Our Corporate Communications staff spend time getting to know Sumitomo Corporation's different business sites around the world, reporting on how the people at those sites work. We will keep you up to date with the world of Sumitomo Corporation, which extends to every corner of the globe.
Katsuhiko Onishi,
Mass Media Relations Team and Publications Team, Corporate Communications Department
Upon joining the company in 2007, Onishi was assigned to the Corporate Communications Department. He is now in charge of Mass Media Relations related to infrastructure and is responsible for creating and maintaining the "SC WORKMATES", one of the contents of this website. He has recently become obsessed with all things Italian and describes himself, somewhat cryptically, as "a poor nose breather."
Industrial park development
Simply put, industrial park development involves providing "overall support for manufacturers pursuing stable factory development and operations." The park offers plots, introduce construction companies and provide power, industrial water and other infrastructure necessary for factory operation. The team also provides services to ensure the safety, security and comfort of tenant companies and their workers, such as conducting security measures within the park, maintaining communal roads, improving the communications environment, among others.
PT. SUMITRONICS INDONESIA
An electronics component provider that has an office and bonded warehouse within EJIP. It provides parts and assembled printed circuit boards to electronics manufacturers.
EMS
An abbreviation of Electronics Manufacturing Service, meaning commissioned production of printed circuit boards.
PT. SMT-Indonesia
A joint venture sponsored by Sumitronics Indonesia, Nippon SMT Co., Ltd., and others that engages in EMS.
SGL Indonesia (Official name: PT. Sumisho Global Logistics Indonesia)
An operating company that engages in local logistics, export and import. It mainly imports, exports and transports automotive, electronic and electric products.
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Support through precision and conscience
Along with the infrastructure support for factory operations described above, our group companies based at the park also provide parts procurement and product transportation services.
The factories' operating rates peak during July to October as electronics manufacturers increase production for the year-end shopping season. I visited EJIP in July, when the wheels of production were just starting to turn a little faster.
PT. SMT-Indonesia offers a laboratory course at a nearby engineering high school aiming at securing future employees.
PT. Sumitronics Indonesia provides just-in-time delivery of electronic circuit boards for electronic devices and other manufacturers. Mr. Watanabe of Sumitronics Indonesia explained the importance of the human resources factor. "We need people with accuracy, endurance and experience in order to control inventory of more than 3,000 large and small items and to produce and provide the correct volume of products every two hours according to our customers’ production operation status," he said, indicating the kind of difficult challenges to be overcome in maintaining business operations.
A device that enables the "visualization" of static electricity. By making static electricity, one of the great enemies of precision equipment, visible, it reminds employees to handle products carefully.
I also visited PT. SMT-Indonesia, a company that partners with Sumitronics Indonesia to produce electronic circuit boards. It has established a production environment in which they can respond to both the installation of mass production models and small customized models, paying close attention to quality control and traceability management.
What surprised me the most was the way they responded to problems. To secure timely information sharing in case of product malfunctions or problems in production lines, they have introduced a system to contact everyone concerned, including the customer, via cell-phone e-mail. As President Koganeya emphasized, "The important thing is to never hide anything nor lie to the customers." Through these kinds of efforts, Sumitronics and its partner have achieved the position of the largest electronics trading company in Indonesia.
Support through teamwork
SGL Indonesia has its head office within EJIP and two warehouses in other area. The company has also been making efforts to provide unique services that go far beyond those offered by traditional transportation companies.
One example of this is their in-house workshop for making original racks and carts customized according to different product features. They got the idea for doing this while trying to figure out the best storage and transportation methods for products that come in a variety of shapes.
All employees of about 380 including the president warms up every morning before the work.
Other efforts of SGL Indonesia include morning warm-up routines introduced in June 2008, which provide an opportunity for each team to meet up before work. "The atmosphere has been gradually changing since I came here as a president," says President Fukuda of SGL Indonesia, who believes that the sharing of daily schedules and action plans has improved operational efficiency. Employees all get together and start work at a regular time every day, something President Fukuda says draws "a clear line between their on-duty and off-duty hours" and has contributed to improving efficiency. Recent other various events, including interdivisional futsal games, seem to have additionally instilled employees with a stronger sense of unity.
According to Fukuda, "In the future, I hope to establish a system in which local staff can operate the company by themselves."
President Fukuda, with an eye to the future, has identified another issue: "Not many local employees have risen to level of the management yet. It's essential to secure young personnel with outstanding capabilities and to improve the management and language skills of managers."
What they are doing here is more than just trading or making a short-term investment. As a trading company, they are doing business in such a way as to contribute to the sustainable development of society, which I saw abundant evidence of during my visit.
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