Corporate
Profile

[Company strength]
We have an extensive track record in precious metal plating in a wide range of fields from watches and ornaments to catheters and other medical instruments. Our company is well-known in Japan and abroad for the surface treatment (plating) of musical instruments. We receive many orders, including orders for single-piece production. We receive almost half of these orders from outside Japan. Techniques are passed down securely from older people with accumulated experience to competent young engineers. Our young engineers also continue to pursue supercritical nano-plating and other new surface treatment technologies.

[Business description]
Precious metal plating: Medical instruments, precision equipment, electronic equipment, musical instruments, ornaments, watches, stationery, etc. (Au, Pt, Rd, Pd, Ag, Cu, Ru, etc.) Electroless plating: Electronic and optical parts, etc. 
Ion plating: Medical instruments, housing equipment, hairdressing equipment, fishing tackle, ornaments, etc. 
Titanium material anodization: Medical equipment, etc. 
Various kinds of joint research involving surface treatment, such as plating and ion plating.

[Industry]
Surface treatment

[Strength of products/technologies]
Our company supports a wide variety of colors by using in-house plating solutions. We can form highly uniform films on items that are made of various materials and that have complicated shapes. Our technology has also gained high trust and evaluation from customers in the field of medical instruments, particularly with regard to precious metal plating. Our ion plating coats items with a hard, thin titanium film and enables various kinds of coloring. The combination of wet and dry surface treatment processes also enables surface treatment for difficult-to-plate materials that could not have been realized otherwise.

[Representative's message]
There are few companies that have as many precious metal plating solutions as we do, even outside Japan. We are also highly appreciated by overseas customers because we can manufacture even a single piece of one product. We are sometimes invited into overseas markets by word-of-mouth communication or through our website and exhibitions. The combination of product processing and surface treatment in Japan is highly appreciated in terms of quality. Our indirect transactions with overseas companies are increasing. We are developing new technologies and strengthening our painstaking services to stay on the crest of the wave. We will introduce the charms of Japan's Monozukuri craftsmanship throughout the world while protecting employment in Japan.

[Company structure for market development/overseas expansion]
We devise our display methods to attract the attention of more visitors at exhibitions visited by many overseas customers. We are receiving an increasing number of questions and inquiries from overseas companies. Many overseas customers become interested in plating solutions and processing methods unique to our company. This is why we are strengthening our sales division to expand in overseas markets by publicizing our unique technologies while remaining committed to production in Japan.

[Market share/Ranking]
High-grade watches and medical instruments: We have several dozen years of history in the watch business. In the medical instrument business we hold an unchallenged position in the gold plating of catheters.
According to a customer (a musical instrument manufacturer), we are the top manufacturer in the musical instrument industry, but we have no statistical data.
*We have also established a unique position in the field of precious metal plating.


[Awards and media coverage]
[Awards] 
300 of Japan's Vibrant Monozukuri (Manufacturing) SMEs 2007, selection by The Small and Medium Enterprise Agency, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. 

[Media] 
Nikkei Sangyo Shimbun, "Enters in different industry: Tactics and opportunities of winning" (September 25, 2013, page 9); Nihon Keizai Shimbun, "Successor saves the family business" (January 11, 2014, page 33); Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun, "Discussion by woman employees brilliant in Sainokuni (Saitama)" (December 12, 2013, part 2, page 1).


[Authorization/Certification]
ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certification.

[Joint research and development]
Patents pending: 2 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application 1998-192012, Decorative Blue Film Forming Method and Ornaments; Japanese Unexamined Patent Application 2006-095503, Transparent Germanium Forming Method for Precious Metals).

[Main Clients / Business History (domestic)]
Plant designated by SEIKO (1958).Designated by Citizen Watch and Orient Watch for gold plating (1958).

[Main Clients / Business History (overseas)]
Indirect delivery. (Many of our products are sold overseas through a musical instrument manufacturer, but the exact quantity and ratio are unknown. Many ornaments and watches are also sold outside Japan, but the quantity and ratio are unknown.)