The Global UD Trucks Customer Magazine #032013

LOOKING SHARP:VOGUE LAUNDRY IN HONG KONG

P04 Driver training in South Africa

P10UD Trucks’ fuel-saving “rolling laboratory”

P15Customized truck painting in Japan

To give our customers what they want plus a little more.

That’s what “going the extra mile” means to us.

We leave nothing to chance.

Our customers enjoy the peace of mind that comes with

knowing they have the best possible solution.

Our aim is to be the most committed partner—to go

the extra mile in everything we do.

To learn more about the difference UD Trucks can make

for your business, visit www.udtrucks.com or contact

your nearest UD Trucks dealership.

Together, we’ll go further.

04 Feature Story

On the road with a UD driver trainerDerick Moima shows up-and-coming drivers how to save fuel in South Africa.

06 Cover Story

Looking sharp in Hong Kong: Vogue LaundryA look at the logistics of the laundry business in one of the world’s busiest cities.

10 Event

The Tokyo Motor Show and The Dream MachineUnder the theme of “Going the Extra Mile,” UD Trucks aims to impress at this year’s Tokyo Motor Show, which will include the Quon Fuel Demonstrator, UD’s cutting-edge testing ground for fuel-saving technology.

12 Feature Story

Island hopping in IndonesiaJoin Parani, a freight-forwarding business, as it moves vehicles around Indonesia’s many islands.

15 Production

Custom coats: Life in 2900 colorsA visit to the UD Trucks’ Japanese paint shop in Ageo, Saitama Prefecture, reveals how high-quality painting is achieved.

18 Tradition

Shokon – The Japanese entrepreneurial spiritAn examination of the forces behind some of Japan’s greatest entrepreneurs, including UD Trucks founder Kenzo Adachi.

#03 | 2013

Contributors to this issue:

Cover photograph: Gerhard Jörén

Roads is published three times per year by UD Trucks Corporationudtrucks.com

PublisherPer Sundström Per.Sundstrom@volvo.com Tel: +81-48-726-7601

Editorial ProductionNext Inc.roads@nextinc.comwww.nextinc.comTel: +81-3-6436-4270

Editor-in-Chief Kjell Fornander

Executive Editor Tyler Rothmar

Art Director Koichi Asano

Production ManagerKazumi Umezawa

Printed in Japan

Putting customers first

As customer and technical support director, I am very pleased to be able to introduce this issue of Roads.

My team and I are chiefly responsible for solving technical issues on our customers’ trucks through troubleshooting. We travel often, which puts us where we most want to be: in touch with our customers. Every day on the job presents different challenges, and we often do not know what issues will be waiting for us when we arrive at the office.

On the other hand, we get a close-up view of the needs of our customers in different markets, which is invaluable. Being directly involved with solving problems and ensuring uptime and customer satisfaction is what makes my job rewarding.

Based on my knowledge of UD customers, I think I can say there is something for everyone in this issue of Roads. You’ll find a story detailing the ever-busy laundry business in Hong Kong, and another about the unique challenges of vehicle transportation in Indonesia. You can also ride along with a UD driver trainer in South Africa!

And for people with an interest in Japan, there is a look at the Japanese entrepreneurial spirit, a story about precision custom truck painting and news about the Tokyo Motor Show.

I hope you enjoy!

Marielle EdgrenDirector for Technical and Customer Support

Asia Pacific Region

Rob GilhoolyRob Gilhooly is a Tokyo-based

writer and photographer with 19 years experience in journalism

and an MA in the subject. His photos and stories have appeared

in publications around the globe.

Gerhard JörénSwedish photographer Gerhard Jörén has spent the last 25 years in Asia covering news and features across the region. He currently lives in Bangkok.

Jette KristiansenOriginally from Denmark, Jette Kristiansen is a freelance writer based in Cape Town covering African affairs for a range of Scandinavian magazines.

01. UD Driver Trainer Derick Moima explains fuel-efficient driving.

02. BB Trucks Dealer Principal Willie Linde with Derick Moima.

03. Derick Moima demonstrates the finer points of shifting.

UD Trucks Southern Africa’s Derick Moima discusses how better driving can save large sums in fuel.

