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Forewold
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IV,Potential for promoting the prototyping industry
Group of Small Businesses of Cooperative Contractors
East Osaka (Rodan 21)
| Outline
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- Established: 1998; Incorporated: 2001
Motive: When the city implemented a plan to streamline its finances, 21 companies established the group.
- Office: Core companies rotate the function.
- Operation: Joint development of requested development projects
- 21 corporate investors. Capital: \12.3M
- 3 officers and 14 operating committee members (shareholders)
- Member-[customers?] of 160 companies (list of names not disclosed)
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| Research Results by phone call
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Outline of the system to get orders
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- Small companies are satisfied with "making things." Rodan 21 takes care of marketing, planning and business development support. gMargin revenues on planning and business developmenth are the main cash
source for Rodan 21, Inc.
- "Rodan Brand" merchandise is made by other companies and sold with "Rodan's name" by this
group.
- This group is only accepting orders for "prototypes" that have "elements of a developmental phase" or "something that no one else can make." The sales
point is "technology." "Making profits is not our purpose. Simple sub-contracting only falls into price competition, and 'Referral to others'is not offered. It's not our business."
- The business to coordinate with governments is a simple "introduction business." The coordinator has only his career to sell. Whatfs really needed is "straight coordination." At Rodan the coordinators (7
officers and volunteers) assign consultation work for each contract.
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| Results & Outlook
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- The price of "parts sub-contracting" is low. "Collaboration" is never more than a joint contract for "subcontracting." So, the group is shifting to the "alliance" type.
- Large companies are getting interested in "alliance with Rodan 21."
- A nationwide group like us should form an alliance with a "face." Instead of competing among the groups, we would like to revive the slogan, "Made in Japan."
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| Observations
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- These groups are getting attention as small business groups in the Kinki zone, where many town factories operate.
- While the expectation of government assistance is high, in reality they are striving on the basis of "private sector."
- Instead of seeking "joint contracts" like simple sub-contracting, they want to be the players in the field of "joint development," including "prototyping," and are shifting toward alliance-type contracts.
- There is a "wisdom from experience" that "companies making prototypes are making profits."
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Kobe (adhoc Kobe)
| Outline
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- Established in 1999, became an LLC in 2001.
- Motive: 48 companies formed this group on the base of Small Entrepreneurs Assn.
- Office: Office of the Hyogo Prefecture Small Entrepreneurs Assn.
- Operation: Joint development of requested development projects
- Started with 30 companies; now 38 companies are members.
- Must first become a member of the SEA to join this group.
- Capital: \200,000 x 25 companies = \5 M.
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| Research Results by phone call
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Outline of the system to get orders
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- "Joint Development" is handled by the voluntary, adhoc group Kobe. In the development phase the investment is not substantial. So, "whoever can handle it" will take charge of it.
- The success case of "joint contract" was "separate packaging machine for medicine." Four companies received orders for 10 units per month. Next year, this production is expected to increase to 20 units.
- More than half of the orders are based on past experience. There are direct benefits of "side orders." There are several contractors that are gignored," but they cannot help it since the clients consider that "performance is important."
- The constraints of "delivery" and "cost" are getting tougher, but we are not accepting joint orders for "cheap work." Currently our policy is "not to accept joint orders."
- Prototyping contractors are making profits. One company has set up a machining center of 50,000 RPM to make prototypes, and is getting many orders.
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| Results & Outlook
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- Thanks to good performance and name recognition, the core members are getting lots of jobs. They can negotiate better because they've grown this much on their own.
- Now, they are shifting to "joint development." Three teams are working on "sterilization device to prevent infection in hospitals," "zero wet garbage system," and "new cleaning system."
- Four or five companies are assigned to "joint development." Since "they work on it for the first time," they naturally cannot make profits but they are surely improving their technology skills.
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| Observations
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- These groups are getting attention as small business groups in the Kinki zone, where many town factories operate.
- While the expectation of government assistance is high, in reality they are striving on the basis of "private sector."
- Instead of seeking "joint contracts" like simple sub-contracting, they want to be the players in the field of "joint development," including "prototyping," and are shifting toward alliance-type contracts.
- There is a "wisdom from experience" that "companies making prototypes are making profits."
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Shimo Suwa (World's Fastest Prototyping Center)
| Outline
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- A group of companies with proprietary technologies located along the Central Highway in Nagano and Yamanashi Prefectures are trying to form a contract service industry, under the slogan of the world's
fastest company from prototyping to mass production.
- From August 2002, this group conducted "A feasibility study of the concept of the world's fastest prototyping center" to study the plan of realization.
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| Research Results by phone call
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Outline of the system to get orders
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- To realize the concept, the 8 participating companies set up the building preparation committee in August 2003.
- The center will specialize in micro processing on which the participants have accumulated
technologies, and focus on the development of the super device.
- The group will aim for receiving unit-type orders by combining modules.
- Along with receiving orders from the R&D and prototyping phases, the group will go after orders for mass production.
- The objectives of the participating companies are to cultivate the new field that they entered and the technologies. Therefore, the group will start working with grasping their needs.
- To implement the plan, the executive leader and the technical coordinator made a large contribution. The group is planning to operate the company to be established with the same two people in the center.
- In the start-up stage, this company will receive a public financial assistance for a part of the coordinator's payroll expense, which will end in 3 years.
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| Results & Outlook
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- In April 2004, 8 manufacturers and 2 local banks in Suwa Area are planning to establish World's Fastest Prototyping Center, Inc. with capital of \20 million.
- Planned sales are \50 M in the first year and \200 M in the second year.
- Coordinators are visiting and cultivating prospective clients. There is one prospect now.
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| Observations
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- This is a consortium of relatively large mid-size companies, so the expectation of government
assistance is low.
- Their main target is to find new clients in R&D divisions of large companies by focusing on "Micro Processing," which is the common strength of the group companies. "Prototyping" is only a topical objective.
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Area with many small manufacturers
Ota Ward, TokyoiOta-ku Industry Promotion Foundationj
| Outline
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- The number of factories decreased from 9,000 to 3,000 over the past 15 years.
- This is a town of small works, with about 80% of them employing eight people or less, and about 50% with three employees or less.
- Many factories here specialize in one of the technologies in forming, cutting or pressing sheet metal.
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| Research Results by phone call
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Outline of the system to get orders
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- Prototyping orders received: About 1.5% of the total orders received. Clients are the R&D divisions of large and medium-size companies in different fields.
- Generally, the group has abandoned mass production.
- Approximately 24.8% of the 3,500 companies registered in the foundation's database have switched to development-type companies from sub-contracting companies.
- In the same database, approximately 87 companies are registered as "prototyping" companies.
- Key support for small companies toward development: 1,Contests for new products and new
technologies, 2,Facilities to support startups, 3,Collaboration with a research organization (Tokyo Institute of Technology) ? Matching the seeds of the university with the needs of small companies.4, Placement of consultants: four part-time staff members to consult on general order inquiries. Among the consulting items, they will handle four to five inquiries on prototyping from large companies.
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| Results & Outlook
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- Because the orders for development lack continuity, the group cannot be viable with prototyping alone.
- Thus it is necessary to be able to get many prototyping orders from diverse fields.
- As an industrial policy of Ota ward, it is looking at the maintenance of fundamental technologies to support manufacturers as an important factor.
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| Observations
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- This is a place with many town factories in the Tokyo Metropolitan zone, and has a higher potential than three other areas. So, the government measures are to support from the back side.
- This group does not limit its business to "prototyping."
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