On Friday 6 December 2024, the 20th NEXTA forum was held at the Next Generation Tatara Co-Creation Centre(NEXTA) research building. The event was held in dual formats, combining both online and on-site participation, and many people from the companies in and outside of the prefecture, as well as the researchers and university people attended the event.

The title of the talk was “Current situation of material industry and investment for research and development as a company,” and it was delivered by Mr. Masayuki AKIOKA, the president of AKIOKA, Inc.
During the talk, he introduced his company's history, the current situation of the casting/materials industries, and the investment for research and development. He explained the business style of his company comparing to a shopping mall saying, “ We aim to become like a shopping mall that can provide any kinds of casting products and never lose to anyone.” Also, he explained closely by giving examples of how he improved the operational site's environment by applying collaborative robots and cleaning activities and how he improved productivity by securing inspection time.

While society as a whole faces a lack of human resources, AKIOKA is making efforts to be a company that will be chosen by young people. The company is taking many kinds of initiatives, such as running an experiential booth at exhibitions and outreach activities for young students. During the question-and-answer sessions, there were many questions regarding human resources development as well as research development.

After the event, we received many positive comments from the participants such as “ I thought there is a lot to learn from Mr. Akioka for his positive way of thinking toward business because he was saying that even if he thought that he cannot do doesn’t mean that he will not try, he will do his best to achieve it. I thought applying IT, DX and cleaning activities were a good idea.” “I was able to understand deeply the actual situation of the material industry. Now I feel that there is still hope in Japan’s manufacturing.” Also, one of the students who attended the event reviewed “ It was helpful because I was able to learn about their various project strategies such as running a booth introducing their work contents using IT equipment to arouse interests of young people.” The other student commented “ It was inspiring to know that they are emphasizing on human resources development to hand on the casting technology. I felt that it is necessary to consider the style of the company along with the time.”
The date for the next NEXTA Forum will be announced on the website.

Point of Contact
Next Generation Tatara Co-Creation Centre