ISOWA NEWS LETTER

Vol.100 Efforts to Reduce Overtime

08/01/201707/28/2017ISOWALeave a comment

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ISOWA NEWS LETTER
2017/8 Vol.100
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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├　Efforts to Reduce Overtime
2├　Shooting for the World No. 1 Spot – ISOWA VISION STORY BOOK –
3├　Freshmen at ISOWA　from President Isowa’s Blog, ISOWA DIARY
─┴─────────────────────────────────

Hello everybody!

My name is Andre Fazzolari and I am the South American sales agent for Isowa America.
I feel like we have reached 100 issue of our Newsletter faster than any of
our flexos change orders.

It is amazing how we stop to think at remarkable numbers…
my mind either cannot escape from this remarkable number and it is difficult to
think about different topics for these opening words. Does the same thing happen
to you, like: a 25th anniversary, 1st century, etc.?
After days considering what to bring you, I surrender for the numbers and decided
to research about it.
Took a time to think what other 100’s were remarkable for me…
What we could do in 100 days, months, years?
Found we have been sharing our news thought our Newsletter for more than 8 years, we
successfully installed over 100 IBIS and Falcons combined (actually more than 140).
Also, found innumerous articles about: 100-day diets, 100-month money investments
all related to goals after 100’s.
I personally don’t have any goals based on 100’s, but on other measurements
methods, how about you?
I feel honored to join these opening words and hope to be
around for the next 100 issues…

And now, let’s turn to Vol. 100 of the ISOWA NEWS LETTER.
We hope you like this edition.

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Efforts to Reduce Overtime
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Hello everyone, I am Syunpei Inagaki from the Tokyo Domestic Sales Office.

Lately, it seems the topic of overtime is on the news a lot.

Here at ISOWA as well, we are making a company-wide efforts to face
the issue of overtime head-on, undertaking a variety of measures to reduce
overtime and improving to work efficiency.

Take a look at some of our previously published articles
regarding these efforts.

【ISOWA NEWS LETTER】Vol.69
https://isowaenglish.wordpress.com/2015/01/

The topic for this edition of the ISOWA NEWS LETTER is “No Overtime Day.”
Nowadays, this has become a company-wide effort, with every Wednesday as
the day everyone goes home on schedule. More and more companies designate
a single day of the week as the day everyone goes home on schedule, but for
many I imagine it is nothing more than a façade. To be honest, until recently
ISOWA was the same way…

Two years ago, when I was a new employee, there was no particular mood that
suggested we should leave on time, and I don’t think anyone was really
thinking about it.

But now, things are different. Every Wednesday, at the end of the workday,
most employees leave on time and enjoy their after-five time.
The reason why “No Overtime Day” managed to get established is because there was
a company-wide effort to confront overtime, and that made it happen..
Implementing No Overtime Day doesn’t just reduce overtime hours, but it also
connects to better productivity when everyone thinks about what they need to do
in order to go home on time.

In this issue, I’m going to go into more details about “No Overtime Day.”

◇　　　　　　　　◇　　　　　　　　◇
I. No Overtime Day Announcements

・E-mails Sent from the Union
Since last year, the union has been sending out announcements in order to
establish No Overtime Day at ISOWA. Every Wednesday, a person from the union
sends an e-mail out that informs everyone that it is No Overtime Day, and
encourages everyone to leave on time when the workday is done.
When these announcements began, it was often the e-mail that reminded me
that No Overtime Day was upon us…

・Company-wide Announcements
In addition to the e-mails, there is also a PA announcement made by company
staff directly before the end of the work day. A different employee makes
the announcement each time, and it’s fun to think about who will be making
the announcement on each day (ha ha).

・Billboard Installation
Every Wednesday, a billboard that says “Today is No Overtime Day” is
installed at the entrance of the company. People are made aware that it is
No Overtime Day directly before they begin work, and they are able to start
the morning making plans to get everything done so they can go home on time.

II. E-mail Announcements from Management

In addition to the e-mail announcements sent out from the union
as mentioned above, there are other e-mails that go out on
No Overtime Day. They are e-mails from our management. They simply encourage
everyone to leave the office on time, but each one has a very unique writing style and
I always enjoy reading them. If members of the management take the
initiatives and express their understanding, and take action to leave work
on time at the end of the day, then their subordinates will be able to
leave work on time as well without any guilty feelings. I think it is hard
to get a sense for this with my explanation alone, so I’ll introduce some of
the actual e-mails that are sent out!

■Corrugating Roll Section / Machining Department Mr. E

―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―
Today is Wednesday
―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―
(opening greeting redacted)

I think that most people know that I’m in in the Corrugating
Roll Section, but in fact, since this fiscal year I’m also a member of the
Machining Department.

I noticed a lot of things since I came to Machining department, and one was the
chronic overtime.
This was the backdrop for the start of “Wednesday No Overtime Day!”

At first, the Machining Department members didn’t want to go home.
In some ways they’re very serious and were speaking out about
“What about our delivery schedule?” and “What about our progress?”
That’s when we started making the rounds before the end of the day.
In the morning, we’d start saying, “put your machines on automatic
and go home on time,” and make our rounds on the floor while
putting on a bit of a scary face. The first time, we partly forced
them to shut it down (ha ha).

But now it’s well-established, and we decide which parts to machine
automatically at night, and take even more care to see
what those around us are up to.
(Honestly, that’s what I’m most happy about.)

(redacted)
As a side note, I’m currently on a business trip to Thailand.
(closing greeting redacted)

This was an e-mail message from Thailand! Even though there’s a time difference
between here and Thailand, he wrote an announcement for No Overtime Day…
This e-mail really shows how serious everyone is about this effort.
Also, as he said, what he’s “most happy about” has spread to the entire company,
where there’s a good pressure for everyone to care more about one another.

Here’s another example of a No Overtime Day e-mail…

■Tokyo Domestic Sales Section Mr. S

―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―
The phrase, “No Overtime Day” could become obsolete?
―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―
(opening greeting redacted)

Today is Wednesday. Yes, it’s No Overtime Day.

Personally, I feel like the phrase “No Overtime Day” is already
rather old. What I mean by this, is this idea of a “special day for not
doing overtime” should really change to “never do overtime” and
I think many people feel the same way…

I checked online and found that other people were thinking the same thing (ha ha).

“No Overtime Day is Behind the Times”
In an interview, the person in charge of a certain company told me,
“No Overtime Day itself is already behind the times.” We shouldn’t
choose one day of the week not to have overtime, but rather we should
leave the office on time every day. If we can continue to innovate
our way of working, and have more days each week where we don’t do
overtime, this could connect to more active consumerism.

Surely, surely.
I find myself thinking this time might come.

(closing greeting redacted)

―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―
These thoughts that go beyond No Overtime Day are sent out to the whole company,
and I think there were many employees who nodded and said, “surely, surely”
as well. I was one of them! This e-mail allowed me to have a perspective
that we won’t settle for just “No Overtime Day” and one day we’ll have
“Never Overtime.”

A slightly different point of view…

■Electrical Engineering Department Mr. O

―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―
How can we prevent heatstroke?
―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―

(opening greeting redacted)

Today is No Overtime Day.

For everyone who is observing the installation work over the mid-August
Obon holiday season, I think it is going to be very difficult, but
I hope you can cooperate at least in spirit.

