, they were
considerate in explaining ISOWA to individual persons and were
attentive as to how they can help individual persons understand
correctly, and I thought that was wonderful. (S.T)

• In my job-hunting activities, I was looking for a company which
is related to packaging, professes that they take care of employees
as a corporate philosophy, and is interested in my stance, which is that
“I can go anywhere in Japan and abroad!” Through company information
session and interviews, I felt a good atmosphere and close relationship
between employees. I thought that this was what I was looking for and
decided to join the company. (A.T.)

Q2)
Looking back at the period from joining ISOWA in April until today,
how do you feel about ISOWA?
Is there any difference before and after joining the company?
• While I went through many job interviews, I had opportunities
to talk to ISOWA employees, and my impression is mostly that
there is no gap from what I felt at that time. If the company image
before and after joining company are significantly different, employees
may quit. There is no difference in ISOWA’s image and in that regard,
I think ISOWA is great. (K.I.)

• After joining the company, I feel more that the relationship
between people is cherished and feel the warmth of ISOWA people.
Senior members in particular are considerate to me and I think I am
in a friendly environment where I can communicate with them easily.
(Y.H.)

• I felt once again the good nature of ISOWA people.
Just three months have passed since I joined the company but
I am able to work with a sense of ease. Also, it is very impressive
that the inside the company is very clean. I don’t mean that the plant
is new or equipment is new but I feel everybody is making an effort
to maintain cleanliness. I want to consciously maintain the cleanliness
of the company. (H.MN.)

• There are many senior members who kindly and carefully
teach me well, talk to me in a friendly way during breaks and
are all nice people. In the machining department where I was
assigned for training, In the machining department where I was
assigned for training, I haven’t been able to machine parts
as well as I would like, but I want to get more experience
and master skills as soon as I can. (T.M.)

• The impression that I first felt after I actually joined the company
was that ISOWA people are really passionate about improving in
their jobs and they even ask opinions of young employees like us,
to improve the current conditions. As a new employee, I feel it
quite easy to speak out. (S.T.)

Q3)
Could you tell us what you would like to achieve in three years?
• With health first, I want to keep working and be the healthiest
person among the employees who entered the company at the
same time. Also, I want to buy a car. (K.A.)

• Since I did not major in machinery, I have to start from zero
but I want to acquire knowledge about machines in three years and
become a competent employee as soon as possible. (K.I.)

• I am still in a level where I do what I am told. So, I want to be
able to act on my own thoughts and also become able to behave
attentively to people around me. (M.K.)

• I am still frantic to learn given tasks. I want to acquire knowledge
about machining and become able to talk almost at the same level as
people working on site so that I can be a bridge between the office
and the factory. (S.TK.)

• I have two goals. One is to remember everyone’s face
and name and make them remember me, and the other is to
engage in tasks nobody else can do that are specifically
assigned to me. I still don’t know many things about machines,
the company and also ISOWA people; however, learning any
new things is fun and I want to enjoy myself and work hard so
that I can achieve this aspiration. (A.T.)

• I want to learn about the company in training sessions and
not only acquire knowledge and skills but also improve my
character so that I can also become one of the friendly and
kind ISOWA people like senior members. (S.T.)

• I want to be a person who can hand down the way senior
members behave, which I am feeling now, and also knowledge
and experience to junior members. (Y.H.)

• Even though it is a small part of a machine ISOWA is
manufacturing, I want to acquire something about which
I can with confidence say “Please rely on me!” (H.MZ.)

• I have not been able to decide my work goals but in three years I want
to pass the secondary test of professional engineer examination.
However, to be honest, the secondary examination is very difficult
and I do not have confidence. Aiming to become an outstanding engineer,
I want to acquire practical knowledge in my daily tasks. (H.MN.)

• Emphasizing the spirit of “Take the Initiative,” I want to proactively
challenge acquiring difficult skills and qualifications. And I will try
my best to be able to take on a variety of tasks. In addition, I want
to be one of reliable ISOWA people full of kindness. (T.M.)

How was it?
Nice greetings and the smile of new employees bring new winds
of change and progress in ISOWA. Senior ISOWA people also
humbly learn from them, and let’s all work together as TEAM ISOWA
to achieve “Creating a company with the best corporate culture in the
world.” In the next issue, we will also focus on mid-career employees
who joined ISOWA, and introduce ISOWA’s mid-career employment,
which places importance on our corporate philosophy.