Text: Jette Kristiansen Photos: Toby Selander

ne of my clients used to use 75 litres of diesel per 100 kilometers. After their drivers went on a training programme, their fuel consumption went down to 45

litres per 100 kilometers,” says driving instructor Derick Moima.

Moima is one of UD Trucks Southern Africa’s trump cards. For 25 years, the last 13 with UD, he has taught generations of professional drivers how to drive trucks safely and economically.

“I have my own local driving instructors, but when it comes to my most important clients, I turn to Derick,” says Willie Linde, dealer principal at BB Trucks in Middelburg, Mpumalanga.

“I’ve known Derick for five years. Our friendship goes back to my days as National Sales Manager at UD Trucks. I know he’s very good at communicating with the drivers as well as with the drivers’ managers, our clients,” says Linde.

Moima’s training sessions usually start with a few hours of theoretical training in the classroom followed by individual driving lessons that last between 30 minutes to four hours, depending on the driver’s needs. This is followed up by an individual report and a feedback meeting with the company managers.

Occasionally, Moima has been known to follow some of his students in his own car in traffic, to see if they remember what he taught them.

Driving skills and fuel billsMoima’s main aim is to give his students an understanding of the most economical way of driving in

“Oterms of speed and load. “You must always use automatic [gears]. The manual gearbox is only for driving up and down a hill. To save fuel, you must stay at 80 kilometers per hour,” he cautions.

Moima is an experienced man. He knows the trucking business inside out. Not only does he know most roads in South Africa, but he also teaches in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique, Swaziland, Lesotho, Namibia, Angola, Mauritius and Botswana. Being able to speak 12 languages doesn’t hurt either.

“In places like Zambia and Zimbabwe, where the speed limit is higher than 80 kilometers per hour, it’s hard to convince them to drive slower. Also when they drive with a light load they want to go fast,” says Moima.

At soft drinks manufacturer Twizza, they are discussing different methods to improve driving skills and achieve better economic fuel consumption.

“The legal speed limit for trucks in South Africa is 80, so anything faster than that would be illegal anyway,” says Twizza Logistics Manager Wilhelm Lategan.

“We have tracking devices installed in the trucks so we can follow every vehicle and monitor speed compliance. Since September 1 this year we’ve implemented driver briefing & debriefing for every trip, where we follow up on driver behaviour. We don’t accept any speeding. We’ve already seen improvement in driving patterns and I’m looking forward to seeing

the savings on our fuel bill,” says Lategan.

A lot has changed since Moima first started out as a driving instructor 25 years ago. The roads are better, but there is also much more traffic. The trucks are better, easier to drive and much more comfortable, but business is tough in many places, which means more pressure on the drivers.

“This job keeps changing. It’s a new situation every year: new trucks, new rules, new people,” says Derick. And that’s the way he likes it.

On the road with a UDdriver trainer

01

02

04 #03 | 2013

03

“This job keeps changing.

It’s a new situation every year: new trucks,

new rules, new people.” Derick Moima

05 #03 | 2013

Feature Story

Looking sharp in Hong Kong:

Roads checks in with Vogue Laundry to hear how they keep Hong Kong looking good on a commercial scale.

Text: Tyler Rothmar

Photos: Gerhard Jörén Vogue Laundry

06 #03 | 2013

Touching down into the heart of Hong Kong’s exuberant bustle, energy is everywhere. The pulse of commerce can be felt on the street and in the city’s restaurants

and shops.Sixteen years after its return to China,

however, Hong Kong is still getting used to the influx of new people, policy and business from the mainland. The city is perennially busy, and evidence of its constant growth and change is everywhere. As the famous skyline recedes in the mirror on the way to Tuen Mun in the New Territories, many of the trucks on the road are showing their age.

Earlier this year, the government announced HK$10 billion (about $1.3 billion) in subsidies to encourage owners of some 80,000 outdated commercial vehicles to update to more fuel-efficient and low-emission models. Despite air quality and other challenges that come with growth, there is a palpable optimism, an upbeat feeling that it will all come out in the wash.

Enter VogueLocated in Tuen Mun, Vogue began as a small retail shop doing laundry and dry cleaning. Next year, it will celebrate its 50th anniversary. From humble beginnings, Vogue has grown into one of the largest commercial laundry companies in Hong Kong, and counts major hotels, clubs and airlines, including parent company Cathay Pacific, among its customers.

