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>> History
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Chasing a grand dream in cutting tool manufacturing （1950～） |
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In March 1958, the late Mr.Kiyoshi Mori established a company in Nagoya
with a grand dream to develop excellent tool masters through cutting-tool
manufacturing and make Japan’s most precise cutting tool as Germany, in
the future.
That was the beginning of FUJISEIKO; “FUJI”, the highest mountain in Japan,
includes his strong will to become Japan’s No.1 tool manufacturer, and
“SEIKO” includes the meaning of “precise cutting tool”.
To realize this big dream, he has found sales outlet to auto industry in
which high growth was expected and process with a large quantity of cutting
tools was needed. In fact, Fuji Seiko started with only 13 employees, undertaking
cutting of carbide blade and making of simple brazed tools.
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C-max of foresight （1960～） |
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The first turning point was in 1969.
When Mr. Mori joined Europe and the United States inspectorate from JAPAN
CEMENTED CARBIDE TOOL MANUFACTURERS' ASSOCIATION and visited Ford transmission
factory, he encountered “Throwaway tools”, replaceable cutting edge tools.
That defined our future.
“Without skilled worker,
Easy-replaceable cutting tools are needed for mass-production of auto parts.
They will be needed in Japan in the future. ”
Based on the
idea, Mr. Mori shortened the trip and went back to Japan to establish
production system of throwaway tools immediately.
Then, he started
production and sales of “Throwaway cutters” as early as the following year.
Carbide alloy which is used on the top of the throwaway tools is expensive
metal composed of compressed and heat sintered tungsten powder.He had a
doubt about throwing them away after use, and focused on recycling them.He
ordered his staffs to develop recycled cutting tools by grinding used cutting
tools, and special holders for them. And that had lead to the birth of
“C-max grooving tools”.
As soon as “C-max grooving tools ” are released, they received attention,
in that having been successful as becoming standard in auto industry, and
taken the concept of recycle into business.This is our long-run product
that is providing the foundation of our company’s subsequent growth.
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Turn to domestic production of cutting tools and development of our technology
（1970～） |
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Even in the high wave of motorization in early 70s, machine tools for auto
engine parts like cylinder heads, blocks and crankshafts, were imported
from Germany and United States, and cutting tools were also. But the imported
specialized cutting tools were expensive and delivered uncertainly. So
(Thus) , Toyota Motors, our biggest customer, desired to turn them to domestic
product.
That was
the beginning of Toyota Motors’ Domestic Tool Manufacturing Project, and we had
practical role in the project. However, these imported cutting tools were
produced with skills of meisters, and producing them was a big challenge for
Japanese gauge manufacturers who have high level of technologies at that time.
To accommodate the needs
of Toyota Motor Corporation, who had produced automobiles only with domestic
technologies, we repeated the processes of production and cutting tests beginning
with benchmark of imported tools.
And then, after several
years of development efforts, we have completed domestic manufacturing of
imported cutting tools. And that defined us as the company who performs
difficult tasks.
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Based on this experience, we have produced epoch-making products such as easy replaceable “Quick Change Holders (QC Holders)”, easy-adjustable ”Fine-tuning tools” and “combined processing tools” which machine several processes at once.
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Expansion of business field / Decision to become a public company （1980～） |
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In the 1980s, we tried to expand our technology.
By adding jigs, gauges of work material, injection molds and prototype
auto parts to our line of products, we got ourselves out of a simple specialized
tool manufacturer.
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We have grown as
a special tool manufacturer with 2.8 billion in annual sales including 180
employees after 20 years in business.
But we faced
challenges of organization enhancement and securing of human resources. Since we
produced and sold special cutting tools to only limited industry, we were
little noted to the general public. Furthermore, it was a big disadvantage for
recruitment that we located our head office at Mikawa area, where many leading
companies were established.
“What should we do in order to attract capable human resources, and
enable them to take pride in their company?” The solution to this problem
we have arrived at was to become a listed company on stock market, aiming
to achieve name recognition to the general public. Thus, in October 1982,
we became a public company listed on the second section of Nagoya Stock
Exchange and generally recognized, and that had led us to the solution
of human material problems.
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For the customers all around the world （1990～） |
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Plaza Accord in the middle of 1980s brought depreciation of the yen against the dollar, and that pushed Japanese auto companies for overseas production.Under such circumstances, FUJISEIKO started to set up overseas subsidiaries in United States and Korea, under the policy of having production basis near major customers production plants.
In the 1990s, we accelerated this move and established
subsidiaries in Indonesia, China and Thailand. Having double duty as “customer
service center with local production” and “plants for FUJISEIKO products” from
the beginning, our subsidiaries have strengthened their abilities and grown to FUJISEIKO
group’s manufacturing facilities since 2000.
The 1990s was called the lost decade, however, we
gained much rather than lost. That means that we could plant the seeds for our
future business and commit to grow them in the meantime. After this period, our
company exceeded the original goal to becoming a No.1 special tools
manufacturer in Japan.
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Turn to tool coordinator from simple tool manufacture （2000～） |
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Japanese auto companies accelerated overseas operation in the late 1990s,
and that has created a new problem of personnel shortages. There are wide-ranging
works from setting up of production lines to inventory control after the
launch of production lines. And in understaffing situation, it was big
headache for automakers to deal with.
In 2000, recognizing these problems as customers’ needs, FUJISEIKO launched
its “FTE (Fuji Total Engineering) Business” that manages cutting tool related
works for customers.
Our only commitment to“ FTE Business” is to supply cutting tools from customers’ standpoint. We are aiming to be a cutting tool coordinator who devotes ourselves to supply the perfect tools to customers; we supply superior tools than ours, if any, and make the most suitable tools by ourselves if they are not to be found.The reason that FUJISEIKO today is called tool engineering company, not cutting tool maker, is due largely to this.
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