Shanghai Toyo Denso Co., Ltd., as the first foreign-funded company in the Songjiang Industrial Park, has set up a production base for electronic components used in automobiles, motorcycles and power generators, and the company has embarked on a rapid track of growth with the construction and commercial operation of the main manufacturing plant and the foundry. To further accelerate the development momentum, Shanghai Toyo Denso made a perspicacious move to invest $6 million to set up an enterprise R&D center in the Songjiang District of Shanghai, and decided to build a plastic injection molding plant in 2004, which is expected to be completed in May, 2005. The company has expanded phenomenally during this period, with various mechanisms of the company being gradually perfected and corporate strength on the rise. The number of employees has increased to over 1,600 at the present from just 200 in 1994, and the combined investment has grown to $34.70 million from the original $4.9 million, with annual turnover surging to 670 million Yuan from 6.7 million at the beginning. The company has diversified from a pure motorcycle instrumentation producer to one that makes over 600 kinds of products, subsumed under 4 broad categories covering instrumentations for automobile, motorcycle and general-purpose power generators, with most of its products being exported to countries including Japan, the United States, Italy and Spain, compared with exporting 90% of them to Japan at the beginning.

The company has been awarded various honors and medals by the government in recognition of its contribution and efforts. It has been regarded as an “exemplar foreign-funded firm” in Songjiang and Shanghai. In 1995, the Shanghai Customs Bureau designated the company as a “creditworthy firm”, and the company’s Chairman of the Board was awarded the “White Magnolia Medal” in 1996 by the Shanghai Municipal Government, with its general managers being awarded the honor of “ Excellent Friends of the Employees” by the All-China Federation of Trade Unions. In 1996, the company was listed as a “dual-excellence” foreign-funded firm in China, and in 1996, it was selected as a model unit among all the agriculture-related firms in Shanghai. It was also listed as a model unit in Shanghai in the years of 1997-1998, 1999-2000, and 2001-2002. In 2003, the company was awarded the honors of Model Units in the patriotic hygienic movement, and in greening, taxpaying, credit rating, and “quality firm” title by the Shanghai Entry-Exit Inspection And Quarantine Bureau for the years from 2003 to 2005. It is also one and the only one in Songjiang of the 69 “Creditworthy Export-Import Firms” christened by the General Customs Bureau.

All these honors and awards are attributable to the unique management methods, and the company has been managed under the guidance of the following philosophies:

1.        To combine the Chinese and Japanese cultures to set up a “human-oriented” corporate culture with unique STDC characteristics.

Our corporate mission is “to be a company that meets the satisfaction of customers all over the world, a company in which our employees take pride and a company well recognized by the society”. All the concrete corporate activities are carried out strictly in line with this mission.

1). Mutual trust and effective communication between Chinese and Japanese executives

The company has implemented a series of wise moves, drawing on the subtlety feature in the Japanese management philosophy and the “people-first” approach in the Chinese management philosophy, and in consideration of the specific environment in China, Shanghai and Songjiang. The step-by-step construction of the major plant, the second-phase plant, the establishment of the R&D center and the plastic injection molding plant has enabled the firm to become an integrated firm covering design, technology development, manufacturing and service, and these decisions reflected the Chinese and Japanese management team’s long-term vision of the boundless potential of the Chinese market. The company’s management team holds a regular meeting on Monday each week, and convenes a conference each month to get the Chinese and Japanese executives well informed of latest information. The biggest barrier for the communication lies in the languages. The company has been sending employees to Japan since 1993 to study the advanced technology, culture and the Japanese language. The granting of language subsidies is one of the unique features of the company, which helps encourage Chinese employees study Japanese and Japanese employees study Chinese. Currently, there are 474 employees, or 30 pct of the total, being granted language subsidies, which is a rare phenomenon among Japanese-funded firms. The decisions made by the management team, as a consequence, have been well implemented.

2). Gradual perfection in corporate management mechanism that injects vigor and vitality into the firm.

The company is fully aware that it must seek a sustainable development path, ensure product quality, build up trust relationship with employees, and take responsibility for the earth and posterity in order to keep its leading position amid intensifying market competition. And the key to company’s success boils down to a sound and perfect management system. To ensure the product quality, the company has introduced the ISO9002 management system since 1997, and successfully upgraded it in 2001. At the present, the company is preparing to introduce the more advanced ISO/TS16949 management system to be geared to international standards. At the same time, it introduced the OHSAS 18001 health and safety management systems to ensure the safety of employees. In addition, the company has adopted a “green management” philosophy, bringing environmental protection into the factors affecting the company’s sustainable development and strategies.  In Jan. 2001, the company introduced the environmental management system of ISO14001 to make sure that its sewage treatment; air pollution control, waste and noise management methods are in line with the standard practices.

3) Establishment of effective communication platform with employees that propels robust growth.

Employees are the founders, the pillar and more essentially, the owner of the company. Shanghai Toyo Denso attaches special emphasis on the communication with employees. As early as the end of 1994, the company established the trade union, and a consultation system on an equal footing. The company also signed collective labor contract with employees at the end of 1995, and set up an independent CPC branch, with many employees actively seeking to join the party in illustration of an upward trend. The employees can display their talents via the medium of the Trade Union Briefing, and render their suggestions through the EHS bulletin. The company also seeks to bring the talents of employees into full play via activities such as QC that could help discover proposals and improve proposals, and the company praises those employees who have made quality proposals. The company also regularly holds employee Kara OK contest, employee sports meeting, and employee tourism festival, and has established men’s soccer team and female aerobic gym team, which enriches the cultural life of employees and strengthens the team spirit.

