Sugiura

I think the company has changed a lot between your younger days and now.

Yoshida

Many of our engineers and administrators are very serious people, and they tackle various things honestly, which is something that has not changed in the past. That is a good point, and I think we need to develop it.

Sugiura

You seem very serious.

Yoshida

It used to be like, "You guys follow me!" but that has changed in the past 10 to 15 years.

Sugiura

That's right. We have a program in place now for training engineers, but in the past, it was like, "Watch your seniors' backs to learn how to do things" (laughs). We have manuals, but I learned more by watching my senior’s work.

Yoshida

We had some hardships, but it was a good learning experience.

Oka

I don't think it has changed much. After receiving proper basic education, they are basically told to learn through on-the-job training (OJT).

Sugiura

In the past, many customers would say, "Just come right away and fix it!"

Yoshida

"Just come!" (laughs).

Oka

Were you dealing with that at the time?

Yoshida

Yes, yes. For the time being, I took all the parts I had, and if they were different, I took something else.

Sugiura

Nowadays, we are shifting in the direction that we want our clients to come well prepared so that we don't have to go through the process twice, and we would appreciate it if the quality of the work is done properly. Sometimes the person in charge on the customer's side leaves, so we say, That's it for today, see you tomorrow.

Yoshida

Is that so?

Oka

"I'm leaving soon, so please don't come back now."

Yoshida

I think the thing that has changed the most in terms of the work environment is the way we communicate. In the past, there were no cell phones and not even one PC per person, so it was very difficult.

Oka

Did you still have a ten-yen coin with you on the phone?

Sugiura

Yes, yes, yes. There was a line at the pay phone.

Yoshida

When I was overseas, I had to buy a fax machine at home because I had to type everything out on a word processor and send it by fax. Then, faxes were sent from Japan without considering the time difference, and the sound of receiving faxes woke me up many times in the middle of the night (laughs). When I think about it, nowadays it is very convenient to find any kind of information with a little searching, but it has become necessary to be able to sort through the information.

Sugiura

There is so much information out there. Even in the field, I can consult immediately and receive answers in real time, whereas in the past I had to twist my brain to think of things on my own.

Yoshida

Some things have become more convenient, and some things have become too convenient and more work , so I wonder which is better.

Sugiura

Mr. Yoshida, do you have any memories of taking on any challenges when you were around Oka-san's age?

Yoshida

When I was in my 7th or 8th year, I was already stationed in the US.

Oka

It's early!

Yoshida

I was a generation younger than my predecessor, so customers would say things like, “What can you do here?” The instruments were old and decrepit, and there were many problems with their reliability, so updating them to new instruments was a pressing issue. Industrial Instruments Dept. was also in a position to sell things, so we sold a lot of things to ensure the stable operation of our customers' equipment and devices (laughs). I was able to try my hand at a lot of things, and I also worked hard to achieve results. Have you ever been on an overseas business trip, Ms. Oka?

Oka

Not yet. I was scheduled to go on a business trip to the U.S. before, but it was postponed due to various reasons.

Sugiura

It's too bad you couldn't take the chance.

Oka

I originally joined the company with the goal of going abroad, so I would like to take on the challenge of going overseas.

Oka

when do you find your work rewarding?

Yoshida

When I was an engineer, it was rewarding to be recognized by customers, to have them buy things, to have equipment fixed, and so on. Now it is too rewarding. ...... (laughs). When I was young, I remember my boss telling me, "If you want to do what you want to do as much as possible, you should raise your position because if you raise your position, the obstacles to what you want to do become lower."

Sugiura

I used to get a lot of pleasure from a series of on-site work, but now I am also happy to receive consultations from customers. Since we are a service directly controlled by the manufacturer, I think our customers consult with us with the expectation that "since we are the manufacturer, we will do something about it in the end." It is very rewarding to be able to respond to their expectations and work together with them.

Yoshida

What is challenging for you?

Oka

More and more clients are asking me to "come to their sites," and when they tell me that, I am glad that I worked so hard, and I want to work even harder. When I reply, "I can't come this time," they tell me to "come back next time." That is very rewarding.

