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One Team
Interview with Sumitomo Electric
Sumitomo Electric’s Mechatronics Products Department is taking on the global market with innovations such as NanoTune™ and SumiCloud™—achievements made possible through decades of expertise since the 1980s and cutting-edge technological capabilities. In design and development, the division uncovers customers’ latent challenges while constantly refining quality. In sales engineering, the focus lies on direct dialogue and hands-on product experience, while passing on accumulated knowledge to the next generation—driving global expansion. By working hand in hand with colleagues around the world, they embody the philosophy of “One World, Connected.”, striving to deliver value to more customers.
Takayanagi: I focus on two major areas of work. The first is the design and development of fusion splicers. Together with the sales engineering team, I identify customers’ pain points and consider daily how to resolve them, translating those needs into design.
The second is manufacturing. We prepare a broad product line-up to meet the diverse challenges faced by customers worldwide. Since we cannot predict when and what customers will want, we must always be ready to deliver the right products in a timely manner.
Our mission is to continuously deliver products that meet the high expectations known as “Sumitomo Electric quality.”
Iwai: My role centres on working closely with customers—helping them understand our products and ultimately guiding them towards purchasing. My mission is to collaborate with our sales team and partner distributors so that customers fully grasp the value of Sumitomo Electric fusion splicers and to ensure these products reach the end users.
Takayanagi: We are committed not only to solving the issues customers face in the field, but also to identifying latent problems and addressing them with technology. For example, fusion splicing does not always yield the same results under all conditions. Factors such as fibre condition, the splice environment, and pre-processing can affect the outcome. High splice loss can impact communication quality. To prevent such issues, we developed NanoTune™, which achieves extremely low splice loss of 0.00–0.01 dB.
Iwai: Our fusion splicers have a major strength that no competitor can match: the knowledge and technology accumulated since the 1980s. These machines are packed with expertise on how to achieve successful fusion splicing in the field, and they continue to be used as products that solve customers’ problems. Although our products are somewhat niche, we place great importance on how to communicate their value.
Our local sales staff thoroughly understand these strengths and communicate them to customers. By training more such people, we aim to deliver our products to even more customers.
Iwai: I believe the most important thing is for local sales staff, distributors, and customers to actually use our products. Once they do, I am confident they will recognise the quality and ease of use. It is also important for engineers themselves to visit the field and explain the products directly to customers. The combination of high-quality products and engineers who can communicate their value is essential.
Takayanagi: Our division manufactures thousands of units each month for export. What we value most is ensuring that all products are made with the same quality. As an assembly factory, we assemble products from over 500 parts purchased from partner companies. Minimising variation in parts and assembly is crucial to achieving high quality.
Iwai: Our products are professional tools that allow skilled users to fully demonstrate their abilities, but it is also important that even beginners can achieve high-quality splicing. We are committed to this point as well. Pursuing product quality so that our products can be used widely around the world is something we will continue to focus on.
Takayanagi: Exactly. When we consider that our products are delivered to customers around the world, with different languages and cultures, we must carefully consider the UI. Especially with advice from sales engineers and distributors, we are developing a high-quality UI unique to Sumitomo Electric.
Iwai: The happiest moment is when customers say, “Thanks to Sumitomo Electric’s fusion splicer, our work success rate has improved.” Hearing such feedback directly from customers and being able to share it with the production and development teams is a moment of great fulfilment for me.
Takayanagi: For design and development members as well, hearing such feedback directly from sales engineers or customers brings a great sense of achievement. Of course, there are many challenges to overcome, but the words of thanks we receive after solving them are incredibly rewarding.
Iwai: My vision is for more people around the world to use our products. To deliver high-quality products to untapped regions and business areas, I want to expand our global network and communicate the appeal of our fusion splicers.
Takayanagi: There are still many challenges and latent needs in development and design. I want to increase opportunities for direct dialogue with customers and pursue new possibilities. In this era of rapid technological innovation, we must actively incorporate the latest technologies and develop more user-friendly products that will delight customers worldwide.
Iwai: To that end, we hold events in Japan every year, gathering overseas sales staff and engineers to discuss product development. There, people from young to experienced discuss market trends and the global pace of development from various perspectives. By exchanging opinions across countries, regions, and generations, we believe better ideas are born.
Takayanagi: Currently, we have technologies such as NanoTune™ and SumiCloud™ that help customers avoid failure, but there is still room for improvement and further evolution is necessary. That is our current development theme.
Iwai: We are also planning to evolve our unique cloud features. Because they are convenient, we want to use the latest digital technologies to communicate their appeal and establish ways to connect with more people. Of course, information dissemination via websites and social media is part of this. At the same time, we must win against competitors. Balancing speed and stable quality is always a challenge, but I believe our strength lies in delivering better products faster.
Takayanagi: In design, development, and manufacturing, what I always keep in mind is to continue challenging ourselves. We must detect issues customers have not yet recognised, integrate the latest technologies, and shape them into solutions. By doing so, we deliver products that bring joy, contributing to society. That is why I want to continue to value the attitude of “continuing to challenge ourselves.”
Iwai: Many people are involved in our product development—workers in design and manufacturing, staff planning production, salespeople promoting our products in each country, and the many distributors who support us. All of these people ultimately connect with the customers who use our products. Through these connections, customers who empathise with our products and concepts are born. That, I believe, is our “One World, Connected.”
Hiroshi Takayanagi
Sumitomo Electric Optifrontier Co., Ltd.
Mechatronics Products Department General Manager
Keitaro Iwai
Sumitomo Electric Industries,LTD
Mechatronics Products Department General Manager
