On February 17 (Sun.), 2013, the Mazda Ekiden Road Relay was held as part of the 20th Love Hofu Campaign at the Mazda Motor Corporation Hofu Plant (in the Nishinoura district). A total of 99 teams from Yamaguchi Prefecture and beyond took part in the event, and young Futaba Kogyo employees participated in celebration of our Hofu Factory’s 10-year anniversary.
A cold wave made for chilly weather on the day of the event, but our team members donned their matching uniforms and gave it their all. Despite this being our first time participating in the relay event, Futaba Kogyo’s athletes achieved an impressive 15th-place finish, giving testament to their unified teamwork and youthfulness.
Sales of the new Mazda Atenza commenced on November 20.
The new Atenza incorporates a Futaba Kogyo steering member (instrument panel member), one of the Company’s key products, as well as our roof reinforcement components, fuel lid and fuel box, seat bracket components and other body shell parts.
With the goal of achieving vehicle weight reductions, we diversified our use of high-tensile-strength steel plate materials and implemented advanced press molding techniques to achieve stable product quality. Furthermore, we implemented various improvements such as enhancing yield rates and reduced resource use and costs, enabling us to make significant contributions in terms of environmental conservation.
We have completed our employment screenings for the current fiscal year (based on projected March 2013 graduation dates). We would like to thank everyone who applied this year.
Sales of the newly-developed compact Mazda CX-5 SUV commenced on February 16.
The new CX-5 incorporates a Futaba Kogyo steering member (instrument panel member), one of the Company’s key products, as well as our front and rear bumper reinforcement components, roof reinforcement components, fuel lid and fuel box, and other body shell parts.
The front and rear bumper reinforcement components have been incorporated into Mazda Motor Corporation’s “SKYACTIV-BODY,” a lightweight, highly rigid next-generation vehicle body that is the first of its kind worldwide. Our bumper products use 1800-MPa-grade, ultra-high tensile strength steel plates-the strongest in the world-and Futaba Kogyo worked together with Mazda to optimize welding conditions in pursuit of stable production techniques in order to maximize utilization of that material strength.
Last year, Futaba Kogyo began providing technical support for Suzuki Motor Corporation in Thailand. In order to strengthen and advance future global efforts in China, Thailand, Mexico and other countries, we have revised our global strategy and are moving forward with a new policy focused on technical support and assistance abroad.
In accordance with this new policy, we have ceased our joint venture efforts in Nanjing, China and shifted instead toward the provision of technical assistance.
The Hofu Factory was established in January 2003, and we consolidated various operations developed over the years at this location. Eight years later, we have conducted maintenance and repair work on the outer walls, restoring the factory’s bright and attractive external appearance.
Construction of the long-planned Technical Center has been completed. This facility will serve as a center for product development, where Futaba Kogyo will actively pursue technological improvements in response to customers’ needs.
We offer our sincere condolences and prayers for the souls of those who perished in the Great East Japan Earthquake as well as survivors who have been affected by the terrible disaster.
Futaba Kogyo’s founder Yoshinobu Yoshida was from the town of Okuma-machi in Futaba-gun, Fukushima Prefecture, which was one of the areas affected by the calamity. The Company name and emblem were originally based on Fukuba Junior High School (now Fukuba High School), a local school and Yoshida’s alma mater. Our hearts ache to know that a place with such deep ties to the Company has been visited by this dreadful natural disaster.
As a Company, we want to offer as much support as possible in this time of need. That is why we collected funds from within the Company and among clients and donated them as disaster relief aid on behalf of the Futaba Kogyo Group.
Moving forward, we intend to continue providing our support, no matter how humble it may be, in that hope that it will be of help. In addition, we offer our prayers and wishes that the people in the affected areas will be able to return to their normal, daily lives as soon as possible, and that the region will quickly recover and rebuild.
In recognition of our performance in areas such as product quality, costs, product delivery deadlines and technological capabilities, Futaba Kogyo was honored with the FY 2010 Award for Outstanding Business Dealings from Mazda Motor Corporation. This marks our seventh consecutive receipt of this award (dating back to 2004).
Such an achievement has been made possible thanks to the generous support of customers and clients as well as continual improvements by each and every Futaba Kogyo employee. Moving forward, we will endeavor to satisfy customer needs based on the slogan “Steadily, Honestly, Completely” as we strive to make even further improvements.
The following organizational change has been completed at Futaba Kogyo Co., Ltd.
Current | Former |
Technical Center, Production Engineering |
Product Design Section, Production Engineering Department |
(reorganization / name change) | View the Company organization chart >> |