I would like to address the topic of heatstroke for everyone
busy observing the installation work over the Mid-August Obon holiday
season…

This was in the news as well, but the number of people who
had to be taken away in an ambulance due to heatstroke reached
5500 to 7000 people in one week. A lot of people are developing
heatstroke and having to be taken to hospital.
(It’s an even harsher environment inside the factories of our customers.)

One way to prevent heatstroke is to drink water, but simply
drinking water can result in a salt deficiency, so sports drinks
are best… or so I believed.

However, the latest news (?) says that ume-kobu tea (kelp tea with plum)
or miso soup is better, or so I heard from someone.
This is because it contains less sugar, but allows consumption of necessary
minerals and salts all at once. This is just one example, but please consider
it as reference. (Please do your own research … I am really no expert,
sorry.)

The heat and exhaustion can rob us of our strength, make us get sick, and
cause us to be easily distracted… During these times, we must have even more
safety awareness than ever.

Focus your concentration when you work, and drink some water and
rest your body and mind when you take a break. Be sure to make a clear
distinction between the two.

Then, go home safely and in good health to your families.
Thank you.

―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―

This No Overtime Day message was sent out when the machine installations
were happening during the mid-August Obon holiday season, with thoughts
of the employees, and information that they may find useful. Some e-mails
are like this, like an interesting magazine article with information that fits the
season. It can sometimes be a perfect way to take a break (ha ha).

III. Employee Interview

How have the lifestyles of the employees changed as No Overtime Day has
gotten established? Here are some actual interviews with employees.

■Electrical Engineering Department Mr. M

◎ Time with Family
Since No Overtime Day has gotten established, I’ve been able to spend
more time with my wife. Shared awareness that we both go home on time on
Wednesdays has developed between us, and now every week we go out
for dinner, go shopping, or otherwise spend time out with just the two of us.
We just got married last year, so I’m happy that we can spend more time together.
We are not able to see each other much during large consecutive
holidays, so I hope we can compensate at least a little on weekdays.

■Tokyo Domestic Sales Section Mr. S

◎ My Own Personal Growth
I’ve always been interested in languages, and I wanted to go to a
language school to study. But it was hard for me to take weekday classes
and I never took the first step. Thanks to No Overtime Day, I revised my work,
I was able to leave work on time and attend class at a language school,
where I’m now able to spend time on something that interests me.
Now that I’m able to spend time doing something I like on a weekday, I am better
able to separate when I’m on and off work.
Through improving my work efficiency, I hope to go home earlier on other days,
not just on No Overtime Day, and spend more time doing things I like to do.

■Engineering Group Mr. Y

◎ Fulfilling Hobbies
No Overtime Day has gotten well-established, and I try even harder
than usual to prioritize my work and leave the office on time.
Every week I excitedly think about what I’ll do on Wednesday.
On Wednesdays after I finish work on time, I sometimes see friends who
aren’t always available on my days off and we do something together or
have drinks, or sometimes I have drinks with my colleagues, or I’ll try
cooking at home which is something I don’t usually do. Lately, I’ve
been thinking I want to (really I ought to) find a hobby like reading or
sports to fill my time. While I’m grateful about the No Overtime Day effort,
I’m dissatisfied with my current situation and I’d like to bring more value
to my work while also increasing the days I can go home on time, so I’m going
to keep working towards that.

Everyone seems to be enjoying their time after work in their own ways:
spending time with family, self-development, or socializing with friends.
For me, every Wednesday is “cooking at home day” and I make sure my kitchen
doesn’t fall into disuse.

◇　　　　　　　　◇　　　　　　　　◇

In these ways, the whole company has come together to achieve a fully
established No Overtime Day. Naturally, this is a result of the effort
each employee put into being aware of No Overtime Day, revising their
own work, and improving themselves. I feel as though we have gotten
one more step closer to achieving the philosophy of “Working to make us
and our families happy.” This effort began in earnest last year, and I
gained an understanding of the importance and significance of after-hours
time for employees. In this way, I want to work towards working more efficiently and reducing overtime, so that No Overtime Day becomes behind the times,
and it’s considered common sense (!!??) to go home on time.

———————————————————————-
Shooting for the World No. 1 Spot – ISOWA VISION STORY BOOK –
———————————————————————-

ISOWA forges ahead to become the company with the best corporate
culture in the world.
We have created the ISOWA VISION BOOK to introduce the success story
of ISOWA to people who do not know our company.
We will present the contents of the VISION BOOK.

Maintenance staff are supposed to fix machines,
but they should not to be limited to just that.

It is almost impossible to create an absolutely unbreakable machine.
That is more true for highly complicated machines such as Ibis. For cardboard box manufacturers, the jamming of production machines
means revenue stops flowing in. Any delay in the repair work may cause
great damage to a client’s faith in ISOWA.
Here is what Adachi has to say – he’s in charge of maintaining the machine’s
best working condition after the machine has been installed at the site.
(Tsuyoshi Adachi joined ISOWA in 2009.)

The most important tool for my job could be my cellphone.

“I have my cellphone with me all the time because there’s no telling
when my clients might call.” (Adachi)

He receives more than 10 calls on a busy day from clients, including
simple inquires. When he receives a repair request from a client,
he immediately prepares the necessary parts accordingly.
Then he hops in his car and drives to the client’s facility.
He tries to collect as much information as possible about the trouble
during the call with the client, although in many cases it’s not enough.(Adachi)

Some troubles can be fixed in a day, but some take a couple of days.
More than once I had to deal with a machine that just adamantly
refused to work. “It was in my first year, and everything I did went
wrong. The trouble seemed beyond my capability.
There was no part that seemed to be causing the trouble. I checked
everything, but there was no sign of it being fixed. Then by some fluke,
the machine started to move again, and then it soon stopped again.
Eventually it started outputting some finished products, which were
unfortunately all defective. I could barely hold myself together.” (Adachi)

Adachi is now capable enough to fix such problems easily, but only because he
has made numerous mistakes and gone through a lot of trial-and-error.
He solves problems according to his own way of thinking whenever
he’s assigned to a task all by himself. The spirit of “Let me do it” grew
stronger and firmer through such experiences.

As a maintenance staff-member, Adachi fixes troubled machines.
His job is like switching things from minus back to zero.
But Adachi tries to go from minus to plus. He visits his client not just
for the required repairs, but also to build the client’s trust.

———————————————————————-
Freshmen at ISOWA
From President Isowa’s Blog, ISOWA DIARY
———————————————————————-

As the new fiscal year has begun, we had 8 students join ISOWA.
When freshmen start working, they are provided with a personal helmet,
but theirs look a little different from others’.

▼To read more about it, visit the below website
(President Isowa’s blog, ISOWA DIARY)
http://h-isowa.blogspot.jp/2017/05/freshmen-at-isowa.html

Vol. 99 The expanding and linking of ISOWA – South-East Asia –

07/01/201706/23/2017ISOWALeave a comment

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ISOWA NEWS LETTER
2017/7 Vol. 99
———————————————————————

─┬─────────────────────────────────
1├　The expanding and linking of ISOWA – South-East Asia –
2├　Shooting for the World No. 1 Spot – ISOWA VISION STORY BOOK –
3├　New fiscal year has begun!　from President Isowa’s Blog, ISOWA DIARY
─┴─────────────────────────────────

You can’t call me a couch potato anymore

Hi everyone. I am Taka of the Export Department.
This time, I’d like to tell you about the potato chips problem that is engulfing Japan.
Potato chips have suddenly disappeared from the supermarket shelves!