As with any large city, laundry is big

07 #03 | 2013

Cover Story

business. “Some old-style hotels still maintain in-house laundry facilities,” says Manager Marketing & Sales Emily Kam. “But as space is at a premium in Hong Kong, most of them outsource their laundry services.”

To keep customers happy, Vogue concentrates on the quality of its cleaning services and the efficiency of its network of pickup and delivery teams. Keeping the hotels, restaurants and airlines of Hong Kong looking good is an important job that keeps everyone on their toes.

Challenges“Manpower is very expensive here,” says Logistics Manager Alan Yiu. A statutory minimum wage of HK$30 (about $3.80) has been in place since May 2013, intensifying already fierce competition for skilled, licensed drivers. In classic Hong Kong style, workers often “shop around” for the best employment conditions, and turnover is high.

Vogue’s fleet is comprised primarily of UD trucks. “I enjoy driving them,” says Chak Hung, a 10-year veteran Vogue driver whose routes change from day to day according to customers’ needs. “The trucks are very stable, regardless of whether they’re empty or full, and the cab is quiet and comfortable.” Vogue observes a strict environmental policy; it was among the first companies in Hong Kong to have a 10-ton Euro 5 emission standard-compliant truck, and drivers like Chak Hung are careful never to let the engine idle.

Another challenge comes in the form of route planning. “Each customer has their own unique scheduling needs that we need to meet for collection and delivery, and this means very careful planning to make sure we’re running efficiently,” says

Yiu. “Sometimes those details change, and when they do, everything needs to be juggled and reorganized. Our organization never stops. It runs 24 hours.” Each truck’s daily route takes it over about 200 kilometers of Hong Kong’s roads. Add to this other variables such as traffic jams and typhoons, and the magnitude of Yiu’s task starts to become clear.

Not uniforms, “Collections”The Chinese government’s recent relaxation of visa regulations for people from the mainland has led to a sharp increase in hotel occupancy. “There used to be a ‘summer peak’ when the numbers of tourists were

01

02

Vogue Laundry Service Limited

Total employees: About 600

Pickup & Delivery Staff: 57 drivers, 100 delivery staff

Number of trucks: 27

Relationship with UD: Vogue Laundry has used UD

trucks for 20 years. Currently, 80% of its fleet is UD,

primarily the GVW 10.4-ton MKB.

Volume: About 75 tons, or 270,000 individual items,

each day

Retail shops: 9 on Hong Kong Island, one each in Kow-

loon and the New Territories

08 #03 | 2013

01. Veteran Vogue Laundry Driver Chak Hung on his daily rounds.

02. Left: Emily Kam, Manager, Marketing & Sales; Right: Logistics Manager Alan Yiu.

03. A Vogue Laundry vehicle makes its rounds.

highest,” says Kam. “After that, we had two months to rest a bit before gearing up for Chinese New Years. Now, there’s no time to rest. Our customers’ hotels are constantly full and we work around the clock.”

This spike in tourism has meant more money for the major hotels, many of which have since undergone renovation and other overhauls, including uniforms. Kam explains: “In some cases, it’s not even called a uniform. Real designers are hired for the staff’s clothing. Rather than a uniform, they refer to it as a ‘collection.’”

Such ‘collections’ are often made from unique fabrics and have special cleaning

requirements, especially for kitchen staff, whose uniforms are white and thus most vulnerable to the kind of staining that can only happen during food preparation. Specialization at such delicate cleaning is one of the reasons Vogue has been able to thrive.

On the up and upWith plans to move to a new facility in 2016, including investments in new cleaning technology and the capacity to process a larger volume on a daily basis, everyone at Vogue is excited about the future. “Hong Kong is growing, and we aim to grow along with it,” says Yiu.

“ Each customer has their own unique scheduling needs that we need to meet for collection and delivery.” Alan Yiu, Logistics Manager

03

09 #03 | 2013

Cover Story

In November, 2013, an exciting project made a dramatic debut at the Tokyo Motor Show: the Quon Fuel Demonstrator, an experimental truck at the forefront of the fight to keep fuel costs low.

At a glance it’s clear that this is no ordinary truck. The shapes of the wind deflector and front spoiler have been optimized, and low-hanging skirts flank the wheels. “The basic idea is to make the truck more fuel efficient, and one of the methods is to reduce

aerodynamic drag, hence these changes,” says Vehicle Productivity Manager Elie Garcia.

