We asked Kagara Create Co., Ltd., who not only manufacture and process precision parts, but also conduct commissioned inspections, about what prompted them to introduce measuring instruments made by Tokyo Seimitsu and what their impressions are.
Kagara Create Co., Ltd.
Representative Director Kagara Create Co., Ltd. Mr. Shigeki Kagara
Group Manager Business Management and Quality Management Group Kagara Create Co., Ltd. Mr. Jyunji Sugiura
【Company Profile】
The company was founded as Kagara Wooden Pattern Co., Ltd. in 1973 in Hekinan City, Aichi Prefecture, and Kagara Create Co., Ltd. was established in 2002.
The company dealt with the design and production of wooden patterns.
After that, they expanded into the casting business and the cutting and processing business, and they have now implemented collective management of wooden pattern and high-precision sand casting, cutting and processing, and inspections.
They emphasize internal communication, and they continue to expand and develop the business with a corporate culture in which the staff unite to tackle anything without fear of failure.
Operation sites
3-11, Kasuga-machi, Hekinan, Aichi, Japan 447-0888
To begin with please tell us the details of your company’s business and its characteristics.
We mainly make elemental parts for cars, and among those 70% are prototypes and the remaining 30% are mass production parts and robot parts.
As well as wooden patterns, we also make sand castings, and we take pride in the pioneering nature of the quality of the surface texture and the high level of measurement precision achieved in the sand casting.
In addition, one of our characteristics is that we have many 5-axis machining centers in cutting and processing, so that we aim for short delivery times and high precision.
What were your reasons for deciding to introduce our measuring instruments?
We launched a cutting and processing department when we moved to a plant in our current location, and to guarantee product quality the introduction of a coordinate measuring machine and a shape measuring machine were required.
So, we conducted a comparison study of the equipment of two companies, including Tokyo Seimitsu. The other company’s machines were approachable, worker-friendly constructions regardless of the level of inspector, but compared to those, the Tokyo Seimitsu machines were passionate with slight peculiarities, while we felt they were highly scalable, so we decided to introduce them.
(The truth is that we genuinely wanted to feel it.)
You brought in the surface texture measuring instrument, the coordinate measuring machine, and the state-of-the-art X-ray CT system for us.
A major manufacturer’s designer uses a wealth of knowledge regarding the functions, etc., to design the parts. We conduct casting and cutting and processing including value engineering submissions, etc. So, with our responsibility as a manufacturer, we wanted to make proposals to our customers that secured reliability and safety.
For that reason we had considered the introduction of the X-ray CT system from several years earlier, but we did not quite make the step due to the high price.
However, to gain a good reputation with our customers, strengthening our product quality guarantee was absolutely necessary. And so, we took the plunge and introduced the METROTOM 1500 new model.
When we were considering the introduction, the new model had just been released, and we were advised that the old model might be easier to purchase both financially and from the delivery aspect, but we chose the new model unsurprisingly as we emphasized precision and the degree of disassembly.
We did not want to compromise.
This was partially pickiness, but also we appealed to our staff by not shipping any products that did not conform to the slogan “we measure what we make, and what we do not measure, we do not make.”
Tokyo Seimitsu also upholds a similar slogan, correct?
Yes. We feel an extreme sense of familiarity with your company on that point.
And when you actually used the ZEISS METROCOM 1500, how was it?
All our customers were impressed with the clarity of the photographic data. Everyone was surprised by the faithful reproduction of the product-specific shape.
Also, to be honest, we felt a change in the level of trust from our customers simply because we possessed equipment in a price range of equipment possessed by public institutions and major manufacturers.
Do you have any wishes, etc., regarding measuring instruments going forward?
I strongly feel that from now on jobs handling CAD data will increase rather than drawings.
Therefore, the challenge will be how the CAD data received are reflected in all the measuring instruments in the in-house inspection process. Whether there is a mechanism in which the inspection is completed within the measuring instrument alone, or, better I think, a set-up to output a comprehensive inspection report for multiple measuring instruments.
Do you have any expectations of Tokyo Seimitsu?
Even now Tokyo Seimitsu sales staff are always polite regarding inquiries, and never once speak in a bothered-sounding voice. I believe that the image of a company is created by each and every “person,” so I think this attitude is excellent.
Moreover, talking about further expectations, not surprisingly it is in the area of customer support.
For small and medium-sized enterprises like ours, the reality is that it is difficult to say “we can’t” in response to a customer request.
However, if a major manufacturer like Tokyo Seimitsu says “we can’t, we can’t measure that,” the customer will be satisfied. If we had that kind of support, then if it were not possible to make the measurement at our company, we could request Tokyo Seimitsu to consider whether or not the measurement is possible and to make the measurement for the customer, and such a proposal would also be possible.
By all means, I would be delighted if you could be a manufacturer that gave the user a sense of reliability due to Tokyo Seimitsu always being there to back us up.
The interview having ended, here are the impressions of Tokyo Seimitsu...
Pickiness about product quality and the flexibility to lend an ear to employee opinions I strongly felt that Kagara’s personality is reflected in the corporate culture in which they continue to take up the challenge without fear of failure. I believe that, rooted in the land of Hekinan and dedicated to making things, Kagara Create’s sincerity and deep expertise has supported their development until now.
In addition, I was very impressed by their statement that the image of a company is created by each and every “person.” Going forward, too, Tokyo Seimitsu will strive to answer the expectations of Kagara Create in the two aspects of product development and customer service.
Other User's Voice - Interview