The direct cause of the problem is the typhoon that hit Hokkaido in August last year.
Hokkaido is a large island of approximately 83,424 square kilometers that is blessed
with a great natural environment. As the number of overseas tourist have increased
considerably in recent years, it has attracted attention as a tourist destination and
is also adored by us Japanese. Hokkaido was hit by four typhoons in the space of
just over two weeks. Regional and government authorities estimate the total
damage bill for the four typhoons at around 278.6 billion yen, so you can see
the size of the impact.

The typhoons caused the potato crop to fail (Hokkaido potatoes provide 70%
of the ingredients for potato chips in Japan), which led to a collapse in
potato chip production at the two leading Japanese manufacturers and
a reduction or discontinuation in product sales (flavors) in April this year.
As a result, fans of potato chips rushed out to stock up on their favorite snacks,
causing them to disappear from supermarket shelves and leading to restrictions on
the quantity that can be purchased. Smart entrepreneurs took the opportunity to put
their potato chips up for sale on online auction sites. Products that normally cost
just 100 yen were snapped up at over 10,000 yen for a pack of ten.
Some discontinued flavors are said to have attracted prices of around 100,000 yen
for a dozen or so bags!

Determining price from supply and demand curves has long been taught in
basic economics classes at schools. But I never thought I’d see such a clear
example of it as this potato chips situation we are facing. To be honest,
it made me realize that what passes for everyday common sense is just a
product of the peaceful world we live in. Fortunately, thanks to the efforts
of the manufacturers, we no longer see shelves bare of potato chips in supermarkets.
But I often find myself standing in front of the product shelves wondering whether
I’ll ever be able to eat my favorite flavor of potato chips again. (There’s no way
I’m paying 100,000 yen!) I’ve been wondering whether to get rid of the couch or
the potato chips from my house but now the question seems to have answered itself.

And now, let’s turn to Vol. 99 of the ISOWA NEWS LETTER.
We hope you like this edition.

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The expanding and linking of ISOWA – South-East Asia –
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Falcon and Ibis flexo folder gluers are in operation around the world.
This time we’ll introduce the training conducted before a Falcon was shipped
to South-East Asia.

This was the first time that the customer who purchased this Falcon,
Company “O,” had introduced a fixed printing machine or high-technology machine
featuring a lot of electrical equipment. Company “O” had extremely high
expectations of the Falcon machine.

On the other hand, as it was their first large capital investment in new equipment,
they were anxious about the commissioning and daily operation after installation
and about the subsequent maintenance.
We sympathized with the customer’s concerns and offered them a one-week
intensive training course at ISOWA. Company “O” enthusiastically accepted the offer
and four of their staff members, including their vice-president, visited ISOWA
for one week.
ISOWA pulled together as a whole to provide meaningful training course content
for the customer’s staffs who had come such a long way to visit Japan, and
we offered several meetings with department heads and the staff members
who will visit the customer for the installation.

Let’s outline the actual details of the training provided.

Overview of the Falcon from the viewpoint of an operator using
a fixed-type flexo folder gluer for the first time
Showing the customer the status of production at our domestic factory
Safety training
Basic operation training, starting with turning the power supply on and off
Operation training with actual sheet feed to make Company “O” products
Operation and maintenance training to produce good products and
maintain quality

Series of training operations allowing the customer alone to produce
good products and perform troubleshooting

The most important point about this training is to touch an actual machine as
much as possible. We minimized one-way information flow in classroom situations
and maximized scenarios to allow hands-on learning by the staff of Company “O”
at our factory.
Also, we anticipated the future installation work and the people who would actually
work on site performed the training. Considering the language barrier,
we tried to provide even clearer and more courteous explanations than normal.

We present some interviews with our training staffs below.

Interview (1)The customer thinks that installing the Falcon will achieve more efficient
manufacture of good quality products with low levels of losses.
Based on this sentiment, what points were consciously considered for training?
→ Mr. W, Engineering Service Department
Of course, it’s important for the customer to grasp the basic methods of
operation but we focused more on joint accuracy, which significantly affects
the productivity and product quality. We first gathered in front of a Falcon
to explain each of the individual machine functions. We then explained the settings
and operations and how they change the sheet folding method while having
the customers actually feeding sheets through the machine.
We had to explain everything in English. As neither I nor the operator are
native English speakers, we took care to ensure that they understood everything
we had explained. Before the training, we prepared training materials full of
illustrations and photographs that were easy to understand visually.

Interview (2)
ISOWA’S motto is “ISOWA keeps you going – always on the go!” and we strive to
ensure that the customer’s production never stops. When the machine not only
incorporates a lot of leading-edge electrical control technologies but is also
delivered overseas, there must be some “what if?” questions…

→ Mr. M, Electrical Engineering Department
As Company “O” had already undergone training by a PLC manufacturer,
their staffs already had a certain level of knowledge. We intentionally created
scenarios where the machine did not operate and had the customer analyze
where the problem had occurred. The aim is for the customer to be able to quickly
identify the problem position from an electrical standpoint. Electrical problems are
often hard to discover visually. When facing a problem like “Why does it not work?”
or “something strange has been happening lately”, simply connecting a computer
makes it easy to diagnose:
a) if the mechanical movement of some parts is poor, or
b) if a sensor is malfunctioning.
This allows trouble prevention and early resolution.

→ Mr. O, Manufacturing Department
We also provided training on daily maintenance items to maintain the initial
accuracy and productivity for a long time after the machine is installed. It was most
important for me to see the customers’ smiling faces as they worked with an actual
Falcon machine and I was conscious of the proper methods of operation and
maintenance to ensure safety.
I am convinced that this training and accumulation of experience can
familiarize the customer with the maintenance and safe operation procedures
to prevent machine malfunctions before they occur.

This training that we provided to avoid interruptions in operation was
extremely well regarded by the customer. Some young ISOWA people proposed
a training menu to ensure uninterrupted operation by considering what is important
for a customer operating the machine overseas and they then undertook
the required preparations and training. They were warmly thanked and
praised by the broadly smiling customers on the final day of training.
We want even overseas customers at geographically remote locations to
be able to use ISOWA machines with confidence. ISOWA people strive hard
every day with this sentiment in their hearts.

If my division is no longer of any use, that would represent the ideal
future for Ibis.

Horiguchi used to be in charge of machine assembly in our own facility.
The assembly team was also responsible for installation and fine adjustments
at clients’ sites. When a new team was launched just to perform the fine
adjustments, Horiguchi was singled out to become a core member.
One of his first missions was to improve the skills of the entire team to
a high enough level so they could respond to specific needs from the clients.
For example, they often had to take into consideration the particular moisture
levels in the paper fed into the machine. These days, Horiguchi has been
compiling a set of know-how and editing a manual to assist in standardizing
his workers’ skills. “I was just picked out for no particular reason, I think,
not because my skill was higher than others.” (Horiguchi)

“Just nonsense (laughs). Fine-tuning skills cannot be acquired by
mediocre efforts, of course. He wouldn’t say that openly. Getting the
machine to perform at its best requires delicate adjustments down to
the millimeter.” (Suzuki)

“We used to provide training in adjustment skills just through lectures
by our veteran staff. We just relied on the expert individual’s hard-won
skills at each client’s site. But I want everyone in ISOWA to gain the
artisan-level skills. I’m trying to quantify every aspect of the skills,
so I’m putting together a manual to assist even inexperienced young
staff to perform these machine-adjustment tasks on their own at the
client’s site.” (Horiguchi)
Along with pursuing his mission, Horiguchi keeps his eyes firmly on the future.

