TANAKA
Japan’s position as a center for monozukuri has been weakening, against the backdrop of the remarkable growth of China, which has positioned manufacturing as a national priority. However, there are still many companies in Japan that can boast of a top share of their given markets. One of those is the flute-maker Muramatsu Inc.
The gold flutes made by the company enjoy a huge share of the domestic and overseas markets. “Our market share seems to be around 50% or 60%, although I’m not sure of the exact figure,” explains the company’s president and CEO, Akio Muramatsu. “A few years ago, a student in Europe conducted a study that found that around 60% of the flutists in professional orchestras were using our flutes.”
TANAKA Precious Metals (TANAKA) supplies the gold used to make Muramatsu flutes. The company draws on its know-how in the manufacture and processing of precious metals for industrial use to provide Muramatsu with special seamless gold pipes that are manufactured without welding.
Usually, in the case of commodities produced in large lots, automation is employed for processes like cutting and drawing to improve productivity, but the seamless pipes supplied to Muramatsu are all made using hand-operated machines. This is necessary because Muramatsu requires exquisite precision for its flutes. Since subtle adjustments have to be made for every manufacturing process involved, the work can only be performed by highly skilled craftsmen.
Seamless gold pipes are the result of hand-operated production.
TANAKA
The manufacturing process to produce a seamless pipe begins with the melting and casting of the raw precious metal to create a cylindrical ingot. The periphery of this ingot is then shaved down until the circumference is perfectly round, and the inside of the metal is then hollowed out until it is also perfectly round.
We spoke to Shuichi Tamura, who is the section chief manager of the Target Processing Section and the Rolling & Drawing Section of the Tomioka plant of TANAKA. “If the work at this stage is not completed in a very precise manner, the finished product will not be a high precision, beautiful, and durable flute. The person in charge makes minute adjustments down to the tenth of a millimeter to make sure the pipe is perfectly rounded and of uniform thickness."
The hollowed-out gold pipe is many times thicker than the finished flute. So the pipe has to be cold drawn using a draw bench. It is not stretched a single time, however, but tens of times so that little by little it is pulled out to decrease the diameter.
The person in charge of this process is Masahiro Minakawa of the Rolling & Drawing Section at the Tomioka plant. “I also rely on the intuition I have built through experience to create a finished pipe that meets the specifications,” he says.
A partnership that combines traditional techniques with an industry perspective.
TANAKA
Why is it important to have analog-based experience in an age when digitalization and IT technology are advancing so far? One reason is the quality that TANAKA and Muramatsu have continually been raising through their partnership, which dates back to 1965.
Tamura explains more about how the approach to quality was developed at Muramatsu: “We receive feedback on the quality of our flutes, but since the music and musical instruments are a world of sensitivity, most of this feedback does not take the form of numerical data. Facing this situation, we introduced various types of quality management from what we learned from the verification methods of the flute industry and other sources, and try to use what we can to develop our production techniques.”
There are many manufacturers in Japan and overseas that provide metal pipes. When asked if Muramatsu has ever considered obtaining supplies from a maker other than TANAKA, he immediately responds: “TANAKA is a company that supplies precious metals on a global scale, but at the same time they can respond to high-quality, small-lot production. This is a capacity that is hard to find, particularly among overseas makers.”
The Muramatsu gold flutes, which enjoy the top global share, have a beautiful tone and a luster that is like a work of art. And each one is of course produced by hand. TANAKA has been proud to be able to combine its own industry perspective to the traditional skills involved to create the handcrafted flutes of Muramatsu that have won a loyal following around the world.
This post is sponsored by TANAKA. | Content written and provided by TANAKA
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Source: Business Insider – feedback@businessinsider.com (Sponsor Post)