Being No.2 is far from enough

Our slogan is 100％ customer satisfaction

Katou says that the best technology in work is “perseverance”. He was a black belt at judo in high school.His silver bullet is lean back throw, which is a throw skill famous for “going down to the ground by a throw”.He stood out by “conquering the unyielding with the yielding” among a group of players with strong physique.

In Katou’s memory, a job impressed him deeply. That was the production of the front rack of the famous Supercomputer(*9), which emphasizes that ""Why can not I be No.2? Why do I have to be No.1?"" The rack production of this monster machine, whose calculation performance is a thousand times higher than that of normal servers, requires skilled technology. The rich experience required by the successful completion of this project is accumulated by the computer aided three-dimensional interactive application (CATIA)(*10).

He said he grew up significantly after long-term practice. Before that, when he was making moulds, a craftsman was always needed. He used a file to make a well-shaped wooden frame while watching the drawing and then made the wooden frame into a mould(*11).

However, Katou now can use the CATIA to simulate a shape on the computer and process the metal into the shape in the machining center.

A year before Katou’s entry into the company, his later supervisor went to a technical institute of automobile companies as a visiting engineer for a year to learn the CATIA. In a word, This was a piece of new software and could not be mastered in one year. In this case, Katou and his supervisor studied the English specification to delve into the technology with the help of a dictionary.

He used to cooperate with Makoto, a specialized CATIA company at Urawa. He used stereolithography(SL)(*12) technology to produce outer panels of cars and make three dimensional (3D) data of headlights, analyze strength design, design the stamping dies and vent caps of cars by using the CATIA. The data would be sent to the headquarter to be applied in the actual product manufacturing. Katou became familiar with the CATIA by gaining experience like this. Thus, he received attention from customers and got more orders.

Katou recalled that a craftsman mainly focuses on handwork. His career centers on mould manufacturing wheras stamping and welding are handed to other staff members. As time goes by, Katou, who used to work independently relying on all kinds of skills, is acknowledged as an expert with the quick development of technologies and devices.

The Supercomputer epitomizes Katou’s perseverance and experiences. He won praises from customers with the spirit of being No.1 rather than being No.2 to fully meet customers’ expectations.

In addition, when the door type machine tools (as high as an adult) were introduced, he learned how to operate the machine by studying the specification. This is how Asano trains its personnel. When receiving a task, Asano introduces unfamiliar devices and hands them to young people, which may foster “Stars of Asano” who assume heavy responsibilities in the company. Katou said the company did the same thing when introducing the 800-ton punch press.

With the interest in racing cars and the parts, Katou knocked the door to Asano with the dream of “being encouraged in trial manufacturing and gaining customers’recognition by setting up a bridge to produce system for customers”in volume. With this idea in mind, he is modest all the time. He also would like to accelerate the realization of his dream, for example, "can Asano produce all components required by a car?".

When asked "what is your dream", Katou said "travelling around Japan. From modest Katou, we can see the plain connotation of Asano’s corporate culture.