“It is necessary to review the product’s whole structure every now and then.
It would be best if we could produce a machine that doesn’t need any on-site
adjustment. I want to work with people in development and the design
department to share the know-how we’ve been collecting in the area
of machine adjustment. Our ultimate goal is for this special adjustment team
one day to be completely unnecessary.” (Horiguchi)

———————————————————————-
New fiscal year has begun!
From President Isowa’s Blog, ISOWA DIARY
———————————————————————-

April came and the new fiscal year has just begun for us.
Last week, right before it started, we shared the yearly goals with the whole company.

▼To read more about it, visit the below website
(President Isowa’s blog, ISOWA DIARY)
http://h-isowa.blogspot.jp/2017/04/new-fiscal-year-has-begun.html

Vol. 98:Ever-evolving New Value for IBIS “Bad Luck Out, Good Luck In!”

06/01/201706/23/2017ISOWALeave a comment

———————————————————————
ISOWA NEWS LETTER
2017/6 Vol. 98
———————————————————————

─┬─────────────────────────────────
1├　Ever-evolving New Value for IBIS “Bad Luck Out, Good Luck In!”
2├　Shooting for the World No. 1 Spot – ISOWA VISION STORY BOOK –
3├　A Look Back at New Year Holiday Installations　　from President Isowa’s Blog, ISOWA DIARY
─┴─────────────────────────────────
Hi, I am Ryota Kitada of ISOWA AMERICA.

At the end of last year, I read news on the Web that
the Casino bill (Integrated Resort promotion bill) was passed in Japan,
and the other day I had a chance to visit Las Vegas, the home of casinos.

It was my first time in Las Vegas and I got to see the row of
luxurious and gorgeous hotels, including the Trump International Hotel™ Las Vegas
that is run by the current US President, Donald Trump.
Of course, I had to stay in a budget hotel but from the window I could see
the beautiful illuminated night view and the Ferris wheel at a hotel opposite.

There are a lot of free shows and other entertainment you can see
in Las Vegas but I didn’t get the chance this time.
Next time, I’ll be better organized and prepare some cash together
before I hit Las Vegas again in the conviction I’m about to hit the jackpot!

And now, let’s turn to Vol. 98 of the ISOWA NEWS LETTER.
We hope you like this edition.

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Ever-evolving New Value for IBIS “Bad Luck Out, Good Luck In!”
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Hello, everyone. I am Junji Suzuki of the Nagoya Domestic Sales Office.
I’d like to describe in more detail our “Edge Opener”
which we introduced at the Open House at ISOWA in December
last year and at a technical seminar on 28 January this year.
The Setsubun Festival is held on 3 February every year to
ward off evil spirits. People scatter dry beans and call out
“Oni wa soto, Fuku wa uchi” (Bad Luck Out, Good Luck In!).
I’ll clarify the analogy between the Edge Opener and “Oni wa soto,
Fuku wa uchi” below.
Firstly, the Edge Opener is a proprietary ISOWA mechanism
that significantly reduces fishtailing in deep boxes.
We have already outlined the Edge Opener in a variety of formats
but, for the sake of anyone who is not familiar with it, I’d like to give you a better
understanding of what type of mechanism it is and how effective it is.

This is the first time I’ve set myself the challenge of explaining
the Edge Opener in words alone. I hope you’ll stick with me to the end.

First of all, the “edge” is one of the parts that makes up the lower folding bar
of a flexo folder gluer machine. When manufacturing RSC cases, folds are made
from the second and fourth ruled lines from the glue margin in sides 1 and 4 of the panel.
The plated sheet that acts as the guide plate inside the case is the ” edge.”
This edge opens from the interior to exterior, hence the name “Edge Opener.”

In conventional folder-gluer machines, the edge was securely fixed
to the lower folding bar. Even the ISOWA flagship IBIS machines are like this and,
up to now, no Edge Opener has been installed in IBIS machines.

The Edge Opener was created together with a certain customer
who had installed an IBIS machine. This customer has a long-term, extremely
close relationship with us at ISOWA.

However, from the time the IBIS machine was delivered, the customer has been
consulting us about reducing fishtailing in deep boxes, which are one of the
major products of this customer.

In all FFG machines to date, including IBIS, fishtailing has been reduced by
increasing the folding belt speed while pressing with rollers from the outside
to restrict spreading of the case near the lower flaps.

Naturally, we tried this with the aforementioned customer first.

But, unfortunately, the result was that some rollers pressed too hard and left
indentations in the cases, so that only a certain amount of improvement could be
achieved. The operator had to glue the products manually to correct them before
dispatch. This goes totally against everything that ISOWA’s development concept “Human-Friendly and KIKAI*-Friendly” stands for.

The engineer handling the IBIS adjustments visited the customer on
almost a daily basis to resolve the situation. Through his attempted modifications,
he devised the following measures.

One day, the engineer had the insight that the cases could be corrected from
the inside instead of the outside, as suggested by the Setsubun chant of
“Bad Luck Out, Good Luck In!”

He proposed a mechanism that extends the case a few millimeters at the base of the
leading flap each time a case passes over the edge that is the key to shaping the inside
of the case. Installing this very mechanism achieved dramatic improvements.

For convenience, the engineer dubbed the new mechanism
“Edge Opener” and, out of respect for the engineer and the customer,
this was adopted as the device’s official name and the trademark has been registered
in Japan. The Edge Opener has been installed in all IBIS machines shipped
after we have acquired the trademark.
As well as the reduced fishtailing, cases that are correctly folded on the ruled
lines achieve more stable joint accuracy, and the mechanism has overturned the
existing idea that “large cases are highly problematic” which was prevalent throughout
the industry that ISOWA is in.

Naturally, creating the “Edge Opener” involved a lot of effort and cooperation
on the part of our customer. Thanks to the consideration of the customer in working
with ISOWA, we were able to create new progress and new value. All of us at
ISOWA are aware of this situation and are extremely grateful to that customer.

We plan to introduce the improvement effects of the “Edge Opener” to
everyone in other formats in the future. Please look out for them.
For your information, it is possible to retrofit the “Edge Opener” to
existing IBIS machines. Contact an ISOWA sales team for details.

ISOWA will continue to work with our customers to create developments that are
“Human-Friendly and KIKAI*-Friendly.”
(*KIKAI means both machine and opportunity in Japanese)

Thank you for reading.

A rash of machine troubles was occurring everywhere when I first started at ISOWA.
I was lucky to join ISOWA at such a challenging time (laughs).

