Corporate
Profile

[Company strength]
Our biggest strength lies in the fact that everyone in our company is committed to pursuing more stable quality and higher productivity to create better products. This is visible in many areas of our business. Our procurement staff visit the country of origin to inspect raw wood and processed timber before procuring materials. Our entire company is committed to continuous improvement proposal activities, and our management makes innovative decisions. We introduced robots to the manufacturing line before our competitors did. We also have an in-house cleanliness campaign, as a result of which our factory is always clean. Our sales staff can take pride in our clean factory, which is another of our strengths. 

[Business description]
Our company was established in 1972. We manufacture ultra-thin natural wood veneer as our main product, along with a wide range of other fabricated wood products. We developed a new processing technology for ultra-thin veneer in 1983, which involves slicing raw laminated wood blocks to less than 0.3 mm in thickness. We then began to manufacture and sell this product for house flooring. This product has been recognized for its high quality, and we have since acquired the largest share of the domestic Japanese market (slightly over 35%). We made use of this know-how to expand our business by manufacturing related products, such as fancy plywood, wood tape, wood crafts, and thin wooden blinds. At the same time we launched other lines of business, including the production of compound flooring and low-temperature wood drying.

[Industry]
Veneer manufacturing

[Strength of products/technologies]
Our strength in the field of ultra-thin veneer is not limited to high-precision, high-quality slicing technology. Our veneer products are processed to prevent shrinkage, deformation, and mold before delivery to the customer, and this pre-delivery technology is another of our strengths. Our company has developed 0.8-mm thin wooden blinds and other unique products by adding various properties such as flame resistance. This is done by applying our technologies and our insights as a natural wood product manufacturer to other derived veneer products.

[Representative's message]
Our company is engaged in ultra-thin veneer technology that makes advanced use of valuable wood resources. We always remind ourselves to move forward one step at a time to advance our technology and create value for wood resources. Our company as a whole will continue to work hard so that we remain an enterprise that offers the warm, gentle, wonderful characteristics of wood. 

[Company structure for market development/overseas expansion]
To promote our products we have dedicated sales representatives for each product in Tokyo, Osaka, Sapporo, and Morioka for daily sales operations. We usually organize a new team whenever we cultivate new needs. This is done so that employees with specialized knowledge and experience can respond. Our overseas business department in the head office is the primary point of contact for overseas customers.

[Market share/Ranking]
Our veneer product has the largest share of the flooring and construction veneer markets. 

[Awards and media coverage]
[Awards]
300 of Japan's Vibrant Monozukuri (Manufacturing) SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprise Agency, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry); Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Prize (33rd and 34th National Exhibition of Excellent Veneer).

[Media]
TV station affiliated with Television Tokyo, “Keizai Navi Hokkaido” (August 2015).


[Authorization/Certification]
FSC CoC and PEFC CoC certifications (both are for our natural wood veneer and fancy plywood products).

[Joint research and development]
The Hokkaido Research Organization Industrial Research Institute provides technical support in our development of wooden blinds.

[Main Clients / Business History (domestic)]
Setouchi Kako (Daiken); Noda; Eidai; Marutama Industry; Wood One; Someno Factory; Sanyo Industries.