ULVAC also relied on Arcadia concurrently with a major consulting company. Why does ULVAC have consultation from both a major company and Arcadia? What did you expect to get from Arcadia and what kind of effect did you get? I asked Mr. Takahashi who commands the whole internal management and Mr. Nawa in charge of IT management and Mr Yukimoto in charge of in site of IT management.
Mr. Shinji Takahashi: Management Planning Section, Internal Management Promotion Office, Head of an office
Hiroyuki Nawa: Production Technical Development Center, Chief (picture right)
Kiyoshi Yukimoto: Production Technical Development Center, Information System, Chief Derector, (picture left)
Q. Could you tell me the description of your business and the size of your company?
A. Nawa Center Cheif: We, ULVAC, is an overall manufacturer using vacuum technology. We mainly make Industrial equipment. The most typical one is the equipment which can't avoid making a liquid crystal television. Also, the equipment to make the solar batteries and to make high-performance batteries used for hybrid cars are provided to the industries.
There are 35 of subsidiary companies in Japan, and we have 1,608 employees at a headquarters and 6,073 in the whole group.
Q. I'll ask you about the relationships with Arcadia. Please tell me when you met with Arcadia and the first impression about them.
A. Nawa Center Cheif: It was about 2 years ago. The first impression was "It was the company doing work in the very rare field." Arcadia is not an IT system supplier, whether it is an agent in our side and gives us a support to coordinate with a system supplier. I've never met such a company. I found that immediately that it was a small company at the first meeting (laugh). I'm not sure whether it's called an impression, though.
Q. Did you start to work with them immediately, then?
A. Nawa Center Cheif: No, we started it about a year later. We had meetings several times for just chatting.
Q. What does it make you to make a commission with them after there was no action for an year.
A. Takahashi Head of an office: The biggest reason is that Arcadia was familiar with the American SOX which was the original of J-SOX, Japanese Internal Management. We also needed to arrange our company for the internal control at that time. Although the outline of the internal management has been established, the detail of the standard rule has never been announced. We had no idea what to do with it. But there were the things we needed to do... Under such situation, we thought it was essential to have someone who has an experience even in foreign cases, which were able to understand our circumstances and tell what to do for us by using their experience and knowledge.
Q. What is the reason you chose Arcadia even though there might be other companies which could support the internal control and familiar with the American SOX.
A. Takahashi Head of an office: The reason was that Arcadia was not the supplier of the systems. Most of the other companies have their various systems with their internal control. Therefore they try to say that "how about this system?" after all, even though they supposedly consult us. On the other hand Arcadia isn't the company which sells software and systems, they donﾕt say that "please buy this for you". Arcadia thinks together with us at the neutral viewpoint about "What is really necessary to ULVAC? What is the best way to do?" We believe that Arcadia stands at the closer position of our side than other consulting companies. That is the reason we decided to ask Arcadia.
"There was uneasiness and hesitation in the contract with only one major company."
Q. Was there neither uneasiness nor hesitation in the request to Arcadia which you felt "It is a small company" at the first impression?
A. Actually, we have had a consultant from a major company besides Arcadia. However, such major consulting company usually a certain solution that are matched with their solution programs. Moreover, lots of major companies are IT companies. Therefore, they try to use their own products from the beginning. Now we do not buy their IT system and only have their consulting, though.
However, we decided to ask Arcadia for some advice with having help from a major company. We expected to get the proposal and the solution that are more suitable for us from Arcadia than a major company.
Q. What kind of consulting service do you have now?
A. Yukimoto Chief Director: We have them support both headquarter and 35 subsidiary companies. In the subsidiary companies, they are still in the stage of "What is the IT management? What should we do?" Our achievements are setting up a clear goal, keeping motivation up and setting up the stable IT management for them. Although we are doing such an activity as a team, I am the team leader and Arcadia is acting as a sub team leader.
The necessary management level is different from headquarter and the subsidiary companies. Moreover, there are different scales in the subsidiary companies from large and small. If the whole company management is led at the same level, only the cost pile up and the merits don't come out at all. It is very important to understand what is the best for each company and what is the contribution point for each company's profit and entire group's profit. Arcadia plays the role as one of our team member.
Q. What is the good point that you've asked Arcadia to support your company?
A. Nawa Center Cheif: Generally speaking, every company should request the high level as possible as they can in IT management. However you request higher level, it costs more so that it is very important to balance with "Level as high as possible" and "Line that firmly obtains the profit". At that point, Arcadia considers well about what solution should be taken to us with understanding our present situation. That is the point that other major consulting companies can't provide.
I do not think Arcadia as a consulting company. Therefore, I often fought with them at the beginning.
Q. Were there any resistance in your company for introducing a consultant?
A. Nawa Center Cheif: There weren't any. Arcadia is not like a consultant company who stands at front and only tells standard advice. As Yukimoto Chief Director said "Arcadia supports us as one of our team member", they truly "work with us". They cover our insufficient point in the process of a project. Our company members feel that Arcadia is like our big brother, and there was no resistance against an ordinary consultant. I even do not feel Arcadia as a consulting company. Therefore, I often fought with them at the beginning.
Q. What exactly "you fought"?
A. Nawa Center Chief: Generally speaking, people think that a consultant forces us what to do. On the other hand, Arcadia doesn't give us an one-side solution so that I felt some anger like "Arcadia is not a consultant company! I cannot believe you a consultant!"
Well, I understood gradually later that there are two kinds of consultants. One is a consultant who provides right answers based on their experience quickly, who is familiar with distribution industry, for instance. While, the IT industry is very young and even consultants don't have enough experience. For example, there is no consultant in the IT industry who had an experience in manufacturer. Yet, they're conversant to the field of the IT management like SOX.
The consultant in this new field should be the one who seeks the solution and cooperate with us, rather than to be a leader who only tells us what to do. We have stopped fighting after I noticed that (laugh).
Interview execution on June 18, 2008
Interviewer / composition / text: 3Way Ltd.