Ibis was launched a while after I entered ISOWA. I often accompanied
my senior colleagues who were frequently called in to the customer’s factories.
What happened? Troubles frequently occurred with Ibis. Actually, I couldn’t help
wonder whether ISOWA would survive, but I was very fortunate to see my
experienced fellow workers fixing the machine in various situations.
I couldn’t have learned much if I was just doing the same routine work day
after day at an established company. Retrospectively, I can say I was privileged
to join ISOWA at that time. (Horiguchi)

“Ibis used to jam so often that I honestly felt discouraged about selling Ibis.
The more I sold, the more troublesome my duties became. But that hard
time really honed Ibis. The well-developed Ibis of today is a product
of those troublesome early times.” (Suzuki)

I could acquire valuable experience only because I visited the clients’ plants
so often. I picked up on our clients’ various off-the-cuff requests while I was
fixing the machine. So then we utilized that feedback in order to develop
improved models. The Ibis of today has hugely evolved from the original model,
with a wide variety of improvements. But still, even the latest model will
never be perfect, since the next Ibis is on the way that will surely surpass
the present one.

In ISOWA’s plant, everything changes day by day, even hour by hour.
When a completed machine is moved to a client’s site, a new assembly project
starts immediately. No two machines are same, so the staff can’t simply repeat their
routine work or get complacent.

———————————————————————-
A Look Back at New Year Holiday Installations
From President Isowa’s Blog, ISOWA DIARY
———————————————————————-

Hope 2017 has been treating you all well!
First of all, I apologize the update on my blog has been delayed.

▼To read more about it, visit the below website
(President Isowa’s blog, ISOWA DIARY)
http://h-isowa.blogspot.jp/2017/03/a-look-back-at-new-year-holiday.html

Vol.97:2016 SuperCorr Expo

05/01/201706/23/2017ISOWALeave a comment

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ISOWA NEWS LETTER
2017/5 Vol. 97
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─┬─────────────────────────────────
1├　2016 SuperCorr Expo
2├　Shooting for the World No. 1 Spot – ISOWA VISION STORY BOOK –
3├　Flowers will bloom　from President Isowa’s Blog, ISOWA DIARY
─┴─────────────────────────────────

I am Hiroki Mizuno of the Overseas Service Department.
After the April cherry blossom season is over, the period from the end of April
to early May is the famous Golden Week holiday in Japan.
Recently, the number of overseas visitors to Japan has been on the increase.
The weather during this season is especially pleasant, so why not come on over?

With all the news we hear every day, many peoples’ memories of
the Great East Japan Earthquake are fading but it’s now been six years
since the earthquake hit.
Many people remain unaccounted for and the people living around the
Fukushima nuclear power stations still can’t easily enter the area where
they were born and raised.

When I visit overseas clients, I no longer get questions about the
earthquake damage or the nuclear power plants, but that was a disaster
that should not be forgotten.

And now, let’s turn to Vol. 97 of the ISOWA NEWS LETTER.
We hope you like this edition.

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2016 SuperCorr Expo
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Do you know Orlando, Florida?
Orlando is located in the south-east of the U.S. and, thanks to its warm climate,
it hosts many theme parks including Disney World, Universal Studios,
and Sea World. It is one of the major tourist cities in the U.S. and
receives about 66 million visitors a year from around the world.

SuperCorr Expo is usually held in Atlanta but this time it was held in
the warm climate of Orland over four days from 17 to 20 October last year.

In addition to this American trade show is the world-famous SinoCorrugated
that is held in Shanghai once every two years. But if you visit SuperCorr Expo
expecting it to be like SinoCorrugated in Shanghai, you might find it
a little subdued. The American trade show isn’t as crowded as the one
in Shanghai and time passes more slowly. However, with exhibits
from about 330 manufacturers and suppliers and over 30 seminars,
there was a lot of great content there.

In this ISOWA NEWS LETTER we’ll introduce the ambience of
SuperCorr Expo 2016, along with the impressions of some
participating ISOWA people.

After passing through the entrance to the exhibition hall decorated
with typical Florida palm trees, you entered a large and bright interior
with rows of booths featuring various manufacturers.
The ISOWA booth was located in the center of the extensive space.
It had a simple construction and featured a picture of Mount Fuji
on the walls with the appeal: “MADE IN JAPAN”.
The ISOWA booth was visited by many existing customers not only
from the United States but also from Canada, South America, and Asia.
Thanks to our extensive track record of delivered machines,
many new customers also visited the ISOWA booth through word of
mouth, so it was a great success.

There were many other exhibiting manufacturers from Japan,
North America, and Europe, as well as Taiwan and China.
The Taiwanese and Chinese manufacturers had actual flexo folder
gluer machines on show, as they do at SinoCorrugated in Shanghai,
and they exhibited operation at a rate of 350 sheets per minute.

Here are the impressions that some ISOWA participants had
of SuperCorr Expo.

Mr. K, Finishing Equipment engineer

The scale of the venue and lineup of exhibitors was about the same as
four years ago but the Taiwanese and Chinese manufacturers took
larger booths than last time and I felt their enthusiasm for the
North American market. My overall impression was that all manufacturers
were concentrating on compact, high-speed FFGs and actively
promoting them, and I gathered that the demand for
small cartons is increasing.

Looking at the catalogs for flexo folder gluers from each manufacturer,
I found almost no difference between the specifications and felt it would be
very difficult for a customer to select a machine based on catalogs alone.
I don’t think a customer can truly understand the abilities of a machine
without seeing it in operation and its track record.
Eight other companies exhibited digital printing machines, each with
its own speed and specifications, and I felt the increase of digitalization
in the printing machine field.
I think that the Americans are very quick to introduce new things.

Mr. Y, corrugator engineer

Each manufacturer exercised a lot of ingenuity to release models differing
from their competitors.
Even the U.S. and European manufacturers had booths exhibiting single facers
and mill roll stands, and I felt that the corrugator field is vibrant. I was amazed
to see that some manufacturers even displayed some turnover type mill roll stands,
which we don’t see in Japan anymore. It seems that these manufacturers
sell the turnover type due to safety, space-saving, and cost considerations.

I saw many booths that were not taken by machine manufacturers but
by contractors, steam, air-conditioning, and chemical companies that do not
manufacture machines. The number of additive and chemical product booths
and products made me realize that the interest in and use of additives
and chemicals is greater in the United States than in Japan.

In addition to the booths, SuperCorr Expo offered many seminars and
panel discussions every day.
Some ISOWA members participated in several of the seminars and
panel discussions to gather information on United States and the industry.

Here are the impressions of an ISOWA person who participated in one.

Mr. O of the Export Department

There were so many seminars held that I couldn’t decide which one to attend.
In the end, I went to a panel discussion entitled “1500′ (450m) per minute Corrugators
– Why Not 2000′ (600m) per minute?” They discussed what is required to achieve
600 meter per minute corrugator speed, including paper, glue tension and
machine conditions. I learned that serious efforts are being made to achieve
600 meter per minute corrugator speed in the North American market
where order sizes are very large.
A bewildering array of many other sessions covered maintenance, glues,
and printing and I hope to attend more of them next time.

I hope you enjoyed these reports on the SuperCorr Expo 2016
trade show. Did you get some feeling of the atmosphere there?
The exhibition gave a good understanding of the latest machines
and technologies from all around the world and the trends in the market.
Because it’s only held once every four years, we’ll make the most of our
participation to continue to make good machines in the future.

The next SuperCorr Expo will be held from 14 to 17 September 2020.
If you attend, please drop into the ISOWA booth.

Ibis is so widely adjustable in its functionality that almost every client
may claim its own version.

