Our Corporate Mission Statement (1) begins with "A&D is a technology driven…..", and this has been playing a very important, indispensable role since the company's foundation. This poses a challenge and motivation especially to our engineers to design products that stand out in performance, accuracy and price. During 1980's our engineers were extremely busy, most often overloaded with development projects. We knew well then that we had a technological edge in analog to digital conversion techniques, use of microprocessor chips, miniaturizing electronic circuitry and sensor applications. There were always some fundamental issues they addressed in order to differentiate our products and sustain a competitive edge in the design.
We had landmark products such as FX balances, FV platform scales, EK compact scales, FC counting scales and AD-4316 and AD-4321 indicators. However, we at the marketing and sales side had one constant difficulty, namely, convincing our engineers to modify products or come up with complimentary products that we saw were needed to fill a gap in our product offering or to respond to the needs of a customer. In other words, unless our engineers were made to realize the possibility of exercising a technological edge of some sort they resisted the need to because of a lack of motivation. Though our mission statement continues to say, "A&D is a technology driven, market oriented", the market orientation was apt to be treated as a secondary issue. One example had been washable or waterproof scales. It was not particularly motivating to our engineers to design washable scales, as they perceived such products as if all the innovative cost saving in the electronic designs was washed away by additional costs of metals and old-fashioned metal bending and welding labor costs. A typical reaction used to be "How can we add value of our own by making a metal box?"
When we look back we realize that we created waterproof cases for our indicators and splash-proof scales but it was apparent we made them as if they were necessary evils. However, as we entered the food market and learned more about down-on earth applications in food and fishing industries and also visited sites where our scales looked nothing but like objects collecting dirt and corrosion, "washable and corrosion free" became a challenge and motivation to our engineers.
I personally believe the turn-around came with TITAN or HV/HW-WP. "Technology driven" and "Market oriented" had an equal weight to the mind of engineers for the first time when TITAN was conceived. We realize that we have so much yet to learn about washable applications as, for instance, the food market is extremely diversified and demanding, yet we had a determination to be a competent player in wet environment when we decided to produce TITAN. |
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Takehiko (Tak) Ogata, who currently lives in UK as a sales manager for A&D Instruments, coined the word TITAN. TITAN sounded all right but everyone was a bit lost when he came up with its meaning. He declared in a marketing meeting one morning that it means "Trans-Industrial Technology Advanced Node".
And now we are bringing TITAN Compact, stainless steel, and truly washable scales at a price less than a price of a typical portion scale of non-washable type. Our engineers accepted a challenge of designing a stainless steel, IP65 scale that can replace still popular, hard-to-die mechanical scales in performance and endurance in wet environment. It has become a new frontier for A&D engineers!
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TITAN Compact or SK-WP is a break-through in design in all aspects. Best of all it looks great and stylish. It can sit comfortably next to stainless steel kitchenware or silverware. No one would hesitate to use this scale in a fashionable, first class restaurant or coffee shop sitting next to a fancy espresso machine. It may be just my perception but I can bet on it! |
I believe it will give competitors a hard time to figure out how we engineered it or they may be wondering how we can make any profit at its low price tag. Well, it is not our problem; so let them worry about it. Our issue is to move on as a forerunner in our own way offering solutions for wet and watery environments. More important, our customers should see us at as a company adhering in the true sense of words to "Technology driven" and "market oriented" mission. This is the beginning of making "Trans-Industrial Technology Advanced Node" be a reality in an on-going way.
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