Corporate
Profile

[Company strength]
Our company is mainly engaged in single part production rather than mass production. Piano parts are not longer than 1600 mm, so companies that usually engage in piano coating cannot polish longer parts with their existing machines, and do so manually. However, our company mirror-coats even larger fixtures with our unique efforts and by making the most of our available mechanical power. We have polished products up to 5000 mm long. We are always improving our existing machines ourselves. We produce hand-made tools, and make various on-site improvements to apply mechanical power even to other complicated forms. This is how we can provide higher-quality technologies earlier than other companies. We excel at high-mix low-volume production.

[Business description]
[Mirror coating business] We spent almost 30 years of our 50-year history since 1962 mainly coating pianos of various brands. We are now extending our business by manufacturing high-grade customized products. We also provide after-sales maintenance regarding mirror-coated fixtures, such as recoating and repolishing.
[PIAX Board business] Our PIAX Board service is a technology extended from piano mirror coating. We place a photo or any other object on a wooden board and repeatedly coat it with a polyester resin to embed it in a mirror coating.  
[Woodwork coating business] Our company applies urethane coating, urethane mirror coating, and cashew lacquer coating. We treat fixtures for commercial facilities and stores, customized furniture for public facilities, and customized furniture and building materials for private homes. We also recoat woodwork products if a customer strongly requests it.


[Industry]
Wooden product manufacturing (including coating)

[Strength of products/technologies]
Polyester mirror finishing used for pianos and the like features a smooth, brilliant surface and a dignified tactile feeling. This coating is as durable as piano coating. We spray polyester resin by adjusting the coating thickness according to the material properties, temperature, and humidity. The coating is polished after drying by changing the sandpaper roughness according to the coating thickness and hardness. This is done to eliminate irregularities and make the surface glossy like a mirror. The coating is polished until its thickness becomes about 0.3 to 0.8 mm. This is a very advanced technology requiring dozens of years to master. We developed a technology for embedding a photo or any other object as an extended technology from piano mirror coating (Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 2144022). The object is placed on a wooden board with a smooth undercoating and a polyester resin is repeatedly applied to cover it. We developed our PIAX Board product by using this technology. They say that the most important thing in the Olympics is to participate, which is to say that our company’s technology does not get rusty. Our products are also resistant to discoloration and oxidation, and remain beautiful because they are not directly exposed to the air after blending and coating with the UV coating agent.

[Representative's message]
Our company name represents our wish to extending piano coating technology to the unknown (X). We withdrew from the piano industry completely about 10 years ago and are now mainly engaged in single part production rather than mass production. Darwin said, "It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change." This is our corporate philosophy. We are located in Hamamatsu, which is a town of musical instruments where a globally famous piano manufacturer was born. Our idea is to apply this traditional coating technology born from the piano industry to various products. This is done to let people know about its excellent quality and to pass the technology down to future generations. We receive many inquiries from wealthy people with an artistic sensibility as well as artists. We believe that first-class people are sure to understand the added value given to products by this technology.

[Company structure for market development/overseas expansion]
We are a small company but we have extensive experience in coating customized products as well as abundant know-how. On countless occasions we have made it possible to do work that had been refused by other companies because of its difficulty. A young employee (a former sales rep for a plastics trading firm) and a clerk (a former bank worker) handle inquiries from major companies. Engineers having 16 years and 48 years of experience are in charge of technical consulting. New customers often say that many coaters have an artisan’s pride in their work, but that our company is different. We also plan to introduce our technology to first-class people outside Japan. We will consider employing global human resources to meet inquiries from overseas companies.

[Market share/Ranking]
Market share of PIAX Board in Japan: 100%.

[Awards and media coverage]
[Awards] 
Iwashin Vibrant Company Support Network (*1): Grand Prix at the 12th Business Contest in 2013.
*1: Member organizations and Shizuoka Sangyo University, Shizuoka Institute of Science and Technology, Shizuoka University of Art and Culture, Fukuroi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Iwata Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Iwata Shinkin Bank.  

[Media] 
Shizuoka Daiichi TV, "Every Shizuoka" (February 15, 2011); TV Shizuoka, "Super News" (February 20, 2012); Nihon Keizai Shimbun, local politics and economy page (April 6, 2012); Shizuoka Shimbun (April 6, 2012, December 20, 2013, October 23, 2014); Chunichi Shimbun (October 22, 2014); SBS TV "Oshiete! Shizu Tech" (October 25, 2014).


[Authorization/Certification]
Shizuoka Prefecture Management Innovation Plan approval (2013). Toshio Obara, our representative director, was certified by Hamamatsu City as a Hamamatsu Monozukuri Meister in FY2013. This certification is for preservation and succession of excellent technologies in the area and cultivating human resources to support next-generation industries (2013).

[Transaction form]
Product processing, orders for trial manufacturing and development, joint development, and consignment processing.

[Transaction terms]
Upon consultation.

[Main Clients / Business History (domestic)]
Unable to disclose.

[Main Clients / Business History (overseas)]
Unable to disclose.