“Ibis is a product that goes beyond the catalog sales method.” (Suzuki)
Sales reps for manufacturers may be regarded as simple salespeople,
but it’s totally a different story at ISOWA. Each of our customers
requires their own tailored Ibis matching the precise cardboard boxes
the client needs to produce, along with the size and layout of their factory.
Therefore, only a custom-made Ibis can fulfill the individual customer’s demand.

“We can’t work effectively without a close relationship with
our coworkers in every section and department. Engineering
staff are in charge of design and development. Other staff such as
Horiguchi tune and condition the machine, and then there is the
maintenance staff. We could scarcely satisfy our clients without
our fellow workers’ cooperation. As a sales staffer, I spend long
hours talking to my clients, but I spend no less time talking with
my own coworkers. (Suzuki)

I’m in charge of machine adjustments after installation at the
client’s plant. Cardboard boxes are subject to the nature of paper,
temperature and humidity in the plant, and it’s required for the
box-producing machine to be tuned carefully in order to deal with
such changeable surroundings. That explains why there are as many
versions of Ibis as clients. (Horiguchi)

There are many meeting places all over ISOWA’s factory in which
active discussions take place that span departments and divisions.
When sales staff make proposals to clients, they often incorporate
the views of engineering staff.

———————————————————————-
Flowers will bloom
From President Isowa’s Blog, ISOWA DIARY
———————————————————————-

One of the customers I visited in Thailand last week is staying in Japan this week for training on the machine they purchased.
He is still young but very eager to learn Japanese and our management style.

▼To read more about it, visit the below website
(President Isowa’s blog, ISOWA DIARY)
http://h-isowa.blogspot.jp/2016/08/flowers-will-bloom.html

Vol.96:Family Open House 2/2

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ISOWA NEWS LETTER
April 2017 Vol. 96
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─┬─────────────────────────────────
1├　Family Open House 2/2
2├　Shooting for the World No. 1 Spot – ISOWA VISION STORY BOOK –
3├　Behind the Successful Ones　from President Isowa’s Blog, ISOWA DIARY
─┴─────────────────────────────────

Hello, everyone. I am Yuto Aoki of ISOWA AMERICA.

A year has passed since I last wrote the foreword to the
ISOWA NEWS LETTER. The last time I shared that
I like the beautiful views from an airplane, but America
has lots of great scenery and magnificent views from the ground, too,
as well as from the air. To keep a record of these wonderful views,
I am now even more enthusiastic about photography, which has been
my hobby for several years.
There are many stunning vistas here in Arizona where I live,
including the Grand Canyon. I have recently been enjoying going out
aimlessly by myself to take photographs and experience the delights
of the natural world.
From this season, many Major League Baseball teams hold their
preseason spring training in Arizona. I’m no passionate baseball
supporter but I took my camera to target the Japanese players
belonging to Major League teams. Getting close to famous players
that I’d only ever seen on TV before, having them sign balls, and
of course taking loads of photographs, was a very exciting experience
for me!

Having a camera is fun but I keep finding lenses and other things
that I need. I’ll have to consult with my wallet as I continue to enjoy my
photography!

And now, let’s turn to Vol. 96 of the ISOWA NEWS LETTER.
We hope you like this edition.

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Family Open House 2/2
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Following on from last issue, I’ll continue to introduce
the Family Open House held in December last year.

In this issue, I will post some impressions from the participants.
From their comments packed with their personal feelings, I hope
to give you a sense of some exciting moments on the day.

[Mr. T of the Service Department]

I went along with my wife this time.
I can’t remember how many years it’s been since just the two of us
went out together.
My wife used to work at ISOWA and it was her first visit to the
company in a long time. She enjoyed seeing the factory
and the machines and meeting up with people she worked with
when she was a ISOWA person.
I think that my wife had a good time. But I struggled to get her
to appreciate the incredible 2-up production during the IBIS machine
paper run…

The families of many ISOWA people –– parents, spouses,
children, grandchildren –– who visited this time, as well as last time,
made me realize that we are supporting such a large number
of families. I would like to express my gratitude to the company
president, Mr. Isowa, and everyone else who organized this grand
event. Thank you!

[Mr. Y of the Sales Department]

I visited as a family of eight –– my parents, wife and four children.
The kids seemed to think that corrugated paper is printed one sheet
at a time, like woodblock prints, so they were amazed at the
rapid rate that the printed objects came out and how they
were folded. They were excited by the powerful sound that
they’d never heard before.

They seemed to have really enjoyed the novel experience of visiting
the factory and seeing such as the cranes being used in a process of
manufacturing corrugated paper machines.
They were full of questions. “How heavy is that machine?”
“What does that machine do?” “How long does it take to
make that?” “What machines did you sell, Dad?”
I was glad that they got a feel of the company where their
father works and I hope it made a good impression on them.

My parents were surprised by how bigger and cleaner the factory
has become, comparing to the previous Family Open House they visited.
They seemed to be pleased that the efforts of their son has been contributing
to it even in a small way. Through the comment of President Isowa,
that the company is supported by each staff members and their
families, my parents realized that their son has been providing the support to ISOWA
and the company has given him the chance to grow.

[Mr. A of the Sales Department]

I’d never attended a Family Open House before. But my four-year-old
and one-year old children are at an age when they find a lot of things
interesting, so I went along for the first time with my family.

My honest opinion about the day is that it was totally unlike the
stiff atmosphere I’d imagined. It was just like the kids who were visiting
a big park. “I want to play hide and seek” or “I want to play tag”,
they squealed with excitement. I couldn’t help smiling at such an idea
that would never come up from someone who normally works in the place.
The Inflatable Bouncer was their favorite play equipment
and, despite the cold weather, they took off their shirts and bounced excitedly.
I wanted to join them but I didn’t dare, not because I cared what
others think, but because of the scary look my wife gave me. (Laughs)
I normally have my days off on weekdays, so this was my first chance
in a long time to spend some time with my family. I really enjoyed
seeing the laughing faces of my colleagues that I don’t normally
get to see at work.

So, what do you think?
It was a great event for employees and families alike.
So why does ISOWA hold the Family Open House? It’s because
ISOWA people work so hard everyday thanks to their families
and for the love of their families.

The Family Open House provides an opportunity for the families, who
support us to see our work and get to know our colleagues.
It’s an event to turn the families into ISOWA fans.
It was a wonderful day that embodied “Human-Friendly and
KIKAI*-Friendly” and gave us the opportunity to express our thanks
to our families and ISOWA colleagues.
*KIKAI means both “Machine” and “Opportunity” in Japanese.

While expressing gratitude to our families, we’ll carry on working hard
to turn our customers into ISOWA fans, too.
Thanks for your continuing support.

To tell you the truth, at the beginning I was not enthusiastic to sell Ibis.

ISOWA’s sales reps consider that their job has just is just starting
when a client makes a purchase.
Why? All the delicate adjustments and fine tuning of the machine,
in accordance with the specifications of the individual cardboard box to make,
must start right there.
The sales rep will listen to the client’s detailed demands and help to shape
the client’s ideal working image of the machine. Other staff will
be in charge of installing the machine at the client’s plant and
tuning the machine precisely to the customer’s needs.
Here you can see how those two are involved in Ibis.

(Hiroaki Suzuki joined ISOWA in 2007; Daiki Horiguchi joined ISOWA in 2005.)

———————————————————————-
Behind the Successful Ones
From President Isowa’s Blog, ISOWA DIARY
———————————————————————-

We commended successful applicants for National Trade
Skill Test 2015 in a monthly morning assembly.

