In the field of low-cost products such as electronic watches and daily necessities, there is a growing trend for Japanese companies to relocate their overseas production to Japan or to set up new factories in Japan. Casio Calculator will push the cost reduction of domestic factories in Japan to move part of overseas production back In Japan, due to rising labor costs in Asia, the cost gap between home and abroad has been shrinking, with Japanese companies using manufacturing automation to lower the cost of their domestic factories to Asia, and Shiseido will also set up a new factory in Japan within 36 years. Make 'Made in Japan' brand appeal for global sales.
Casio increased production of electronic watches in Japan
Casio will increase Japan's domestic production of watches sold at around US $ 20 in all countries in the world and now produce substantially the same quantity at all four factories including Japan's Yamagata Prefecture, Thailand and China 2. In the future, The factory will push forward the automation investment and increase the monthly production capacity of 100,000 units to more than two times, and will relocate a part of the Asian factory production line whose labor costs are rising within 3 years to the Yamagata Plant.
By the summer of this year, the Yamagata plant will fully automate the assembly of 13 processes at the core of the watch, the module (composite parts), and the process responsible for the exterior and strap mounting. The investment will amount to several hundred million yen .It is expected to reduce the number of employees below 1 / 5th, Casio said: 'The manufacturing costs can be the same as Thailand, which is only 1/4 of Japan's', allegedly lower than the labor costs particularly high in Asian countries China.
Casio watches, around $ 20, are long-time best-selling products made about 30 years ago, accounting for more than 10% of Cascades' overall annual output of about 44 million, and recently, though cheap, Good Positive reviews, popular worldwide as 'Cheap Casio'.
In addition, "Made in Japan" has been positively evaluated for the high quality, and the number of foreigners who buy cosmetic products from Japanese companies is also increasing. Shiseido is the first Japanese company in Japan to build 36 years in Tochigi Prefecture to build 'Made in Japan' at the core of its competitiveness. new factory.
'Made in Japan' return to focus
Prior to this, as globalization moved its manufacturing base overseas to Japan's manufacturing industry, it has started to adjust its base layout in the light of the ever-decreasing cost of labor costs both at home and abroad. China's wages have risen more than three times in 2005 , Southeast Asia countries are also continuing to rise.However, there are industry differences in the return of production to Japan in the cost of labor costs accounted for a lower proportion of the product areas, the production may return to Japan, but requires a lot of manpower in the apparel industry is very difficult .
As automation technology, production line province as possible, in Japan, but also easy to reduce manufacturing costs, which will promote the return of production trends in Japan Canon is building Miyazaki Prefecture in about 9 years the first domestic new factory. The camera's new factory will introduce automated production lines to enhance cost competitiveness.
However, the return of production to Japan can not be achieved in all industries, for example, low-cost, labor-intensive garment enterprises have difficulty relocating their production bases back to Japan because the production of garments basically depends entirely on manual operations and is difficult to automate Many garment companies in Japan are continuing to relocate their bases from China to less labor-intensive areas such as Southeast Asia.
Currently, the demand for 'Made in Japan' is on a global scale in the field of high-quality cosmetics and home appliances, and Japanese companies will find it hard to maintain their competitiveness in the face of rising demand. How to Reduce Domestic Production Costs in Japan? The front line also needs to promote innovative forces such as automation.