The Quon Demo is a dream machine of sorts, what Garcia and his team call a “rolling laboratory.” On it, the most ambitious ideas at the vanguard of the pursuit of optimal fuel efficiency are tested. Those that are proven get tempered by real-world conditions in various segments and incorporated into the trucks we see each day.

Garcia, an engineer, started his career working for the Volvo Group in Lyon, France, in 1999. The cutting edge is always moving forward, he says, and he has seen it come a long way. “A long time ago, we didn’t use extensively what we call Computational Fluid Dynamics,”—a computer simulation that can measure and compare

aerodynamics data, reducing the need for an expensive wind tunnel—“which helps to improve the aerodynamics of the lower part of the truck. Now we have a much better idea of how to optimize this area.”

The project was undertaken two years ago with the stipulation that the changes had to be practical, which is to say, realizable, on a normal truck. The Quon Demo is a 12-meter, 6x2 CD, a segment that is central to UD Trucks. “If it was so long that it exceeded the 12-meter regulation, the shape of the cab would have to change. There would be a nose, for example. But we didn’t take this approach because we wanted to stay within the frame of the current regulations, and because of the limited scope of the project in terms of budget and time. So we focused on what real differences we could make within that frame.”

Yet there is more to the innovation of the Quon Demo than meets the eye. While the long skirts serve aerodynamic considerations,

The Dream MachineText: Tyler Rothmar

“ When you work with fuel consumption, if you want to reach over 10 percent reduction, you have to work on everything.” Elie Garcia, Vehicle Productivity Manager

10 #03 | 2013

they are quite heavy, which decreases the truck’s overall payload. To offset this drawback, the 11-liter GH11 engine, which would normally power a truck of this size, is replaced by a smaller 11-liter displacement engine.

Drivability remains high due to sequenced dual turbo chargers that supply the engine with enough air to make up for the power difference between the models. “In other words,” explains Garcia, “the engine has less weight, nearly the same power, optimized fuel economy, and of course less cost.”

The overall aim is to achieve over 10 percent improvement in fuel efficiency, a daunting goal to say the least. The team’s ambitions are driven in part by anticipation of the next wave of Japanese emission regulations, which will arrive in 2017. “When you work with fuel consumption, if you want to reach over 10 percent reduction, you have to work on everything. Some items are only worth 0.1 percent – but we still work on them. Put them together, and the effect is significant,” Garcia explains.

“We’re testing and learning, and this truck will actually run on the open road. Some of the features are excellent, really profitable. Others are more expensive and don’t pay off so well, and we let them pass. This is true research and development, so it’s very exciting.”

Since 1954, the Tokyo Motor Show has been a worldwide draw for customers, makers and journalists, making it an excellent opportunity for UD Trucks to showcase its products, vision, attitude and efforts to past and potential customers alike.

Text: Kjell Fornander

Tokyo Motor Show:Pulling out the stops

ur theme for the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show was “Going the Extra Mile.” We wanted to deliver two important messages: First, our

new vision and customer approach. Second is our focus on helping the customer in their quest for profitability,” says Nobuhiko Kishi, Vice President of Product Strategy at UD Trucks.

For customers in mature markets, a Quon truck was on hand to represent UD’s commitment to keeping operation costs low. “Quon is a very precise tool made for mature markets,” explains Kishi. “It was designed for very specific efficiency requirements in targeted markets such as Japan.”

Interactive stations allowed visitors to experience how Quon’s celebrated ESCOT-V (automated manual transmission) works and the benefits of Nenpio, a guidance system that helps drivers to operate in the engine’s optimum revolution range. “With Nenpio, it’s easily possible to improve fuel consumption by up to 20 percent,” says Kishi.

Meet QuesterA Quester truck was present for customers from UD’s growth markets. “Quester is developed and optimized for growth markets and the various road conditions and applications that occur there,” notes Kishi. Available in seven configurations from 4x2 to 8x4 with a variety of engine and gearbox options, the new truck’s high level of customizability makes it a game-changer in Asia.

“The traditional view is that UD is fuel efficient and reliable, and this

is true. But at this Tokyo Motor Show, we wanted to let people know about our longstanding commitment to innovation and to giving customers the most

up-to-date tools with which to be profitable,” says Kishi.