▼To read more about it, visit the below website
(President Isowa’s blog, ISOWA DIARY)
http://h-isowa.blogspot.jp/2016/03/behind-successful-ones.html

Vol.95:Family Open House 1/2

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ISOWA NEWS LETTER

March 2017 Vol. 95

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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 ISOWA NEWS LETTER will help you feel closer to us.

─┬─────────────────────────────────
1├　Family Open House 1/2

2├　Shooting for the World No. 1 Spot – ISOWA VISION STORY BOOK –

3├　New Plant Unveils　from President Isowa’s Blog, ISOWA DIARY

─┴─────────────────────────────────

How are you all?

I am Kozo Mizutani of ISOWA’s Export Department.

It’s still cold here in Japan but I can feel a few signs of spring in these days.

This time every year, university students in Japan start their job-hunting activities.

Although they won’t actually enter the company until April the following year, the normal procedure is that company information sessions are held over a year in advance, followed by applications, tests and interviews before unofficial offers are made around June.

Like most companies in Japan, ISOWA performs its recruitment activities around this time of year.

We recruit about 10 new employees every year, although the actual number is not fixed. We carefully select students who empathize with ISOWA’s corporate philosophy of “Creating a company with the best corporate culture in the world that makes us and our families happy”. It just happens that we get about 10 people.

As new employees emphasize with this philosophy, they do not readily move to other companies.

Even including female employees who left the company to marry and have children, only about 10% of our employees have quit in the past 10 years! I think this is thanks to their deep understanding of our corporate philosophy and their hard work to realize it.

Again this year, we are conducting recruitment activities to find students who will work for us for a long time.

ISOWA people who empathize with this philosophy and their families came together for a Family Open House at the ISOWA head office.

We’ll cover that over two issues.

And now, let’s turn to Vol. 95 of the ISOWA NEWS LETTER.

We hope you like this edition.

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Family Open House 1/2

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Hello, everyone. I am Nagisa Inui of the Osaka Domestic Sales Department.

On Saturday, December 10 last year, ISOWA held a Family Open House for the first time in about three years.

〇 Here are the thoughts of “K” of the Administration Department, one of the key members.

We are always ready to welcome guests to the company, including the new factory completed in March last year. After an appeal by our company president Isowa to invite employees’ families to express our gratitude to them, everyone at the company worked to make the Family Open House become a reality.

This time, the Administration Department oversaw planning, organizing, and running of the event.

As we had just one month to organize the event, right from the planning stage, we only considered what we imagined was realistically possible. As most of these are not what we are used to, we racked our brains about what we could do, how far we could take it, and when we could do it by.

We did some paper run demonstrations with an IBIS. We consulted with the people doing the paper run demonstrations but struggled to figure out how to show i-machines created by ISOWA people to the families of our staff members. On the day, we enjoyed some fun demonstrations with ad-lib from the people doing the demonstrations and a great reaction from all participants. I was so impressed with the amazement of everyone present at the machine’s speed and power after the children pressed the Feed Start button and with how happy the children were to get their hands on the fresh, new ISOWA original boxes afterwards.

I was happy with the smiling faces and squeals of delight of so many children and comments like “It was fun” and “Good job” from participating ISOWA people.
We were very concerned about safety because of the large number of small children participating.

Members of various departments outside the Administration Department considered and implemented safety measures and many ISOWA people volunteered to help out.

I was worried that many people wouldn’t attend as they were told about a month before the event that it would be held on a Saturday holiday. But I needn’t have worried because we were visited by over 450 staff members and their families from all sites around the country.

Some families even changed their important plans to attend.
Without such thoughtfulness, the Family Open House would not have been so successful.

I felt it was a typical “Human-Friendly and KIKAI*-Friendly” ISOWA event that was organized and enjoyed by all of ISOWA.

* As explained in a previous ISOWA NEWS LETTER, KIKAI means both “Machine” and “Opportunity” in Japanese.

〇 Now, let’s hear from “N” who won first prize in the bingo competition.

I think it was hard work organizing the Family Open House. But thanks to that, I had great fun on the day.
After watching the paper run demonstration, it was time for the bingo competition.

The first person who called “Bingo!” was awarded second prize and the great prize was cheered by the participants. More and more people called “Bingo!” as we continued playing, and finally it was my turn. I got the chance to enter the draw for a prize. When I pulled out my ticket and opened it, I did a double-take. I got first prize!

It was the first time in my life that I won a first prize at anything and I was really excited.

The week or so after that was quite terrifying, with comments like, “What will I get for Christmas?”, “Hey, it’s gift-giving season”, or “Our daughter needs a new bicycle”! (laughs)

Everyone told me how I should use the prize after I won at bingo, but I was so shocked I could hardly think straight and couldn’t reply.

We are expecting a child in the spring, so I want to use the prize for that child.

I’m so grateful. Thanks so much.

Continued next time…

———————————————————————-

Shooting for the World No. 1 Spot – ISOWA VISION STORY BOOK –
———————————————————————-

ISOWA forges ahead to become the company with the best corporate culture in the world.

We have created the ISOWA VISION BOOK to introduce the success story of ISOWA to people who do not know our company.

We will present the contents of the VISION BOOK in this column.

What we created was a new market rather than a new product.

ISOWA boldly assigns important tasks to younger staff. That is our policy because we recognize that we can only grow when staff work on their tasks in a proper environment. It is a big challenge that might not only change the future of ISOWA, but also of the entire industry. Therefore, we don’t mind going the extra mile through trial and error in pursuit of our goal of setting new industry standards.” (Kodama)

“We know that our ultimate goal is currently far out of reach. Thus, we are just inching forward to reach more attainable goals one at a time. The three of us make it a habit to go out for drinks whenever we reach one small yet crucial goal. I’m already looking forward to the next occasion, which I believe is just around the corner.” (Asano)

“I’d like to emphasize the spirit of ‘Let me do it’ as much as ‘Let’s do it together.’ I’m not just talking about us three, but all my fellow ISOWA workers. We can expect faster product development as much as higher quality in the products if we all cooperate with the sales staff, maintenance team members and all the others. You will witness all sorts of inter-divisional discussions taking place all over ISOWA.” (Miyashita)

When President Isowa first heard about the idea for Ibis, he thought it was a long shot. He doubted there was a market for such an ambitious product, but the passionate ‘Let us do it’ attitude of the engineering team eventually won over the president, and then the company as a whole. Maybe there really wasn’t a market need at that point, but Ibis aptly fulfilled the customers’ direct needs. It was an unheard of market that the project team had created rather than a new product. Now Ibis has become ISOWA’s signature product.

The design blueprint is drawn up based on the client’s needs, but it’s never enough just to fulfill the required production capacity and functionality. The drawing up of designs is just the start, but we must also anticipate and prepare for the client’s needs, such as when parts can be better supplied and assembled at the client’s site. In order to avoid bottlenecks, a deep understanding of various departments and sections is essential for ISOWA employees.

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New Plant Unveils

from President Isowa’s Blog, ISOWA DIARY

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The plant construction is well underway.

Let me show you some pictures from the end of the 2015.

▼To read more about it, visit the below website (President Isowa’s blog, ISOWA DIARY)

http://h-isowa.blogspot.jp/2016/02/new-plant-unveils.html

Vol.94:Factory Open Days 2/2

02/01/201702/24/2017ISOWALeave a comment

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ISOWA NEWS LETTER

February 2017 Vol. 94

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Hello! I am Sayumi Kousaka of the Export Department.

