Quality All Around

Quality products, quality people, quality service, quality partnerships, and even quality corporate social responsibility – that is what we mean by Mitsubishi Electric Quality, Takashi Fujii, Managing Director, Mitsubishi Electric Asia, tells CE Asia.

CEA: How does Mitsubishi Electric Asia fit into the overall Mitsubishi Electric organization?

Fujii: From its base here in Singapore, the company functions as the sales and marketing hub for the Asia region, which extends all the way from Pakistan to Australia.

CEA: And the extent of the product range?

Fujii: Mitsubishi Electric Asia is quite unique among automation companies as it offers consumer items like air conditioners and refrigerators as well as industrial automation products. The industrial segment comprises about 30 percent of the business and major products in the range include PLCs, AC Drives, Servo Motors, Circuit Breakers, CNCs, and Electric Discharge Machines (EDM).

CEA: What are the target sectors for the automation products?

Fujii: Our traditional strength is the factory automation sector – automotive industry, machine builders, LCD manufacturers, etc – where we are world leaders. But we are increasingly applying our products to the process and infrastructure sectors, in areas such as wastewater treatment, downstream oil & gas, power & utilities, semiconductor, road tunnels, and airport facilities.

CEA: Which are the key countries for Mitsubishi Electric in Asia?

Fujii: I would say that there are currently four: Malaysia, India, Vietnam and Indonesia. The perception a few years ago was that Malaysia was a fairly small market but it has proved to be very good for us and is still growing.

And now, majority of our revenue comes from India, with the automotive, pharmaceutical and textile sectors being strong, and where there is now a heavy focus on infrastructure investment as the country becomes more developed and supported by huge overseas investment in 2007. This is translating into more demand for our products.

Many manufacturing plants are being set up in Vietnam as some investment is diverted from Thailand and China, and there is definitely a lot of potential business for Mitsubishi Electric.

CEA: Why should companies choose Mitsubishi Electric for their automation needs?

Fujii: Our main message is “quality”. Not just quality products, as in the conventional sense, but also quality people, quality solutions, quality service, quality partnership, and quality social responsibility. And that’s the reason for our branding: Mitsubishi Electric Quality, or MEQ.

For customers, it’s very important that should they face a technical problem they are assured of getting a quick solution. So together with our business partners we have set up many service centers across the region.

And we pay particular attention to our people, providing training and development, establishing a long-term relationship, and seeing them an engine for our growth rather than as a cost to the business.

CEA: The environment and green consciousness seem to be important elements in Mitsubishi Electric’s corporate philosophy. What is the reason for this focus?

Fujii: The shareholder is of course an important consideration in the course of doing business, but there are also other stakeholders that we should take into account: customers, business partners, employees, the local community, and …. planet Earth!

What this translates to for us is how we can contribute to a sustainable environment. In our products, we do this through our MET concept: the effective use of materials (M), the efficient use of energy (E), and the avoidance of toxic substances (T). And in actual use, our products are eco-friendly, such as variable speed drives for reducing electrical energy consumption, and photovoltaic modules for solar panels.

CEA: How would you define your leadership style?

Fujii: I don’t believe in just asking for simple improvement. Rather, innovation, high targets, long term strategic thinking – these are the keys to success. So I strive to inspire people to do better, to shift their mindsets, to dare to dream.

For instance, when I first took over, some of the sales staff were telling me that our products were too expensive compared to the competition, and urged me to reduce the price. But I said no!

Instead, I stressed to the sales people that our products are high quality and very reliable, our customer service is very good. Those factors benefit our customers very much, and so we can justify these prices. And so that’s an example of creating a mindset change.

CEA: And how about the cultural aspects of running a Japanese company in this part of Asia?

Fujii: One thing that we deliberately have not done is introduced Japanese style management practices. The local culture is very important and you should not simply apply Japanese or US or European cultures to companies here. Globalization is fine when it comes to products, but regionalization is more appropriate when it comes to people, as there is no one single global standard that you can use. So we want to establish our own style; an Asia style.

CEA: You recently celebrated the 30th anniversary of the launch of the first Mitsubishi Electric Asia office in Singapore in 1977. What factors have contributed to the growth and success of the company over this period?

Fujii: There are really many factors but a key one is to inculcate our people to really understand that this office is not just a sales company for Singapore but the sales and marketing hub for the Asia region.

We have also put in significant effort to create our “Mitsubishi Electric” brand – through local newspaper advertisements, TV commercials, etc. So people know who we are, and about the wide range of products we supply, both industrial and consumer. Our branding efforts are a large part of the reason why we have managed to double the size of the business in the past three years.

And of course, quality as expressed by MEQ is at the core. As I mentioned, not just quality in the terms of products but in the sense of providing quality life for all our stakeholders.