There are many "small but strong" companies in Japan. These small home workshops have maintained small-scale operations for a long time with excellent technology.
Although the scale is small, there is no lack of technologically advanced Japanese and even global leaders, such as Kobayashi Research Institute and Kimura Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
In Sumida, Tokyo, there is a company with less than ten employees, Okano Kogyo, with annual sales of 800 million yen.
Okano Kogyo's scale is small, but it claims to be the world's number one in stamping processing. The automatic stretch stamping technology of the world's smallest painless injection needle is one of its masterpieces.
In 1935, Okano Metal Mold Manufacturing Co., Ltd. was established. With excellent technology and good reputation,
Affected by his father, Okano has been exposed to the metal mold industry since he was a child. Although he only has a primary school education, he has mastered superb metal mold manufacturing technology and stamping molding technology, and is a skilled craftsman.
In the early 1970s, about 48 years ago, Okano Masayuki officially took over the family business from his father as the company president.
In fact, Okano Industry is in the hands of Yaxing Okano and has gradually grown into the world's top small factory. And customers are all world-renowned giant companies, such as Toyota, Panasonic, Sony and so on.
Throughout the development history of Okano Industry, it is not difficult to find that it grew up under the influence of Yaxing Okano's personal charm. In other words, Okano Masako is the soul man who supports the development of the enterprise.
In the eyes of outsiders, Okano Yako is basically equivalent to Okano Kogyo. Therefore, if you want to analyze the growth logic of Okano Industry, you need to start with Okano Yayuki.
From this, we can draw a conclusion that Okano Kogyo’s success lies not only in Okano’s superb skills, but also in its business philosophy of “doing something that others cannot accomplish”.
In that year, with the rapid update and iteration of technology, industrialized super alloy molds gradually replaced ordinary molds. Under this wave, Okano Industry was once faced with difficulties and urgently needed to transform.
There are only two roads ahead, one is to make low-cost orders, and the other is to make difficult orders that no one dares to make.
Okano Masako chose a two-way approach. The former is to ensure the basic income of the company, and the latter is to build the core competitiveness of the company. In the long run, the latter is the key to Okano's industrial development.
In the process of building the core competitiveness of the company, Okano Yako did not blindly imitate the existing products on the market, but through technological integration and unremitting efforts, focusing on the business that others could not do, and came out with a unique technology and product. The path to innovation.
From the metal shell of the lighter to the production of the battery shell, to the world-class painless needle, all of them embody Okano's philosophy of being the first.
Take the painless needle as an example. 20 years ago, a medical device manufacturer wanted to develop an injection needle with a diameter of less than 0.3 mm, but at that time no factory in Japan dared to accept this order.
But when the customer came to the door, Okano Masako did not refuse. This kind of order that others could not make was in line with the corporate culture.
With superb technology, he successfully completed the order and produced a very fine injection needle with a diameter of 0.2 mm and a pinhole diameter of 0.08 mm.
It is reported that as Okano Masako retires (in 2020, Okano Masako is 87 years old), Okano Kogyo has declared business closure.