Has anyone heard of the Vermicular brand of cooking pots? They are cast-iron enamel cooking pots for waterless cooking that are manufactured and marketed by a casting manufacturer in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. They are so popular that you have to wait 10 months for one after ordering it!

I was given one of these cooking pots as a present recently. Up to then, I’d always used cheap and thin stainless-steel pots that would burn if I took my eyes off them for a second. This is the first time I’ve had the chance to cook with such a quality pot. After it arrived in December last year, I carefully read the instruction manual supplied, and I started cooking with it this year.

Unlike a stainless-steel pot, you need to take certain precautions with it. For example, it can’t be washed using the rough side of a dishwashing sponge and the unenameled areas have to be treated with cooking oil because they are sensitive to water. Also, the pot weighs 4 or 5 kg and is a bit heavy for a woman to carry.

After reading that, you might think I don’t like my new cooking pot very much. But, in truth, I love it! It reminds me how good it is to take care of things properly. It needs more time and effort than a normal pot and has to be handled carefully. I need to maintain it well because I want to use it for a long time. It may be just a cooking pot, but it is important to me because I was given it by someone special. I’m happy that I can now afford the feeling of enjoying quiet time while taking care of what is important. And I have realized that this doesn’t apply only to the cooking pot but to other things in my life and to the machines and products, too. In the same way, I hope that you will love the ISOWA machines just like the way I love my cooking pot.

But the important thing about a cooking pot is not the pot itself but the food that comes out of it. I am about to embark on a journey of study with my cooking pot until everyone can say that the flavor is … excellent!

See here for details about Vermicular cooking pots. (English only)

http://www.vermicular.com/

And now, let’s turn to Vol. 94 of the ISOWA NEWS LETTER.

We hope you like this edition.

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Factory Open Days 2/2

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Hello, everyone. I am Syunpei Inagaki of the Tokyo Domestic Sales Office. Following on from last time, I’d like to look back on the open days held at our new factory last year on December 8 and 9.

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Here are some comments we received from customers.

Variable Lead Edge

“The concept is flexible and wonderful, and the technical ability to realize that idea is amazing.”

“I think that high-precision and high-productivity machines still face many hurdles, but the technology shows promise.”

Edge Opening Device

“I think that it will contribute greatly to the productivity of our company that handles many tubular boxes.”

“It will improve some issues facing the industry.”

“It is revolutionary and will lead to quality improvements.”

“We have installed one and know how effective it is.”

“I’d like one because I have problems with fishtailing.”

“It looks like it will cut losses.”

Batch Separator

“We have improved productivity by using many people for batch separation. We’re grateful that automation relieved the burden on the operator.”

“I like the machine-friendly concept.”

We got many favorable comments like those above.

However, these evaluations include expectations for the future as well as the current situation.
We want to carry the words “ISOWA keeps you going –– always on the go!” into the future. To ensure that we don’t fail to meet this expectation, everyone at the company will aim for customer satisfaction.

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Impressions of planning members

The following are the impressions of the people who planned and ran these factory open days after the events finished successfully.

Mr. J. S., Project Leader, Nagoya Domestic Sales Office

First of all, I’m just relieved that it finished safely. We intended to create an event that imparted the concept of “Human-Friendly and KIKAI*-Friendly”. How did we do? The factory open days took place through the support of many ISOWA colleagues from the planning and preparation stages and it was visited by numerous customers and suppliers. I am extremely grateful to all the ISOWA people who provided support and to the customers and suppliers who paid a visit. Thank you very much!

* As explained in ISOWA NEWS LETTER Vol. 93, KIKAI means both “Machine” and “Opportunity” in Japanese.

Mr. H. S., Tokyo Domestic Sales Office

I was so pleased with the large number of customers who visited and with their words of praise. Even in my day-to-day activities, I hope to continue my efforts and measures to give the customer an even greater sense of “Worthy of ISOWA”, through the concept of “Human-Friendly and KIKAI-Friendly”. I am grateful to everyone.

Mr. N. H., Osaka Domestic Sales Office

I want to thank everyone for taking time to visit us at the busy year end. I would be happy if our efforts gave everyone a sense of the concept of “Worthy of ISOWA” = “Human-Friendly and KIKAI-Friendly”. I’ll continue to devote myself to informing everyone about the meaning of “Worthy of ISOWA”. Finally, I’d like to express my gratitude to all the ISOWA people who helped with the open days.

Mr. Y. T., Nagoya Domestic Sales Office

This was my first time organizing a major event like the factory open days and it was a great experience for me. I can’t tell you how happy I felt to see customers observing our machines and to hear their complimentary comments in the event space that I created with my ISOWA colleagues. I’d be delighted if they could grasp the concept of “Human-Friendly and KIKAI-Friendly”. Thank you all for coming!

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The factory open days showed off the overall technical expertise of ISOWA. Thanks to everyone, the curtain came down after a very successful event visited by more than 200 customers from 100 companies over two days. I believe it was a good opportunity for everyone to know the ISOWA of today and the ISOWA of tomorrow. You can expect great things from the ever-evolving (new value added) IBIS and from ISOWA into the future.

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Shooting for the World No. 1 Spot – ISOWA VISION STORY BOOK –
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ISOWA forges ahead to become the company with the best corporate culture in the world.

We have created the ISOWA VISION BOOK to introduce the success story of ISOWA to people who do not know our company.

We will present the contents of the VISION BOOK in this column.

We are grateful for positive comments from our clients such as this one: “ISOWA is dependable for its quick response.” But this kind of thing is also a bit regrettable.

Numerous trials finally enabled us to create our new product, Ibis, that can produce a wide range of box sizes both small and large. Ibis would eventually become our breakthrough invention thanks to its speedy production of boxes in a wider range of sizes. However, because it is such a complicated machine, Ibis was inevitably prone to suffer various troubles at first. It was rather common for us to get reports of trouble from our clients soon after Ibis was installed.

“It is true that the faster the machine works, the greater its value. But it is also true if we just focus on speedy production, then the machine is prone to troubles such as jamming and breaking down. At first, our engineers stayed at our clients’ plants to adjust Ibis’ operating speed to its optimal level. It was as if we and our clients were working together to develop the newborn Ibis to reach to its full potential.” (Kodama)

“It’s one of ISOWA’s essentials to send our engineers to the client’s site very often. Therefore, we often receive compliments from clients such as this one: “We feel assured as ISOWA responds quickly and sends their staff immediately.” ISOWA believes such quick service is an additional value for our machines. (Miyashita) *

Kodama argues that we can’t be complacent in that level of accomplishment. “Client calls often mean a machine is having trouble. Needless to say, our quick and efficient support is important, but our ultimate goal should be to produce a perfectly trouble-free machine.” (Kodama)

* Shunsuke Miyashita came to ISOWA in 2013.

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Construction Kicks Into High Gear

from President Isowa’s Blog, ISOWA DIARY

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Our New Plant Project has gotten into one of the most important phases in the whole construction process, “concrete placing”.

▼To read more about it, visit the below website (President Isowa’s blog, ISOWA DIARY)

http://h-isowa.blogspot.jp/2015/12/construction-kicks-into-high-gear.html