Small and medium size companies account for the majority of companies in Japan, and the various components supplied by them sustain the high quality of Japanese products.
We interviewed the top executives of several small and medium size companies that play an important role in sustaining those activities in Japan to reveal their commitment to original technology and the challenge of technological innovations.

Komy Co., Ltd. Sakae Komiyama, President

In October 2007, the world's largest passenger plane "A380", manufactured by Airbus, made its maiden commercial voyage. It is a state-of-the-art commercial carrier that integrates the world’s leading technologies. Twenty one companies from Japan, such as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Fuji Heavy Industries, and Bridgestone Tire Co., Ltd., participated as parts suppliers. Among these eminent big companies, Komy was the sole small company.

Komy provided the "FF Mirror AIR", which is installed inside the overhead stowage bin. It is a small mirror, almost the same size as a postcard, and weighs 42 grams. The feature of this mirror is that although it is a flat-surfaced mirror, its field of view is about five times its area which is similar to a convex mirror.

Stowage bins are one of the places that cabin attendants must check to confirm if there are any forgotten personal belongings or hazardous materials. This was a demanding task, which up to now required them to take off their shoes to step onto the aircraft seats and peek inside the bins, or to reach into the bins with their hands to check. However, after the mirrors were installed as standard equipment, all the bins could be checked at a glance from the aisle, and the mirrors received favorable comments for improving the work efficiency.

"FF Mirror AIR" is an original product that is made solely by Komy in the world. Although Komy’s business is making good progress today, the road to get there was not always smooth.

"FF Mirror AIR" is installed in aircraft stowage bins

The company started as a sign painting shop

"I graduated from the Department of Engineering of a university, and joined a major ball-bearing manufacturer as an engineer. But I was not a good employee." Mr. Komiyama, the company’s president looks back at that time. He became painfully aware of the difficulty of working in an organization, and resigned after three and a half years. After that, he hopped from one job to another, such as repairing cars, selling encyclopedias, painting buildings, until he established the Komoro Character Advertisement Company in 1967. It was a sign painting shop which drew characters on shutters.

"It was a company, but actually it was a rented space that used to be a two-car garage. Needless to say, there was no air conditioning, so it was freezing in winter and boiling hot in summer."

He incorporated the shop as a stock company after 6 years, and started making other signboards such as rotating signboard devices. It was the first patent by the company. The time was 1978, when he was thinking about rotating something else besides signboards.

It so happened that a "Rotating Mirror" which was made for display - just two convex acrylic mirrors stuck onto a rotating signboard - was shown at an exhibition. He said it was made just for the fun of it.

"Even if people wondered what it was and it caught their attention, it was not our primary business so we thought it would have been fine just to sell one or two pieces. However, surprisingly we received a bulk order for 30 pieces from a supermarket."

If we thought, we made an unexpected sale, we were lucky - then we would not have our present success. Mr. Komiyama visited the supermarket and actually asked how they were being used.

"I was thinking about the embarrassment if they told me that they regretted buying something like that, but when I talked to them, I was surprised to hear that the mirrors were useful in preventing shoplifting."

Such usage was quite unexpected. The manager of the supermarket introduced Mr. Komiyama to other supermarkets, and since then, the company started to shift its line of business from the signboard industry to development/manufacturing of security mirrors.

Convex Oval Mirror

Adopted by aircrafts worldwide

The rotating security mirror enjoyed a good reputation and sales increased. Its name recognition rose as it was chosen as a Tokyo Metropolitan Excellent Export Commodity in 1981, and won the exhibition honorary award at the Thessaloniki International Exhibition in Greece in 1982. At that time, Mr. Komiyama said that he wandered over where to set the company’s direction.

"It was a choice of whether we should concentrate on a single product by setting our priority on the rotating security mirror, or should handle a variety of products. After repeated discussions, we decided to make ‘things that eliminate blind spots’ which the customers are asking for." Mr. Komiyama said.

On that year, the company started to sell the "Oval Mirror", which is a convex mirror, not only to stores but also for installation on walls or pillars in public facilities such as subway stations, and the "FF Mirror", which is flat but has a field of view that is five times wider than a conventional mirror.

The FF Mirror is made of special plastic, and probably many people have actually seen it, because these days it is installed in automatic teller machines (ATMs) around Japan to prevent peeking from behind. Other than that, it is increasingly being installed on the front pillar of elevators to prevent accidents from people getting caught by closing doors, or passengers being left behind. The basic of business is to be useful to the buyer, and receive their money. And for a small manufacturer, the method to take was to handle a variety of products, in small quantities, with short delivery time, which "big companies could not do".

However, the name of Komy became immediately well-known by their entry into the airline industry.

It started when an employee said, "I was on a flight back from Sapporo, and I wished that there was an FF Mirror in the overhead stowage bin to check my souvenirs."

Next year, he got an opportunity through his connections to look at the inside of a passenger plane during maintenance. "At that time, I brought in some FF Mirrors, and temporarily installed them in the stowage bins to hear the opinion of the cabin attendants who were also present."

The reaction was very positive, because they were able to have a sweeping view of the bins even from the aisle. Although there were some hurdles that needed to be cleared for installation in aircrafts, such as material, structure and safety, we continued to improve until it was adopted by the Boeing Company. European patents were also acquired, and almost 30 airline companies around the world, such as Airbus, are using them now.

We do not make things that aren’t useful.

Although Komy started out by selling security mirrors, the users said that as a practical matter, convex mirrors are useful not only in preventing shoplifting, but also useful in checking what the customers are doing to see if they need any help. Therefore, the product name is standardized as "Caring mirrors". In fact, the market is expanding because they have been effective in preventing people from running into each other at corners of hospitals, schools, or factories, and in other safety measures.

In the "once in 100 years" economic downturn, where should Komy head for?

"Listen to the voices of people who are using the products, develop them, then make improvements and sell them. This is our company’s stance. Do not make things that aren’t useful - as long as we firmly adhere to this point, there is nothing to worry about. There are infinite improvements that can be made, and we have always been running our business thinking that we are at rock bottom right now."

Mr. Komiyama concluded in cheerful and energetic words.

Komy Co., Ltd.:
Sales/manufacturing of non-glass convex mirrors/flat-surfaced mirrors

1-15-13, Namiki,
Kawaguchi-city, Saitama 332-0034
TEL: +81-48-250-5311　FAX: +81-48-250-5318
Capital: Twenty million yen
Establishment: 1973 (Founded in 1967)
Employees: 13 people (With additional 10 part-timers)