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His Ideas 35 ~ Connections

June 3, 2021

He was watching TV. On the program, a commentator introduced some small manufacturing companies in a particular ward in the capital city that were creating new products to help society in the coronavirus situation. He knew the ward. He used to work for a municipality, in the industrial section. The ward was famous for its high concentration of small, but skillful factories. There were thousands of factories which had world-level craftsmanship. They were proud, and said of themselves that they were not "number one", but the "only one". But, that was a long time ago, and he had never heard of anything about the ward until he watched the program. After the coronavirus pandemic started, some companies made various things, like face shields, transparent plastic partitions, disinfectant handy pump stands, which were used by stepping on a pedal, etc. A unique invention was a touchless door knob equipment with which people could open doors without touching them. They are generally parts makers; steel parts for cars, plastic parts for electric appliances, aluminum molding, even springs and bolts, etc. As subcontractors, their business position was weak, so they tried to make up for it by having high skills. The ward office supported them. Their networking was another strong point. Maybe when they made face shields, the plastic processing company might have asked a metal processing company to make metal fittings to move the shield up/down.   Recently there was a hit product that was born with the cooperation of two companies within this ward. It was a bar for pull-ups. Pull-ups seem to be a very good exercise at home during a lockdown. Doing pull-ups is a challenging exercise in which one must be able to lift one's own weight, so it must be a fun challenge. But to make that type of equipment isn't easy. Actually, his parents had one. But nobody used it because it wasn't stable and was not fun. Now, it was used as a hanger stand. A small company with two workers which had started their business two years before, developed a new type of pull-up equipment. There is one long vertical bar which is set to the ceiling and floor, and a horizontal bar that is set in the middle of the vertical bar. You can see this type of thing in DIY shops, which are used as a hanger-stands. But, different from hanging clothes, supporting a human body needs special firmness. If it breaks, there might be a big accident. The small company could only ask a factory to make a certain product, but, they couldn't draw their own designs. So, after coming up with this idea, the president of the company visited many factories one by one with only his sketch. Surprisingly, almost all of the companies that the president went to, the presidents themselves listened to his idea. One of them accepted to make the invention. The company was a 50 year old metal processing company. After that, they proceeded to complete the design and product together. The horizontal bar was a sliding double tube structure, so preciseness was demanded. Because of its function-ability by saving space, being secure, and being easily removable, this product was selling well. The TV commentator emphasized the importance of meeting in person and flexibility that presidents are able to listen to new comers' ideas without any bias in this ward. His Idea #35 : Connections This story reminded him of Silicon Valley and Shenzhen. The concentration of companies enables them to give chances for new businesses. As they live near to each other, their movements are fast ~from getting ideas to completing the products. They could talk on a daily basis, so good ideas can be created easily. In the post-coronavirus world, maybe flexibility would be one of several keywords. For that, usual connections would be important.

No.436



*ward :区
*disinfectant :殺菌
*mold :型作り
*subcontractor :下請け
*fitting :付属部品
*pull-ups :懸垂
*stable :安定した
*structure :構造
*secure :不安のない
*Shenzhen :深セン