“O

Nobuhiko Kishi, Vice President of Product Strategy

01. The Quon Fuel Demonstrator, ready for action.

02. Vehicle Productivity Manager Elie Garcia

01

02

#03 | 2013 11

Event

Island hopping in Indonesia Text: Chris Taylor

Photos: Gerhard Jörén

Among the fast-growing emergent economies, the world’s largest archipelago nation presents some unique logistics challenges in keeping up with the ever-expanding appetite for vehicles of Indonesia’s middle class.

In a country as crowded and vast as Indonesia, Arief Rachman’s freight-forwarding business faces a host of obstacles, but none so formidable as what he and other locals call the “jumping badgers” of Sumatra, the equatorial island directly

north of Java. “Thieves,” says Arief, with a rueful shake of his head

and a quiet laugh. “They hide in the trees and jump down onto freight trucks to hijack them.”

When asked if his company, Parani, has ever been a victim, he replies in the affirmative.

“They took everything: the truck, the shipment of cars and the driver’s life.”

Fortunately, it is a tragedy that has only occurred once—five years ago—in all Parani’s 50 years of business, but it is a reminder of the sheer size and “exotic” wildness of Indonesia, a necklace of some 17,500 islands that stretch 5,000 kilometers on either side of the equator. About 6,000 of those islands are inhabited, together comprising the world’s most populous Islamic nation, with around 240 million people.

Even in Jakarta, the traffic-choked capital, the transport

12 #03 | 2013

INDONESIA

MataramJakarta

SurabayaMALAYSIA

PHILIPPINESIsland hopping in Indonesia

A Pirani truck transports a shipment of new cars through the streets of Jakarta, Indonesia.

infrastructure is stretched to its limits, but in other parts of the country, while “jumping badgers” are rare, other unusual holdups for long-haul trucks are not: among them are marriage ceremonies and makeshift village markets, both of which can involve commandeering a remote stretch of road for hours at a time because the villagers regard the roads as part of their land.

“We need to allocate time,” says Arief of the business he inherited from his father, which transports automobiles and motorcycles by truck from point of manufacturer, or port of arrival, to point of sales. “Drivers need two

days to reach Surabaya, 780 kilometers to the south [on Java, home of the capital, Jakarta], and four days to reach Mataram [on Lombok, 1,055 kilometers to the southeast].”

At 45, married with one son, Arief lives close to his office. He is dressed in Indonesia’s national men’s attire—a casual, open-neck batik shirt and slacks. He gives the impression of a man completely in control of his business—a business that has grown in scope to encompass Indonesia’s rapidly growing automobile industry, with distribution networks stretching north and

13 #03 | 2013

Feature Story

“ Parani has been the right company at the right time.“

Pirani’s drivers spend long hours on the road and enjoy the comforts of UD trucks.

Pirani head Arief Rachman in his office in Jakarta.

Life on the roadDriver Slamet Riyadi hails from Pemalang, East Java. He has a craggy

smile and has driven the Jakarta-Surabaya route by truck more times

than he can count. He’s also

quick to sing the praises of UD

trucks, the brakes, the seating,

the comfort, how the truck

performs on the road, the

fuel efficiency—“And it has a

radio!”

The only thing he wouldn’t

mind a bit more of, he says, is

horsepower. At one point, on a hill on the road out of Jakarta, his truck,

which is carrying eight Daihatsu Ayla hatchbacks, slows down to a

20-kilometer-per-hour crawl.

He travels alone, two to three days to Surabaya with a full truck and

two days back with an empty one. For as long as anyone can remember,

it has been against the rules for Parani trucks to travel by night.

Sometimes the slings and hooks that hold the cars in place develop

problems, but he’s trained to fix them.

Does he have a complaint? The roads: too many potholes—oh, and

the horsepower, a little more would be good, but he’s mentioned that

already, and he’s got a truck and eight cars to get to Surabaya.

south of the equator. “We have 650 trucks, and about the same number of

drivers,” Arief says, adding that about 200 trucks in the fleet are UD trucks.

“UD is an easy choice,” he says. “They make the drivers happy because servicing them is easy, and there are plenty of service points.”