4) Building up a good social image

The company has never forgotten to give back some of its profits to the society and local governments after growing stronger. In 1993, the company set up the “Toyo Denso Scholarship” in the Shanghai University, and tied up with specific impoverished university students to support the educational development in Shanghai. The company has also moved to help solve the unemployment problem for the government since 1997, setting up the Qingfeng Denso Co through the help of the Shanghai Trade Union, which created 100 jobs for laid-off workers. The company also hires over 20 disabled workers in support of the employment of the handicapped, assigning them the right job positions and encouraging them to bring their talents into full play in the work. 

2. Taking Consumer satisfaction as a bedrock, high-quality products as guarantee, technological innovation as tools, to fuel further growth of the company.

The company’s objective is “to deliver quality products that are tinged with our passion to global consumers, and to make contributions to the society via our first-rate technology.”

1)      Centered upon consumer satisfaction

To focus on consumer satisfaction is the maxim to be followed by every enterprise, and Shanghai Toyo Denso has been striving to keep customers satisfied with our products. With respect to on-time delivery, the company delivered 100 pct of its products in 2003 in a timely manner, and regarding cost-cutting, it completed all the contracts last year, and even managed to lower the prices of some products despite rising raw material costs, in particular a 40 pct surge in copper and iron prices. The company conducts consumer satisfaction survey each year, and has received positive comments each year. As a result, the company received even more contract this year, and Excellent Supplier Awards from customers such as Sundiro Honda Co., Ltd.

2)      Standing out from competitors with our high-quality products

Quality is of pivotal importance to a company’s success, and the company has formulated the following objectives concerning quality: to disallow the occurrence of accidents causing damage to human body because of problems resulting from the quality of our products. The company has set out to reduce problems arising from product quality by 10 pct per year on the basis of detailed analysis of previous problems, and has implemented activities to that end. The company has established a set of quality management system in conformity with the international standards of ISO9001, and at the same time, its products are strictly in line with the JIS, HES and TES standards, with the product quality being tested by equipments such as simulation vehicles. During the two national testing, the company’s products made for orders from Jialing Honda Co, Wuyang Honda Co and Sundiro Honda Co all passed the check at one stroke. High-precision processing equipments are indispensable to the production of high-quality products. The company has, since its inception, annexed investment to buy advanced technology and equipment from abroad, such as high-precision numerical control machine tool, wire-cut machine, coating equipment (mechanical hand, for example), laser-processing equipment, plastic injection molding machine, large-scale foundry, and other molding equipments, which not only helped improve our product quality, but also enhanced our efficiency.

3)      Developing via innovation

Technology innovation is essential to the development of an enterprise, therefore the company set up its own technology development center as early as in 2002, which was upgraded into a technology center at the Songjiang District in 2003 after approval from the local government, and is now applying to be a city-level technology development center after winning recognition from the Shanghai Economic Commission. Meanwhile. The company is also blessed with a strong squad of technology design engineers, and it regularly sends excellent employees to Japan to study leading technology there while introducing top design equipment such as CATIA, CAD, and CAM. Toyo Denso is a globally leading company in terms of technological innovation. With respect to automobile components, the company has adopted various methods in the manufacturing of the buttons on the switches of auto steel plate, ranging from dual-color molding, patch method to the current laser processing methods, and has used the in-built multi-communication-substrate technology in the production of automobile combination switch. The adoption of the LINK transmission technology based on human physiology, and the use of new soft-type material and new interface components to reduce voice activity make the outside appearance of the company’s products prettier, easier to use and durable for use. For motorcycles, the company has independently designed the 1800cc and 1500cc handle switches, which combine the functions of gear shifting and multi-speed and are regarded as a breakthrough in the switches for motorcycles and automobiles, effectively improving the practicality and the grades of motorcycles. As for sensors, the company has resorted to the use of micro-current, leaf spring contact to improve the waterproof and transmission capability of switches, and this technology has been granted an international patent and been applied in the manufacturing of products. With respect to ignition coils, the company has designed compact ignition coils with high ignition capability exceeding a voltage of 45,000 and a five-year life, which has been well recognized in the sector. Its ignition coils are set in the most advanced transistor plug hole, using the company’s minute-wire-winding technique and a series of compact ignition coils for motorcycle vehicles, effectively staving off the dysfunction arising from attrition and prolonging the life of the coils. The company has been listed as a key firm in Japan because of its unique technique in the production of ignition coils. Shanghai Toyo Denso was selected as one of the foreign-invested “firms with leading technology” in December 2002. The 2003-type Accord cars have adopted our automobile combination switches equipped with the globally leading portable GPS, and the 2004 TL-type Accord cars are equipped with our corner sensors to remind the drivers when the car is approaching things within a certain space, at the same, the cars will also be equipped with remote control switches for car radio and audio devices. In short, the company’s strength has been gradually heightened because of the technological innovation, enabling the company to win confidence and trust from customers and laying a solid foundation for the company’s future development.

3. Strive for further excellence and an outlook of the company’s future.

Shanghai Toyo Denso has not only set up a set of complete and standardized systems in product quality, production, management and operation, but also accumulated certain competitiveness in the design, development, manufacturing and technology over the endeavors in the past ten years, meanwhile, the company has also made its contribution in supporting re-employment, educational development and local economy, which has been recognized by local governments.