Ms. Yoshiko Tsuji, who is a President and Representative Director of Crossroad Capital Co., Ltd., and thus familiar with the high performance filtration device "FILSTAR" from Industria Thailand, has been supporting the company as an advisor for the Thai market.
This time at Samurai Factory, we have a chance to interview Mr. Iwasaki Goto and Ms. Yoshiko Tsuji. I will deliver the dialogue of Mr. Iwasaki who has been involved in the FILSTAR project and has faced and overcome many obstacles since the establishment of Industria Thailand.
Since working with Accenture Co., Ltd., and Deloitte Tohmatsu Consulting Co., Ltd., Ms. Tsuji had been engaged in consulting businesses related to the advancement of Japanese companies in Asia. In addition to being the Asian strategic advisor of a major company, she was a senior advisor for the overseas sales channel of infrastructure development organization for SME mainly in Hiroshima province. She has been involved in supporting small and medium enterprises in Asia. In September 2013, Ms. Tsuji became President and Representative Director of Crossroads Capital Co., Ltd.
In addition, She has been working extensively in Japan, Thailand and Asia, including serving as an advisor to General Motors corporation JEBDA, Airport Ground Power (Thailand) MD and Managing Director, Yokohama Corporate Management Support Foundation Yokohama Business Expert, Inc.
◆Samurai Factory: Nice to meet you. Thank you for your time today.
First of all, we are going to talk to Mrs. Tsuji about Industria. Please tell us how did you come to know about FILSTAR?
Ms. Tsuji: Hello and thank you.
I had a chance to meet Mr. Goto at the TPA * ¹ Economic and Technological Exchange event. Industria is a member of the TAMA Association * ² which is for excellent technology companies in the industrial area. Mr. Goto participated in the event and explained FILSTAR to me.
I extremely admired FILSTAR and though "I would like to introduce it into Thailand". At TPA, I remembered discussing with Mr. Goto about inviting Industria to Thailand.
Mr. Goto: After that, I came to Thailand at the same time as the establishment of Industria Thailand and was working closely with Ms. Tsuji. Then, she became our advisor.
◆Samurai Factory: What kind of impression did you have with FILSTAR that made you think it would be a success?
Ms. Tsuji: There were two things I felt it would make FILSTAR a possible success.
Before we received recommendations from experts on FILSTAR, it was extensively praised by the customers. In my opinion, I was convinced that it was a “really good product”. Its benefit, was enjoyed by our customers, and it was cost effective. We defined FILSTAR as a "support product". As a support product, "what kind of contribution you can make to customers" was very important.
Also, another one, Mr. Goto was so enthusiastic about the president (laugh).
The President of Industria head office, Mr. Hisashi Takahashi was so passionate about the products, and he wanted FILSTAR to be part of Thailand’s development.
I thought that I had a good opportunity to be part of a great thing and chase my dream at the same time.
Mr. Goto: Even if It is a lip service, I'm happy (laugh).
Ms. Tsuji: There were other episodes like this. When I did a FILSTAR demonstration for a client at their company, they were so surprised by the result. They kept asking me why.
Mr. Goto: At that time I told them that it was a “company secret”. However, I was pleased to hear everyone was wondering “Why?”
They had experiences with products similar to FILSTAR, but their effectiveness was limited.
In the case of other companies’ filters, the impurities could not be effectively recovered. Other products were likely to fail even if their running cost was zero. By the way, FILSTAR could remove impurity greater than 10 microns with 98% effectiveness.
Ms. Tsuji: Since there was a difference in effectiveness so far, FILSTAR could be recommended with confidence.
◆Samurai Factory: It was quite a story that demonstrated FILSTAR was obviously an excellent product.
What happened to Industria Thailand during their third year of operation in Thailand? We will talk about that next time.
*¹TPA(Taishi Economic and Technological Development Association)http://j.tpa.or.th/index.php
TPA, known as a non-profit organization established in 1973 with the aim of transferring and disseminating the latest technology and knowledge, and human resource development from Japan to Thailand, mainly from former Japanese international students and trainees, for the purpose of economic development in Thailand.
*²TAMA Association(Tokyo Metropolitan Industry Revitalization Association)http://www.tamaweb.or.jp/
There are many major factories of major companies, research institutes, and outstanding science and engineering universities from southwest Saitama Prefecture, which is one of the nation's largest industrial accumulation areas. The Tama area in Tokyo and the Central area of Kanagawa prefecture were established with the aim of developing these areas as the foundation of a new industrial creation and contributing to the sound development of the Japanese economy.
TAMA=Technology Advanced Metropolitan Area:refers to a technologically advanced metropolitan area
Office
Tel: +66(0)2-171-7680
Goto
Mobile: +66(0)98-847-3256
Email: goto@industria.co.th
Chompoo
Mobile: +66(0)98-252-3582
Emai: sales@industria.co.th