The first assignment of my apprenticeship was grappling with ophthalmic lenses
Designing and developing a manufacturing engineering system from start to finish
When did you start working on production equipment?
Immediately after I enrolled at the company. I was first assigned to the manufacturing engineering section of a manufacturing division, which was where production equipment was developed. I didn't know at all what working on production equipment would be like.
It turned out to be the division responsible for the development of Nikon product factory lines.
At this time, this division was focusing on the development of machine tools. The idea of the development of assembling machines was still in its infancy.
The section I was assigned to was the development section for production equipment. But what I was assigned to was not part of the major development section groups, such as those for machine tools or assembling machines. It was concerned with products such as measurement devices and test equipment — considered less important in the industry at the time.
What was the first product of your design?
It was an automatic test device for an ophthalmic lens. The device was designed to evaluate the final quality of a glass lens. It measured corrective powers, eccentricity and central thickness. These specifications and the NK mark that confirmed a test pass were automatically inscribed on each lens.
You planned and put this idea into practice by yourself?
Well, a mere novice in a new company could never conceive of such an idea and dare to design such a device. A senior engineer was assigned as my coach. I was able to develop this device in two years. This thought didn't occur at the time, but looking back, I think that these were a very precious two years.
My specialty at college had been machine engineering, and my knowledge was limited to mechanical fields.
Now, during these two years, the study of optics and electronics was compulsory, forcing me to concentrate on these subjects. In a sense, this valuable experience made me what I am today, by giving me the basics of vital knowledge in the industry.
Was there a special episode you recall from that time?
The proposal to use an abbreviated designation for production equipment being developed was very important. Until that time, a project just took the name of the equipment being developed. This same, single name was printed on the design drawings, and used both inside and outside the company, including subcontractors. I realized that there was a serious danger for leakage of confidentiality about any new project.
I proposed a security plan by attaching the designation GAK, "G" for gankyo or spectacles, "A" for auto and "K" for kensa or test, for a trial with the automatic test instrument of an ophthalmic lens we were developing. So far as I know, this was the first case where we used a coding system to protect the confidentiality of a new product development at Nikon.
That's quite impressive. It was your first achievement as a novice. You became a legendary pioneer at Nikon, initiating the protection and management of corporate information.
Thank you. I am flattered. (Laughter)
What was your motive when applying to join Nikon?
When I was a college junior, I spent two weeks at a shipbuilding site in Sanyo, central-west Japan. It was an internship for ship engine design. The assignment was to make a drawing of a ship's engine. Most people have no experience of actually viewing the engine rooms of a large ship. They are the size of a multistory building. I was extremely shocked to see the dimensional difference between the actual size and what I drew on a small piece of paper. Then, a revelation came into my mind. If I drew a product design, it should be of a product that I could draw on a sheet of paper in actual size, and preferably a precision design. I realized that a camera was exactly the size I wanted to draw. A camera is a precision machine with an actual size that can be contained on A3-size paper. What felt good to me was that what I originally drew came out exactly as I had planned it to be.
When you arrived on your first day at Nikon, you found yourself assigned to the development of production equipment, not in a camera design division. Didn't you feel confused?
I was shocked. (Laughter)
I was totally preoccupied with the thought that I would naturally be assigned to a camera design section. However, I was not discouraged because my new assignment was already there to begin at any time. All of a sudden, I was extremely busy starting to study a new subject and learning how to carry out this assignment, with no time to worry.
Since then, you have been a designer and developer of production equipment.
Yes. I created various facilities and systems, transcending business boundaries. I was very lucky to be assigned to this division.