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Vision: “Aiming to be the Sato of the World”

High-precision press processing technology that enables the production of extremely minute-size holes is a technology possessed only by three companies in the world. This high-level technology surpasses the common thinking in the industry and has resulted in high evaluations from major automobile makers in Japan. Based on achievements and experience and continuous technical innovation and maintenance since 1933, Sato Industry is now a well-known company in the industry. Being a small company with only about 100 employees, Sato is merely a small existence on the global stage. Yet, we will continue to meet new challenges, both in the automotive and non-automotive fields with the imagination and technology we boast to become a name known around the world.

Staff we Seek “Individuals who can grow independently”

In the manufacturing industry in Japan, Sato Industry may be slightly different. The company does not follow a seniority system, but gives individuals with the ambition to grow responsibility for projects, no matter how young they may be. We provide opportunities for learning to all employees equally and always recognize the results of their efforts. The important consideration for hiring is not so much academic background but the individual's passion and desire to grow and develop. At Sato Industry, staff is able to enjoy a sense of fulfillment from overseeing ideas for molds from design to production. There are cases in which the products you were involved in may very well become important parts of automobiles. Here is the greatest place for individuals who love to make things to develop and grow. Tomoyuki Tokida
ASSISTANT GENERAL MANAGER
GENERAL AFFAIRS DEPT.

Introduction of our employees

Kiichiro Nagahata
MANAGER
TECHNICAL PLAN DEPT.
TECHNICAL PRODUCTION DEPT.
Joined the company in 2004

“Sales×Technology for the Add Value”

I have always loved to make things like plastic models since I was a student, and I had always been interested in machine processing. I casually visited Sato Industry because it was located close to my home, but I was deeply impressed by the passion of the Director of Production and decided to apply for a job here. At the time I joined the company, Sales and Technology were separate departments, and the lead time from receiving an order to production was 4 months. It was an age in which sales staff visited clients, listened to their requests, and technical details were discussed in our office. Today, however, the quality and speed demanded by customers have greatly increased, and the lead time for production was shortened to about half of what it used to be, somewhere around two and a half months. In other words, customers are now seeking sales staff with specialist knowledge who can respond to their demands right in their offices. Today, our sales staffs learn both the perspectives of customers and perspective of engineers, thereby bringing out added value surpassing the expectations of the customers.

“Seeking Professional Application Capacity of Processing Technology”

It is now difficult to continue responding to high-level of demands made by customers with merely the skill to use a press machine. In addition to steel processing knowledge, a specialty of Sato Industry, I feel that sales staff needs to understand the technology of the industry as a whole from a wider perspective. So that I can propose ideas that foresee the potential needs of customers, my personal goal is to become a certified Professional Engineer, the highest recognition given to engineers. Improving the ability to apply processing technology would widen my knowledge, which would link to the ability to make higher level proposals, such as by suggesting the use of a certain material or technology for a customer's product. I need to grow and develop so that we not only make what is asked of us, but so that I can present ideas for improvements.

Sumihisa Mizutani
Chief, Quality Control Division, Quality Control Section, Quality Assurance Department
Joined the company in 2005

“Supervisor for All Production Processes”

The Quality Assurance Department is involved in all processes, and our task extends into broad areas. To put it simply, the task of our department is to check if the products are made to customer specification, for which we inspect final products almost like government officials. Most of our products are used as automobile parts, and the quality of our products links directly to the lives of drivers and passengers, which makes the demand for quality extremely strict. Depending on the product, items requiring quality checks may total as many as 50, and the department keeps an eye on all of them. A check sheet, instructions and guidelines are created for all manufacturing steps, and it is our job to make sure that they are followed and that nonconformance is not allowed. Sometimes we may be shunned but we will not relent in order to maintain the quality of our products. Our job is not just checking that rules are followed, but another important task is to find points for improvement in the manufacturing process, even if it may be minute, so that we can reduce overall cost and the load of the factory workers.

“Aiming for Zero Complaints”

Our clients are major automobile makers and they demand extremely high quality. We make a graph of the number and percentage of defects by month. Once we find defective products, we seek the source of problem according to the cardinal rule of "Genchi, Genbutsu and Gennin (On site, actual product, on-the-spot report)." There is no end to our task, and our ultimate goal is to realize "zero defects, zero complaints" according to the PDCA cycle for all products. In order to achieve this goal, we not only have close communication within the company but also with the quality assurance staff at material suppliers to make sure that they comply with our specifications and that they set forth strict rules to improve technology through internal training systems. We also proactively communicate with the quality assurance staff at our client companies to build a system to eliminate defective products. Our job demands good communications skills to be used internally and externally.