Sanpo-yoshi Communication

President's Column] Completion of New Plant

For the past few years, our factory has had no available space, which has prevented us from increasing our production capacity. As a result, we have often caused inconvenience to our customers regarding delivery times during peak seasons, and we have frequently received complaints.

We would like to once again apologize to the customers who were inconvenienced.

After many years of negotiations with Kurume City regarding a request to rezone agricultural land—which we had been leasing as a parking lot behind our factory—to allow us to build a factory there, we have finallyOKIt was only after that was issued that we were able to start construction1It’s been more than a year. The handover is finally scheduled for the end of this month.

Because construction was delayed, there were disputes and issues with the neighboring prefecture's...TSMCPerhaps due to this, construction material prices have skyrocketed, and the initial budget’s1.5This marks the largest investment in our company’s history—double the previous amount. Making such a major investment in these uncertain times—I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t afraid. The risk of losing everything that my great-grandfather, grandfather, and senior colleagues have built over the years also crosses my mind.

Since our fixed costs are set to rise significantly going forward, we are eager to secure as much work as possible as soon as possible to keep our factory running. We humbly request that you place your orders with our sales department.

On the other hand, the labor shortage is severe. While factories and machinery can be purchased by taking out loans—as long as you have the money—securing workers isn’t that simple. As I’ve written in this column before, we’re taking literally “every possible” measure to secure workers. We’ve tried and utilized virtually every recruitment service available—including hiring new graduates, mid-career professionals, foreign nationals, and alumni (re-hiring former employees), as well as referral hiring (hiring friends and acquaintances of current employees or through personal connections). We’ve also used platforms like Indeed, Timee, recruitment agencies, job search portals, and direct scouting.

At the same time, we’ve increased starting salaries and the number of annual holidays, and we believe we’ve enhanced our allowances and benefits. Even so, we’ve never been able to fully staff our positions, and people still leave when they want to. We implemented a significant pay raise last year, and it seems there’s a similar trend this spring as well.

We are currently preparing to share the insights we’ve gained regarding recruitment through these internal challenges with our clients. Please stay tuned.

There are days when we feel uncertain and afraid, but with the goal of enhancing the value we provide to our customers and improving conditions for our employees—which serves as a guiding light in the darkness—we are passionate about making our company’s largest-ever investment project a success.

We humbly ask for your continued support and encouragement, which we hope will be even greater than before.