Takaaki Adachi (EPO sales manager (YAMAGATA (THAILAND) Co., Ltd.)) was interviewed by news clip (a Japanese general informational magazine in Thailand). Contents of the interview were published prominently on page 6 of the 10th October 2006 issue.
The headquarters in Japan was set up in 1906, beginning its translation services in Yokohama where there were many foreign ships. Currently, besides the planning, system development, contents creation, printing centering on manuals such as automobile owner's manual or instruction manuals for home electronic appliances, the business focuses on digital solutions such as software production. We have 11 bases within Japan and 16 bases overseas in Europe, Southeast-Asia and China.
Established in 1995 when Japanese manufacturers' rushed to enter the Thai market, the company started printing services mainly in the production of manuals. In 2001, it set up a factory in Bangpoo in Samutprakarn prefecture near Bangkok.
Printing business makes up 90% of sales. Within the printing business, manual creation makes up 60%, while commercial printing makes up the remaining 40%. We also offer kitting services like packaging and bagging manuals. Sales of digital solutions in Thailand just started this May. Efforts are also being put into creation of animation for business purposes using flash player. For example, animated lessons for staffs to learn about the assembly & dismantling of machines or company regulations. We would very much like to introduce in future our software, content management system (CMS) that allows staffs to uploaded the company's high-quality website easily.
While we expect the demands for animation for business use to increase in future in Thailand, competition has become very fierce in Japan. We would like to introduce our 'proposal model' that can determine the customers' needs and timing. The printing industry itself is transforming rapidly from analogue to digital format but on the other hand, there is a re-realization of the benefits which only paper can give. We would like to introduce services that coincides with the new movement called 'The fusion of manual and digital' while keeping in line with the times.