AICHI METAL
Technology Case Study
One chance led to a visit to Tsubame City, Niigata Prefecture, where I was able to network with several companies that were commissioned to perform advanced machining work. It was mid-2020 when the first state of emergency was declared. Because these companies were taking on projects in fields such as semiconductors, robotics, and energy, the metal materials they handled and the processing machinery they used were of a different level. While we focused on the hands of craftsmen, the other side of the company's operations focused on the know-how of craftsmen. This is where we came across the term 4M management. This refers to how the 4Ms (Man, Machine, Material, and Method) are managed and linked to quality. In the semiconductor world, for example, once a process control method is determined, it cannot be changed, down to the people who process, the processing machines, and even the processing tools. The ultimate traceability at this point in time is required. However, this creates many contradictions for the management methods of small and medium-sized enterprises. It will be interesting to see how this point will be cleared up.
I'm talking about dreams
In the field of small and medium-sized enterprises, a variety of management know-how is utilized to generate profits. For example, the daily interactions are hectic and fluid, with machines, people, time, delivery schedules, and other factors being juggled on a case-by-case basis, with priority given to work that can be done with available machines, work that can only be done by skilled workers and work that cannot be done by skilled workers, overtime work in the morning, noon, and night, and delivery schedules moved forward to make time for new work, and so on. The exchange is just hectic and fluid. The more speedy this exchange becomes, the more leeway it creates, and leeway often translates directly into revenue. However, 4M management does not allow this. Then the earnings of small and medium-sized enterprises become difficult to control at once. On the other hand, however, the very act of being trained in 4M management has the potential to bring about a tremendous increase in corporate value. If earnings can be calculated based on the opposite exchange, the company's responsiveness, breadth, and level of expertise will clearly improve dramatically. However, there is no transitional period in 4M management, and when the time comes to place such an order, we have no choice but to do it. Now, in this context, I am thinking about what kind of interactions would be possible if it were AICHI METAL, for example.
essence
For example, we may be able to handle the "Man" part. Naturally, there is a difference in quality among craftsmen. In particular, when it comes to VeroMetal, one of our partners is a painting company that has won the No. 1 position in Japan, and only this company can provide the quality required. For example, when you order from us, all repeat orders are decided by such a company according to the quality you require, and the person in charge is fixed, so we can achieve more stable quality control. On the other hand, the difficulty may be Method. In the case of our company, since our products are essentially handmade, there are subtle differences if you look at the details, even if all the finishes look the same at first glance. It is almost impossible to create exactly the same irregularities, especially when the decorative treatment is used to create irregularities across the entire metal surface. There is no Method that creates exactly the same in the finish itself in these areas. It may seem that there is room for 4M management to handle each of them one by one, but it is already impossible to control all four of them perfectly. However, it is almost certain that this perspective will live on in our management and workflow updates. We would like to add it to our own know-how as we pursue it little by little.
