Boost Japanese manufacturing with Kawatatec’s technological strengths.

I’ve been here for 12 years, and I’m currently working in sales.

Right after I joined the company, I was using a horizontal lathe to process chuck parts, and then for the next two or three years I was using a vertical lathe. The parts I processed ranged in size from about 30mm in diameter to 2000mm.

After that, I worked in sales for about five or six years.

Basically, my job is to listen to customers’ problems and propose solutions and products. I also prepare product estimates.

There are many cases where the product in the catalog is not enough to solve the problem, such as when you want to grip something extremely heavy.

Also, with a large chuck like Kawatatec’s, there are grooves to make it easier to discharge chips (the waste material that is generated when cutting), holes for attaching fixtures, and various other options, so we often receive requests for “while you’re at it, can you add this function too?”.

 I didn’t really have a particular focus, but I was more of a humanities student.

This is more of a personality thing than an experience, but I’m not very good at dealing with people.

Yes, but if you want to put it nicely, I’d say I’m very sensitive, and because I have trouble with interpersonal relationships, I think I can understand my customers’ problems well. In a way, I think this personality is what allows me to do my job in sales, even though I’m not very good at it.

When we receive a request from a customer that is quite difficult to meet, we are able to satisfy the customer by finding a solution.

Specifically, this means requests that require a high level of precision or are difficult to process.

We work with the customer to confirm each point, such as whether it is difficult to achieve the required precision for a product of this size or whether the required precision cannot be guaranteed for this specification or these conditions, and then propose a solution and manufacture the product.

There are things we can and can’t propose, and while it may be possible to do them if we put in the appropriate amount of effort, it’s a tough job to make proposals to customers based on this kind of line-drawing, such as whether it’s really worth making something to that extent, but when the customer is satisfied, I think to myself, “I’m so glad I did it!”.

As a result, it sometimes leads to orders for subsequent machines, which makes me very happy.

I also find it rewarding to be involved in the whole process from start to finish until the product is delivered to the customer over a long period of time.

Of the companies that I was accepted for after the initial screening, Kawatatec was the first to give me a positive response.

Also, I’m weak in the mornings, so the fact that I could commute to work in less than 30 minutes from home suited me.

Furthermore, at the time I joined the company, the average length of employment was longer than at other companies, so I thought that the company had a stable working environment.

Even if you join the company with no experience or knowledge of machining, you can be taught simple machining processes at your own pace, so I think it’s a company where it’s easy to study.

Machining using machine tools such as lathes and machining centers may be something that students are not familiar with, but it’s actually quite interesting.

The machine moves exactly as you tell it to, and the hard metal is smoothly shaved by the tool.When I first encountered machine tools, I became absorbed in learning how to program and operate them. Even if they are the same machine, each one has its own little personality, and you grow attached to them when you do maintenance (lol).

Also, at Kawatatec, where we take orders for one-off products, we often receive orders for products that are difficult to process.

When we can process them well, it’s fun, and it feels rewarding, which is unique to Kawatatec.

In terms of human relations, I receive the products that the people in the previous process have thoughtfully created, and I improve the products further with my own ideas. Then I pass them on to the people in the next process. This collaboration is very fun.

Kawatatec has a lot of processing equipment. I think that we are a manufacturer that possesses equipment that other companies are unable to introduce due to budget constraints.

Unlike general-purpose machine tools, which are used by the operator who is always nearby, the latest CNC machining centers and multi-tasking machines can continue to process automatically even at night after work, as long as the program is accurate.

On the other hand, there is a certain risk with NC machines because they will operate as programmed even if the wrong program is input. However, there are also advantages such as being able to perform higher-level processing than before and increasing work efficiency. I was happy to be able to use machines that are difficult to operate at the company because it made me feel trusted as an engineer.

Yes. Compared to the past, there has been a lot of progress in terms of automation and labor-saving, and the work has become more advanced, but the factories and the people have evolved accordingly.

The employees get along well. But it’s not just that they get along well, people also understand boundaries, and they watch out for each other and everyone does their jobs right.

The future… I think that the present is the future, but I want to spend each day without incident and in safety.

If I were to be a little more specific, I would like to use Kawatatec’s technical capabilities to help boost Japanese technology and manufacturing.

There are many more amazing engineers and craftsmen in Japan than us, and they are supporting Japanese manufacturing.

In order to help these engineers and craftsmen across the country, Kawatatec’s products, which accurately grip materials and are compatible with users and machines, are sure to be needed, so I would like to deliver Kawatatec’s products to as many people as possible through my work.

Some people may have the impression that the application screening process and interviews are difficult, but I think that companies that take the time to carefully screen applicants are the ones that are really serious about finding the right person for the job.

Of all the companies I applied to, Kawatatec seemed to be the most serious about finding the right person for the job. So, I would like to encourage students not to be afraid of the application and screening processes, and to take part in information sessions without being too formal.