———————————————————————-
Important part of ISOWA
From President Isowa’s Blog, ISOWA DIARY
———————————————————————-

As in our corporate credo, employee satisfaction matters most to us..

▼To read more about it, visit the below website
(President Isowa’s blog, ISOWA DIARY)
http://h-isowa.blogspot.com/2018/07/important-part-of-isowa.html

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Vol.111:Rookie sales person Mr. K looks back over the past year

07/01/201806/26/2018ISOWALeave a comment

———————————————————————
ISOWA NEWS LETTER
2018/7 Vol.111
———————————————————————

─┬─────────────────────────────────
1├　Rookie sales person Mr. K looks back over the past year
2├　New ISOWA-bito　from President Isowa’s Blog, ISOWA DIARY
─┴─────────────────────────────────

Hello all. I am Andre Fazzolari from ISOWA America Sales
for South America.
It has been almost one year since I shared my words to you
on this journal. Hope you are all doing well and holding tight
the winter in the south hemisphere. At this time of the year,
it is always weird to flight to the north hemisphere where the
season and temperatures are exactly the opposite, so it is always
good to get your health well…
If you are in Russia, where the 2018 FIFA World Cup is being
held, summer there is chiller than other places and temperatures
goes from 15-25oC (59-77oF), similar to South America fall or
spring. However, differently than past years, emotional temperatures
must be much higher as by the time you get this NEWS LETTER
issue, the 2018 FIFA World Cup reaches the playoffs and only 16 of
32 nations are qualified. How your national team is doing?
What is happening in your country when your team is playing?
As most of the people know, soccer is compared to a religion
in South America and people cheer heavily and during national
teams playing a FIFA World Cup game I am sure the streets are
empty as everybody is watching the game.
Good luck to your national team and I hope to chat about matches
and results when we met next!

And now, let’s turn to Vol. 111 of the ISOWA NEWS LETTER.
We hope you like this edition.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Rookie sales person Mr. K looks back over the past year
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Hello! I am Nagisa Inui from Osaka Domestic Sales Department.
For this latest issue of the ISOWA NEWS LETTER, we are introducing
“Rookie sales person Mr. K looks back over the past year.”

First of all, let me explain ISOWA’s new employee training program.
In this program, new employees are given a chance to experience
jobs by rotation in departments different from the department to
which they are actually assigned.
Employees who have joined the company recently probably only
obscurely understand what roles each department takes in
manufacturing products.
To let new employees understand how ISOWA products are
manufactured, ISOWA has them receive training in other
departments first at an early stage to gain experience in various
departments before moving to their official positions in the
respective departments to which they are actually assigned.
Furthermore, this training is designed to help new employees
become familiar with ISOWA people working together in ISOWA,
and vice versa. There are many ISOWA people who feel that
this training helped them cultivate a trustful relationship beyond
a specific department so that they can consult with people in the
concerned group if they have trouble after they are assigned.

Please also visit the ISOWA recruiting site.
http://recruit.isowa.co.jp/

From this point on, we will look at the thoughts of sales person
Mr. K who has actually completed one year of training.

Hello! I am K from the Nagoya Domestic Sales Office.

In this newsletter, I would like to report on what I learned from
training in various departments throughout the last year.
Some of you might think, “Why does training last for a year!?”
In fact, I was the only one of the new employees to go through
training for a year. Other new employees started working in their
assigned departments after a three-month training period.
Why was I the only one who went through training for one year?
The reason was to learn sales person skills step-by-step.

When you hear the term “sales training,” you probably think about
learning how to create quotations and learning about the sales flow,
from listening to the customer to getting an order. However, with
ISOWA’s sales education program, the one year of training goes well
beyond the walls of the sales department.

First, I got trained on machine installation and adjustments.
ISOWA salespeople cooperate with members of various departments
and create an installation schedule. If we do not know what kind of
processes are involved during installation, we cannot get the concept
when creating an operation schedule. For that reason, for about four
months, I participated in installation work, including machine adjustments
inside the company.

I was able to check the number of days, heavy machinery, number of
trucks, the number of people, and so forth in person. And furthermore
in my experience, I found that installing machines is very hard work
yet is also fun.

