In the second installment of this series, we spoke with Hiroshi Kataiwa, Vice President of NSK Brazil (Executive Director Francisco Aecio).
The company was established in 1970. Its site is 180,000 m2 in a prime location about a 10-minute walk from Suzano Station, the railway hub between the city of São Paulo and the surrounding cities. The company manufactures, researches and analyzes bearings for industrial machinery and automobiles at its factory and technical center.
53 years since its establishment as NSK's first overseas production base
NSK Brazil was founded by Hiroki Imazato, the fourth president of NSK Ltd., who visited Brazil and discovered Suzano as the city's first overseas production base, and decided to operate there. The company was established in 1970, and the factory opened two years later. At the time, Pedro Miyahira Shukaku, the first Japanese-American mayor of Suzano, had been inviting companies from Japan to the city, and the city was provided with land free of charge to build the factory, and has contributed to the city's industrial development ever since.
When the company was first established and selling imported products, competitors in Brazil were already producing locally, and it was not easy for high-priced imported products to win in the market. Despite this, the company continued to conduct persistent sales activities and persuaded several major companies, which have strict standards for quality, to carry out comparative evaluation tests of Japanese-made bearings against other companies' products. As a result, the company received the stamp of approval that "the quality is two ranks higher."
The products were well received, but at the time imported products were expensive and subject to a 40% tariff, so NSK Brazil said, "We'll buy them if you produce products of the same quality in Brazil." In response, NSK Brazil decided to shift to local production. Once the factory began operating, orders increased dramatically from customers who had seen the production process using the latest automated assembly equipment that no other company had.
Only the Brazilian bearing factory produces steel balls
The NSK Group's policy is "self-sufficiency." The Suzano plant is the only one of the group's global operations that produces steel balls used in bearings. In Japan, steel balls are purchased from group companies, but in Brazil, the company also produces steel balls in-house to reduce costs due to high tariffs. In recent years, cheap bearings have begun to be imported from China, but the company has consistently maintained its stance of providing good products at reasonable prices in response to the trust of customers who value high quality and precision.
Domestic market share is equal
The world market share for bearings is 1st place SKF (Sweden), 2nd place Schaeffler (Germany), and 3rd place NSK. However, in Brazil, the business scale of these three companies is almost equal. While SKF and Schaeffler specialize in large products, NSK's strength is in its expertise in extremely small products as well.
In Brazil, an agricultural country, large bearings for agricultural machinery are important, and demand in this field is currently growing steadily. On the other hand, demand for electrical appliances is not as high as in Japan or China.
In terms of automobile sales since the pandemic, sales of motorcycles have been stronger than those of four-wheeled vehicles due to rising oil prices, household frugality, and production of four-wheeled vehicles being curbed due to a shortage of semiconductors, and bearings for motorcycles have been doing well.
Initiatives for reuse business
As part of the SDGs business, efforts are underway to mass-produce bearings and then reuse them after use, particularly large bearings used in steel equipment and agricultural machinery, rather than discarding them.
Large bearings are still only imported, and it takes at least six months, and sometimes even more than a year, for the product to arrive after an order is placed. If a product breaks down and the machine becomes unusable, waiting several months is just too long.
Therefore, NSK performs "bearing remaining life diagnosis" and, if necessary, performs repair work to extend the service life and provide services to enable safe operation of business machinery. The diagnosis is based on the data and damage mechanism know-how that NSK has accumulated over its 100-year history.
The reuse business is often thought of as an obstacle to new sales, but reuse also has the potential to attract new customers.
Connections between people in the local community
In order to grow sustainably as a local company, NSK Brazil is proactive in recruiting local talent. There are many cases where students who have studied at the company through university collaborations or internship programs end up working there.
"I've always wanted to visit Brazil, where NSK's oldest overseas factory is located," said Vice President Kataiwa, who has been stationed in Brazil since November 2021. This is his fourth overseas posting after Singapore, Thailand, and Shanghai.
In Brazil, thanks to the efforts of their Japanese immigrant predecessors, Japanese people are viewed favorably, and as a company it abides by the law and operates according to the rules, so it feels trusted by its employees.
Mr. Kataiwa is a seventh-degree kendo fighter, and in his spare time he trains and teaches the next generation at the prefectural association in São Paulo. As with his previous overseas postings, he enjoys deepening global exchanges in the spirit of "Kouken Chiai."
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Official name: NSK BRASIL LTDA. |
*This article is reprinted from Brasil Nippou (April 21, 2023).
© 2023 Tomoko Oura