Yoshida

I have heard that there is a brilliant person named Oka-san in Tokyo Branch Office now.

Oka

Oh, I am glad! Thank you very much. I've been working to have people I don't know directly say, "I've heard of you, Oka," and I will continue to do my best.

Yoshida

By all means, good luck!
By the way, what do you two feel are the strengths and challenges of Hitachi High-Tech Fielding today?

Sugiura

Customers cannot choose their engineers, so I think the most important thing is to provide the same quality of service no matter who does the work. To achieve this, training is important, but I feel that it is difficult to speed up the training process, which is a current issue. How quickly can we help them take the steps necessary to become full-fledged engineers? I would like to do my best to nurture young members as quickly as possible so that our customers will feel comfortable accepting our engineers.

Yoshida

Recently, when interviewing for employment, I am often asked, "What kind of educational curriculum do you have?" and "What kind of system do you use to provide education?"

Sugiura

So many people are concerned about these things before they join the company.

Yoshida

Yes, I do get the sense that more and more people are emphasizing in-house training, though I think there is some concern about working alone.

Oka

The trend now seems to be for multiple people to work together, and it seems that many people don't want to go alone. Going with a supervisor or a senior colleague makes a big difference in the sense of security.

Yoshida

Especially new employees and young people.

Oka

What kind of instructions do you give to the younger and more senior members of the team when they go to a site together?

Sugiura

Basically, I let young employees talk with customers. I have them explain in their own words and report back to me. I also ask senior staff to help only in areas where they say, "That's not right," but that takes time. It is difficult to adjust to the customer's limited time frame.

Oka

I am now concerned that we are not doing a very good job of passing on technical skills to the younger generation. Beam Technology Systems Dept., where I am, has few middle-class people in their 30s and 40s. ......

Yoshida

That's true company wide. There are not many generations in the middle.

Oka

The main people who respond to problems and conduct investigations are from the middle and upper generations, while the younger generation is mainly engaged in simple tasks and maintenance. I am concerned that if the older generation retires, the technical skills required for the work they were in charge of will be lost without being passed on to the younger generation. How should we think about this?

Yoshida

Ideally, it would be best if everyone could do all the work from 1 to 10, and there is nothing better than that, but in reality it is difficult. We often discuss the possibility that we will have to adopt a division of labor system that takes advantage of areas of expertise in order to get the job done. In other words, the company as a whole should maintain the current quality or think about how to make it better, and maybe it will no longer be necessary for everyone to do all the work.

Oka

I see, so it is a division of labor.

Yoshida

While the people in our company are serious and honest, they are also inflexible, or rather, they are conservative and do not take on challenges.

Sugiura

I think there is a tendency to "do the best we can within the environment we have." Sometimes the atmosphere is like, "Person who challenges loses." ......

Yoshida

Sugiura

Oka

(laughs)

Yoshida

I was a bit shocked to hear the phrase, "Person who challenges loses." In discussing the mid-term management plan for 2027, we had a discussion about "what to do" and "what not to do." Until now, for example, when an accident occurred, we had to do this and that to prevent recurrence and so on, and the workload kept increasing. However, I believe that this should change, and in order to make time to take on new challenges, we need to think about reducing the amount of work we have to do.

Oka

Recently I feel that upper management is more willing to "make changes." In my department, when a challenging idea came up, I was glad to hear that it was okay to spend money on it, and that if it failed, it would be a learning experience.

Yoshida

Ms. Oka, you are in Tokyo, so it is easy for you to hear such information, but if you are in a regional office, especially if you are young, you cannot see such movements. I, of course, want to create a company in which branch managers, section managers, and chief engineers act as bridges, so that what the management says 10 times is conveyed 10 times. I want to make sure that not only the message is conveyed, but also that people can actually feel it, just like Oka-san.

Oka

Mr. Yoshida once came to one of our locations, but the younger staff was out in the field at the time, so I don't think he had much time to talk directly with them. I thought that if you could spend some time with the younger staff during your tour, they would feel more familiar with the upper management.