The most impressive thing I saw in person is that if some trouble
occurs in the field when our customer is manufacturing products,
the trouble must be dealt with onsite. As a new employee,
I accompanied senior members, received instruction from them,
and was able to ask questions when I needed. However, senior
members were working hard to think and solve problems on their own.
In situations in which there is no one available to answer questions,
I really felt that looking for the best answer is extremely hard.
As a result of gathering the wisdom of each installation member to
solve problems, it was possible to brilliantly solve problems and
I could see ISOWA’s IBIS flexo folder gluers produce corrugated
boxes in the best possible state.

By accompanying others during installation work, I strongly felt both
the difficulties of being a sales person and also the enjoyment that
can be found.

Next, there was after sales service training to understand machine
repair status. I learned about performing maintenance on customer
machines, modification of a machine upon a request from a customer
following delivery of the machine, and investigation into the cause
when problems occur. When I performed machine maintenance, I was
able to see well that customers take good care of ISOWA machines
daily through such activities as cleaning and greasing locations that
are difficult to see. Through this after sales service training, I could
understand how well our customers give their full attention to ISOWA
machines.

After learning about machines in the field, I received training for ISOWA
salespeople in the Nagoya, Tokyo, and Osaka domestic sales offices.
ISOWA’s products are completely custom-made and tailored to each
individual customer. For that reason, the relationship with the customers is
the most important thing to make a better proposal. The reason for this is
because when making a proposal, if we know more about the customers,
we can make a proposal that pleases the customers from the bottom of
their hearts. Why do the customers have a particular set of requirements
and what are their intentions? Such things below the tip of the iceberg may
not necessarily be expressed directly in words.

When I saw senior salespeople who were really acting to make customers
happy, I felt that building a better relationship with customers means a daily
accumulation of honest activities to acquire customers’ trust.
In fact, when I visited our customers, I heard various thoughts from them.
I felt that customers told us such things because ISOWA salespeople
and customers have a good relationship.

Throughout the one-year training period, I was given instructions by
many ISOWA people. Senior ISOWA members are always thinking
about what they can do or what they should do for customers and
subcontractors, as well as other ISOWA people from a variety
of aspects. The answers may be different for each person.
However, if it is an answer that is carefully thought out by ISOWA
people who never give up on thinking, there must be no mistake!
I felt that such a level of trust exists between us. I am very happy that
I was able to join ISOWA, which really cares about individual employees.
Now that the training period has come to an end, together with
ISOWA people, I will keep thinking about what I should do at ISOWA,
and what I can do.

How was it?

In this newsletter, we introduced the ISOWA training program and
heard the impressions of a sales person who actually went through
one year of training. We, all ISOWA employees, will continue striving
to deliver further added values to our customers this year as well.

———————————————————————-
New ISOWA-bito
From President Isowa’s Blog, ISOWA DIARY
———————————————————————-

This April, 15 newly-graduated students joined ISOWA.

▼To read more about it, visit the below website
(President Isowa’s blog, ISOWA DIARY)
http://h-isowa.blogspot.jp/2018/05/new-isowa-bito.html

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Vol.110：”A first for the Tokai region! A steam locomotive came to ISOWA!!”

06/01/201805/18/2018ISOWALeave a comment

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ISOWA NEWS LETTER
2018/6 Vol.110
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─┬─────────────────────────────────
1├　”A first for the Tokai region! A steam locomotive came to ISOWA!!”
2├　Family Open House 2018　from President Isowa’s Blog, ISOWA DIARY
─┴─────────────────────────────────

Hello! My name is Ryota Kitada, and I work for ISOWA AMERICA (IA).
Phoenix, Arizona, the city where I live, is gradually growing hotter,
and it is now a comfortable season, where one can spend the
entire day wearing just a t-shirt. The days are getting hotter as
summer approaches—last year it reached 52.8°C in
Death Valley in California, Arizona’s neighboring state.

IA engineers travel by air when visiting our customers on business.
However, the heat last year meant that flights were canceled, and
I remember encountering difficulties because we were unable to
return home on schedule. There is an airport called “Phoenix Sky
Harbor” about 15 minutes by car from the apartment where I live,
and on that particular day, it was so hot that the aircraft was unable
to land or take off—apparently more than 40 flights scheduled to
arrive at or depart from Phoenix were canceled.
Later I heard that when the air temperature rises above 49°C (120°F)
the air density drops and the aircraft is unable to gain sufficient lift to
take off, so apparently, they will only take off in conditions up to a
maximum temperature of 48°C (118°F).

