In the 31st installment of this series, which covers the current status of Japanese companies active locally, we spoke with Hitachi South America, Ltd. President Yasunori Miyoshi (54, Chiba Prefecture).
The company was incorporated in 1982, but its presence in Sao Paulo as a base for South America dates back to 1940. By updating its currently thin business portfolio in South America and combining the latest IT, OT (control and operational technology) and products to solve social issues, the company has seen its sales quadruple and its employee base increase approximately eightfold in the past four years.
Entering South America with the sale of water purification pumps
The Hitachi Group currently operates in five South American countries (Brazil, Peru, Argentina, Colombia, and Chile), with five corporations (Hitachi South America, Hitachi Energy, Hitachi Vantara, Hitachi High-Tech, and Hitachi Mycom) and two factories in Brazil. The transformer manufacturing factory in Guarulhos is the second largest Hitachi Energy factory in the world after Sweden. The company's South American business is centered on digital systems and services, and the manufacture and service of transformers and power control equipment, with Brazil accounting for 65% of sales in South America in 2023.
Hitachi first entered South America in 1940, selling water purification pumps to supply water to the city of São Paulo. It then supplied steel mill equipment from Japan to Brazil from the 1960s to the 1970s, and in the late 1970s Hitachi R. Condicionado opened an air conditioning equipment manufacturing plant in São José dos Campos, São Paulo State (since 2015 it has been a joint venture with Johnson Controls).
In the 1980s, Hitachi Data Systems, the predecessor of Hitachi Vantara, today's data infrastructure specialist, was established, contributing to the realization of a sustainable society and the happiness of people through data and technology.
Restructuring of South American business portfolio
The Hitachi Group is promoting its Social Innovation Business with the aim of realizing a sustainable society under its corporate philosophy of "contributing to society through the development of superior, original technology and products." As part of its shift to a new era of business portfolio, in 2020 Hitachi acquired the power grid (power transmission system) business of ABB, a major Swiss heavy electrical equipment manufacturer, and established a joint venture to create a new global leader in pioneering power technology.
President Miyoshi says, "The cableway at Pão de Açúcar, a tourist attraction in Rio de Janeiro, was electrified by ABB in 1912. Hitachi was founded in 1910, a time when Japan was desperately trying to industrialize in order to catch up with the West, but Europe was already expanding its business overseas. Japan's industrial history in the international community is short, so I see it as a positive thing that ABB's experience has been incorporated into Hitachi."
Towards locally rooted management led by local management
The Hitachi Group is moving towards internationalization, including the appointment of outside directors and executive officers, and is proactively promoting people who understand local conditions, regardless of nationality, to its overseas bases.
"Local managers are important because they understand the discomfort that people from overseas feel in Brazil, such as the complicated tax system, and they help reform the gap with other countries with an eye toward the country's development," says Miyoshi, who has lived in Brazil since he was three years old when his father was seconded to Brazil in 1973.
At the time, there was a boom in Japanese companies entering Brazil, and Japan was still developing after its period of rapid economic growth, but many buildings were already lined up in downtown São Paulo, recalling the impression one had of a big city. Nearly half a century has passed since then, and Japanese companies in Brazil have settled in, and in order to further grow and take root in Brazil, there are an increasing number of cases where local managers are selected for each company.
Employees are closely involved in the community to create a people-friendly society
Hitachi Energy Brazil has taken over the social enterprise of the NPO Instituto Amanècer, which ABB established in 1998. With donations from Hitachi Energy, the NPO implements social programs through education for socially vulnerable children on the grounds of the Guarulhos plant.
To date, we have provided extracurricular activities, field trips, and opportunities for over 400 young people between the ages of 7 and 15 to hear from people from a variety of walks of life, and have influenced over 2,000 people in the local community through a program that enables those aged 15 and over to attend vocational training school while working in a factory.
"These types of initiatives have recently been helping to increase motivation among young employees," says the company, which is actively encouraging employees to participate in NPOs as a form of mentoring that makes use of their strengths.
|
Overview of Hitachi South America |
*This article is reprinted from the Brazil Nippo (June 29, 2024).
© 2024 Tomoko Oura