Parani has been the right company at the right time. Currently, it freights some 15,000 automobiles and 75,000 motorcycles per month. But with the Indonesian auto industry on the cusp of exponential growth, Daihatsu and Toyota are both offering near-identical five-door hatchbacks aimed at the economy automobile

market and perfectly suited to a populous, crowded market with a budding middle class.

But growth means reaching east, to the remote but teeming and huge islands of Borneo (Kalimantan is the Indonesian sector) and Sulawesi.

“We have a ship, and we have trucks waiting for the ship,” says Arief of this next frontier: populous islands, almost forgotten by the West, but still carrying a hint of the spice trade that set ships to sail from Europe, launching globalization, some four or five centuries ago.

14 #03 | 2013

Feature Story

Roads visits the UD Trucks facility north of Tokyo for an in-depth view of UD’s famous truck paint jobs and the meticulous work behind it.

Text: Rob Gilhooly Photos: Jun Takagi

Custom coats:

Life in 2900colors

A worker at the UD Trucks plant in Ageo, Saitama Prefecture, checks the accuracy of a paint design.

15 #03 | 2013

Production

01. Moving right along: Truck cabs on the assembly line await quality inspections.

02. Precision taping done by hand accommodates a wide variety of high-quality designs.

02

01

There’s a look of satisfaction on the face of Tatsuo Saitou as he pulls open the doors of a grey cabinet and points to three shelves choc-a-bloc with green and blue files. He removes one and thumbs through the contents,

which show printed diagrams of a variety of truck paint designs.

There are, he says, 1900 and counting, each one unique. “There’s nothing we can’t do,” says Saitou, general foreman of the Body Section at UD Trucks’ facility in Ageo, Saitama Prefecture, as he casts an expert eye over the documents. “We have never once turned a customer away.”

Right on cue, a buzzer sounds and Saitou gestures toward workers wearing grey caps and mint green jackets on the production line who are taping precision masking stencils on two Quon cabs. On the wall above them, monitors display computer-generated images of the designs they will produce during the penultimate phase of UD’s Genuine Custom Paint system.

UD introduced its GCP in 2002 in an attempt to accurately and speedily replicate clients’ design requests. To date, the painting line at the company’s manufacturing facility in Ageo has furnished over 30,000 cabs, averaging at around 240 per month.

According to Body Section Manager Kenji Odaguchi, the seeds of the GCP idea were sown when it was discovered that clients were taking their newly delivered UD trucks to be graphically embellished at independent body spray facilities.

“The information coming in from clients was that the luster and quality offered by these places was

somewhat lacking,” says Odaguchi, a 36-year UD employee. “What’s more, those factories would only paint the exterior of the cab, which convinced us we could offer a far superior level of quality.”

This was demonstrated in the system’s ability to paint both the cab’s exterior and interior and by the vast range of colors available, which totals some 2,900 varieties. UD is also the only truckmaker to accept single unit orders, meaning clients, including a government ministry and a large express delivery outfit, don’t have to delay new truck requests to comply with the multiple order requirements of other companies, Odaguchi says.

“There are companies who want to keep their truck designs constant,” he says, explaining why each design is documented for future reference. “This system allows us to respond to their expectations.”

The system, says Odaguchi, was the outcome of

16 #03 | 2013

04

05

04. A worker sprays a truck component by hand.

05. A worker looks for flaws under special lighting conditions approximating daylight.

03. Body Section General Foreman Tatsuo Saitou (left) and Body Section Manager Kenji Odaguchi (right)

UD’s carefully orchestrated integration of six companies dealing with domestic operations, production administration, painting technology, production control, order process control and that all-important place in Japanese manufacturing known as gemba, or “on site” -- in this instance, the factory floor. They

worked together to create a total environment that could effectively respond to even the smallest orders.

An important factor for gemba operators was the computer-generated design cut-outs that facilitated a drastic reduction in lead time – imperative when complying to single-unit orders. While some designs

can take as long as 18 hours to complete, other less complex ones can take as little as 30 minutes, Saitou says. “I don’t think it’s possible for other companies to replicate our setup,” he added.

Part of the process is a meticulous inspection for flaws in the finish, mostly brought about by dust particles. Using lighting set at 1800 lux – which approximates daylight – gloved workers move around the cab and literally feel for flaws. What they don’t find through touch is uncovered using handy lights that further illuminate the contoured areas of a vehicle.