This summer I plan to stay hydrated and get through the heat!

And now, let’s turn to Vol. 110 of the ISOWA NEWS LETTER.
We hope you like this edition.

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“A first for the Tokai region! A steam locomotive came to ISOWA!!”
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Hello everyone! My name is Shunpei Inagaki, and
I work at the Tokyo Domestic Sales Office.

As was mentioned in a variety of industry publications, from
February 12 to 24, we displayed a C62 corrugated paper
steam locomotive at the ISOWA head office. In addition to
ISOWA people, we were visited by many customers, business
partners, and students wishing to take a look, and the steam
locomotive drew in more than 700 people in total. They were
also impressed by the appeal of the 1/1 scale display, which
seemed as if it could move at any time.

In this issue, I would like to introduce the C62 exhibit, which
made its first stop in the Tokai region. I would very much like
to convey even a little of what it was that drew our customers
to talk about how much they wanted to see it. Please read through
it when you have a spare moment.

[A steam locomotive came to ISOWA!!]

As was mentioned in a previous issue of the ISOWA NEWS LETTER,
we held another type of Open House, the “ISOWA Family Open House”
events known as “F.O.H.” In F.O.H. events, we invite the families
of ISOWA people to the head office and watch the activities of
families through various events, as well as enjoying the exchange
that this involves. This time was a special event with food trucks,
circus, and 1/1 scale model of a tank (that can actually move!), and
all the families involved had a great time.

The centerpiece of this F.O.H. was the C62 corrugated paper steam
locomotive on display, crafted by corrugated paper artist Hideo Shima.
A website illustrating the making of the C62.
https://c62-51.jimdo.com/
Although there was the talk of a steam locomotive exhibition four
years ago, we couldn’t get the right timing and we had to give it up
at the time. However, we still had the right connections and through
these connections, we were able to set up the display at this year’s
event. On February 10 and 11, ISOWA people and their children
began assembling the locomotive in the factory, where it made
a gallant spectacle for a period of two weeks from the twelfth of
February.

26 customers from 15 different companies visited the event, and left
us comments and acclaim, making statements such as, “It leaves
an impression that simply can’t be conveyed through a blog or
newspaper article!” “It’s not just the exterior—even details like the
instruments in the driver’s seat have been reproduced. It’s wonderful!”

“I’m proud to have worked on package development, but it made
me feel that there were areas where I wasn’t quite up to the task.”

“There were so many parts to reproduce—just thinking of the time
required to finish each one makes it seem like a monumental effort.”

“I was really happy that I was able to meet Mr. Shima.”

At last, on the day of the Family Open House, ISOWA people and
their families gathered one after another, and we were finally able to
open the exhibition. Tickets of a sort, which were inscribed “From
Minamishimabara to ISOWA,” were given out at the reception, and
the conductor clipped them with scissors! For me, born in the nineties
as I was, this was the first time I had experienced such a thing and it
really left an impression.

The size and sophistication of the steam locomotive in real life,
and the enthusiasm of its maker Mr. Shima was enough to make
my voice shake with spontaneous wonder. This exhibit inspired
more than 580 ISOWA people.

[The project leader’s story!]

We asked Mr. K from the Production Planning Group, who worked
as a project leader for four years to bring this dream to fruition,
to look back on the C62 exhibition. He will relate how things
progressed up until the time of the exhibition, and talk about how
the actual exhibition went.

Hello everyone!
I am K, the project leader for the ISOWA steam locomotive.

The Family Open House held on February 24 has finished and,

all has returned to normal inside the factory. I’m sure there are
people who do not even remember that there was a locomotive
here.

Now I’d like to look back on things a little.
The theme of this exhibit was to display the actual size model of
the C62 steam locomotive, which goes by the name of “Shirokuni,”
made of corrugated paper. I started by relating how I, with no
knowledge of steam locomotives, got railroad enthusiasts roped
in as members, improving the knowledge of 13 members.

And then, a second theme—
moving from assembly to a participation-style event. This was all
predicated on our corporate philosophy of “Creating a company
with the best corporate culture in the world that makes us and our
families happy.” We set out to enjoy this activity from the planning
stages, and to have children and families enjoy attending the
actual event.

As I have already mentioned, for this event, a long road stretched
ahead of us that included assembling, displaying, the Family Open
House, and finally disassembling after the event. But first, before the
two-day assembly effort started, the entire assembly team visited
the Ryujin Shrine to pray for the safety of all concerned.