Yoshida

I see, yes, I will keep that in mind from now on. From your point of view, Oka-san, what do you think are our strengths?

Oka

"Conservative" is certainly not a good word in some respects, and there were times when I myself was annoyed by its inflexibility (laugh), but customers would buy expensive equipment because "it's Hitachi." (Laughs) However, customers would buy expensive equipment because it was made by Hitachi. Over the course of my career, I have come to believe that this is because of the reputation for quality that has been maintained because of the company's conservatism. I think that is a strength. However, I think it is also something that needs to be changed in the future, so I would like to take advantage of the good points.

Yoshida

In the past, now, and in the future, the ability to communicate with customers to find out what their problems are and to grasp their latent needs will always be necessary.

Sugiura

I always ask about the production status of the customer's factory. What are the current operating conditions and what kind of plans do they have? What has started, will it increase in the future, or will it stay the same or go down? I gather such information from various customers and make plans for the future. In the process, problems are sure to come up, so we try to come up with a plan for the next fiscal year.

Yoshida

Semiconductor plants vary depending on what they are producing, so I think it would be good to hear about your clients' production situation and the mid- to long-term outlook. How about you, Oka-san?

Oka

When we listen to the problems, there are many really hidden needs, but even if we give them feedback, it is often difficult to realize them, and we feel that it takes time.

Yoshida

The customer field is completely different from Mr. Sugiura, so there are some difficulties.

Oka

I think there are similarities in equipment, so it would be nice if engineers could exchange more information with each other and find a good time to incorporate the best parts.

Sugiura

We don't have time for that kind of thing at all.（bitter smile）

Oka

Yes, all I can think about is the work in front of me. ...... Now that our office has a free address, I have more opportunities to talk with people from other departments, and we are able to exchange some information, so I always wish we could work together.

Yoshida

What do the two of you hope yourselves and your companies will look like in five or ten years?

Oka

5 years later: ....... I can't imagine, the last 7 years have gone by so fast.

Yoshida

Five years is not long, right?

Sugiura

It all happened so fast (laughs).

Oka

As for my personal goals, I would like to stay in Tokyo if possible to nurture junior staff and build a foundation so that my superiors can entrust me with their work with peace of mind. In the future, I would also like to be stationed overseas.

Yoshida

Why do you stick to Tokyo?
I think there are many things you can learn by traveling to various locations.

Oka

It's not that I don't want to transfer, but I think it would be a shame to lose the trust I have built up with my clients in Tokyo.

Yoshida

But, I hope that Oka-san will have various experiences to step up to the next level. Engineers at the base have different hardships from those in Tokyo.

Oka

I am sure it will be a great learning experience. I'm not sure yet if I can do it. ......

Sugiura

Isn't it also your mission to train people to succeed Oka-san in Tokyo?

Oka

Yes, that is true. It is important for everyone to be able to do the same quality of work, and the customer must feel at ease even if an engineer who is not me performs the work.

Yoshida

Sugiura-san, what do you want to be in 5 or 10 years?

Sugiura

I think that our desire to stay connected with our customers will not change in the next five to ten years. The semiconductor business is a field that plays a leading role in the industry, and I believe that challenges unique to the leading edge will continue to arise in the future. I believe that our important mission is to support our customers' production systems through the stable operation of our equipment, while meeting these challenges.

Yoshida

As Mr. Sugiura said, I would like us to continue to build solid relationships with our customers as we have in the past. In addition, I believe that five to ten years from now, the main source of revenue will shift from hardware to software, and that providing added value to customers through the use of data will become more important, so we must find new services in the software area. I hope that more and more people will come up with new ideas of what they would like "to do." Isn't it more fun to work on the offensive than to work under pressure?

Oka

Yes, that's right. I am inevitably occupied with the work in front of me, so I would like to make time to think about the future.

Yoshida

It is definitely more interesting to do work that we ourselves are willing "to do." To achieve this, I think the company needs to change, and I hope that everyone's mindset will change as well. Let's work hard together.