The blemishes uncovered during this check, which is undertaken by staff who are tested monthly to monitor their flaw-detecting capabilities – are indicated by pieces of masking tape and subsequently erased by a hand-held polishing device. It comes as little surprise to hear that the monthly defect rate is a staggering 0.5 percent. Customer feedback has been extremely positive, and 80 percent of clients become repeat customers.

“I think this system is a huge source of pride for the company,” said Odaguchi. “We demand the same paint quality as passenger vehicles, and we want our customers to understand that we work hard to maintain the high quality standards for which UD Trucks is known.”

“There’s nothing we can’t do. We have never once

turned a customer away.”Tatsuo Saitou, Body Section General Foreman

03

17 #03 | 2013

Production

Former pilot and UD Trucks founder Kenzo Adachi

According to the unwritten rules that govern major Japanese companies, presidents usually come from within an organization’s ranks. The Western practice of bringing in a leader from

outside remains relatively rare. In Japan, presidents are typically a product of the particular corporate culture in which they have nurtured their careers for decades.

Generally speaking, those who reach the top tend to get there via one of two paths: the engineering and technical side, or the somu or administrative side, including general affairs, personnel and accounting, which is thought to have an understanding of the organization’s human resources and financial strengths and weaknesses.

Regardless of background however, such leaders tend to be endowed with the attribute known as shokon. The word is written with two characters: 商(sho), meaning “commerce,” and 魂 (kon), which means “spirit.” This crucial phrase is usually rendered in English as “entrepreneurial spirit.” The concept of shokon is inextricably linked to the Japanese economy in the postwar era, and gave rise to some of the largest companies of the last 60 years.

Shokon is not limited to age, educational background or social class. It was present in Soichiro Honda, a bicycle repairman who went on to manufacturer motorcycles and cars. A navy engineer named Akio Morita, who set up a radio business that became a worldwide brand, had it as well. And it was shokon that drove Momofuku Ando to experiment in his home kitchen until he developed the edible and tasty instant noodles that are sold by the billions today.

So it was, too, with Kenzo Adachi, the founder of

UD Trucks. A former military pilot, he was convinced that Japan needed tough, reliable diesel trucks, and licensed the Krupp-Junkers engine patent from the German manufacturer. Within three years of his founding Nihon Diesel Industries Ltd., Adachi produced the 60-horsepower ND1, which powered the first-generation 3.5-ton capacity model LD1 truck he launched in 1939.

At that time, Mr. Adachi personally joined other employees on a punishing 13-day test drive on some of Japan’s worst roads. When word spread of his hands-on efforts to prove his trucks’ durability, reliability and efficiency, customers took notice.

Konosuke Matsushita, founder of the electric industrial group known today as Panasonic, was also a prolific writer and thinker who embodied shokon in his management style. In a book titled “Open the Way to Chart Your Destiny,” published in English in 2009, he wrote: “In our work there are various qualities that we try to cultivate, but surely the foremost is a sincere enthusiasm for what we do. Knowledge is important. Talent is important, but even without either of them, you could get the job done. With but minimal knowledge and little talent, if you were determined to complete the task, and filled with the determination to do so, you would ultimately be able to make the work come out well. . . Know-how and talent would be next to nothing without passion for work.”

In short, shokon is much more than a campaign slogan. It is a view of business conduct that encompasses enthusiasm, pride in good work and making the customer feel good about doing business together.

In an ongoing series that looks into elements of Japanese culture, Roads examines a key Japanese leadership quality, shokon, the enterprising drive behind many of the nation’s most celebrated entrepreneurs, including UD Trucks founder Kenzo Adachi.Text: Mark Schreiber

ShokonThe Japanese entrepreneurial spirit

18 #03 | 2013

[Shokon]

19 #03 | 2013

Tradition

Run further with genuine oil

UD Trucks genuine lubricants

are formulated for UD engines

to ensure maximum

protection for your truck.

Their superior lubricating

and cooling performance

reduces your fuel costs

thanks to lower friction

and power losses.

UD Trucks genuine oil fi lters deliver better

protection against wear, corrosion and deposits.

That means longer intervals between oil changes

and, best of all, costs savings in the long run.

UD Trucks. Going the extra mile.

291-0078_UD_Aftermarket_Ad_ROADS_210x297.indd 2 2013-10-03 09:36