When we began assembling the locomotive, our first impression was
that it was huge! We had anticipated this, but when confronted with
the real thing, each and every part seemed enormous! Although the
parts were too big for a child to hold easily, some children were still
keenly interested, and worked hard together with the adults. What’s
more, they worked at the corrugated paper and paper craft we had
prepared, applying their imagination in ways impossible for adults.

The assembly of the steam locomotive was carried out under the
direction of Mr. Shima. We split into two teams, laughing and giving
directions in loud voices, emphasizing safety as we assembled with
a little more enjoyment than in our normal work.

It wasn’t just the children—the adults also seemed tremendously
enthusiastic about the assembly.

Among them were the section chief of our customer corrugated plant,
who worked in collaboration with Mr. Shima, their company president’s
son (a university student) and the following day, the company president
herself, who came to assist Mr. Shima and cheer us on. The woman
who was making parts and cleaning there beside Mr. Shima, that
was the company president!

As we worked towards the day of the Family Open House—which
was different to a normal open house, our imaginations took flight
and we put the steam locomotive together with an enthusiast’s
devotion to the details of the locomotive display that an amateur
wouldn’t understand.

For steam locomotives, the left side of the direction of travel is called
the “official side,” and it was this side that we wanted to show.
Incidentally, the right side is apparently referred to as the “unofficial
side.” That seems sad, somehow …

We were also insistent about the entrance from the reception.
We made a ticket barrier like those of old, and tried painting the
wood various colors before finally settling on a mix of hues.

Although at first we were expecting 450, or at most 500 people to
come, there were 580 at the beginning of the week— a terrific
achievement!

We rushed to increase the number of meals, secured parking lots,
and increased the number of staff scheduled to be at reception
(I would like to say thank you to everyone who graciously
assented, despite our sudden request).

Speaking of haste, why do you think we referred to the 1/1 scale tank
as 1/1 rather than “actual size”? Well, that’s down to military secrecy!
We couldn’t measure an actual tank, and of course there was no way
to get hold of the designs, so we used a pair of Vernier calipers to
measure a 1/35 scale plastic model and enlarged it.
Mr. Ohashi from the “1/1 manufacturing society” said that what were
needed to create a 1/1 scale tank were “grit and tenacity.” Just imagining
measuring every part of a model with Vernier calipers made me think
he was right (wow!).

Another problem was that while there were people who knew about
steam locomotives, when it came to knowing about tanks … well, we
had to ask Mr. Ohashi about how he wanted to display the tank, and
about how big an area would be needed for it to move, and created
a venue layout. From meetings, we knew that the 1/1 tank would be
an open vehicle. For all the exhibits except for the tank, we created
fine-weather and rainy-weather layouts, but we were unable
to come up with a rainy-weather layout for the tank. So, our only choice
was to hope for fine weather on the actual day.

As if in answer to our prayers, the sun showed its face on the day
of the event, producing fine, balmy weather completely unlike
the week beforehand. 580 people came to the Family Open House Day,
and the venue was so crowded that some children got lost.

Overall, we received many wonderful smiles.

In addition to the staff, we received an immense amount of help
from people in their departments, other employees, and even people
outside ISOWA. Thanks to the cooperation of the families
of all the employees, we were able to carry out the assembly,
create the exhibit, and hold the successful Open House. Thank you.

Lastly, if anybody would like to create a steam locomotive themselves,
or wants to build a 1/1 model, I can introduce you to some professionals
who know how to use the tools!

[Supplying Dreams Around the World in Corrugated Paper]

This steam locomotive exhibit was the very embodiment of the
“Supplying Dreams Around the World in Corrugated Paper” concept
embraced by ISOWA, and awakened me to the new potential of the
corrugated paper that inspired me so much. The day may not be far
off when building with corrugated paper gains prominence, like the
snow festivals in Hokkaido, or the art museum at the sand dunes in Tottori.

We at ISOWA will keep searching for new possibilities
as we pursue our dreams.

———————————————————————-
Family Open House 2018
From President Isowa’s Blog, ISOWA DIARY
———————————————————————-

We had Family Open House 2018.

▼To read more about it, visit the below website
(President Isowa’s blog, ISOWA DIARY)
http://h-isowa.blogspot.jp/2018/04/family-open-house-2018.html

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