Introduction
Nowadays, the education on intellectual property is being developed all over the world. The number of educational institutions promoting IP education is increasing, and IP education is provided in many places such as high schools, universities, graduate schools, public educational institutions, educational business companies, consultants, and lawyers' associations. In these places, the importance of IP protection and utilization is discussed, and many people have been paying attention to IP education. Last year, due to the unexpected emergence of the coronavirus, many planned educational programs were canceled or postponed. At this point, the online IP education program has started, but it takes to be accustomed to use online education and now is finally catching up with overcoming the reasons such as the lack of infrastructure for online lectures, the inexperience of instructors, and the inconvenience of students. It seems that teachers and students have overcome these factors and are finally getting used to the new lifestyle, the new lecture and learning style. At JIPII, the Japan Institute for Promoting Invention and Innovation, the training program is not coordinated with gathering participants, but new lectures are being started online basis as a countermeasure against corona infection. And from April last year, JIPII has provided several series of lectures entitled "Introduction to Intellectual Property Management", "Basics of Intellectual Property Strategy Formulation", and "Issues of Intellectual Property Human Resource Development" by using YouTube. They have already been well received and appreciated by many viewers. In this paper, we would like to introduce a brief information of the lecture "Intellectual Property Human Resource Development part1-part4, by professor Yoshitoshi Tanaka" that was released in August last year.
Introduction of lectures on YouTube
In considering future measures for developing intellectual property human resources, it is first necessary to evaluate the current intellectual property education. In particular, it has been pointed out that SME managers are less aware of intellectual property education. Therefore, this time, we focused on the viewpoint of intellectual property education for SME managers. Until now, many programs have been provided for intellectual property education for SMEs with the cooperation of local governments and local educational institutions. Therefore, we often hear the harsh point that "SME owners do not seriously understand the importance of IP education." When I listen to my true intentions individually, "I don't really feel how it is useful for business even if we acquire rights." We cannot afford to pay attention to intellectual property education because we are busy with our business.” “IP issues are left to the patent attorneys of our business partners.” All opinions are convincing, but in the severe socio-economic environment of globalization, we wonder if it is okay as it is. Why are SME owners less aware of IP education? As a result of various studies, we came to the conclusion that the cause was that the IP education providers did not understand the management issues faced by SME owners together. In other words, it is important to share the management issues that SME managers are struggling to solve on a daily basis, and to logically communicate that intellectual property activities can contribute to the resolution of these management issues. However, IP education organizers may not have been fully aware of this point. Therefore, let's start by understanding the management issues faced by SME owners. We thought that if we could show that IP activities could contribute to solving these management issues, we would deepen our understanding of IP education.
Fig.1: Conflict in the minds of SMEs’ business owners
Conflict in the minds of business owners
As described in the above figure 1, small business owners have many worries about the issue of developing intellectual property human resources. For example, they do not understand how IP activities contribute to business. In addition, they cannot clearly understand the relationship between the management issues of companies and IP activities. It would be good if intellectual property education that can contribute to solving management issues is provided. What we can see from these opinions is that the important issue for managers is the solution of management issues, and IP education is the next issue. There are 3-4 million SMEs in Japan, and each SME has its own challenges. If we focus on all these challenges, it is not realistic and cost-effective to define IP education. Therefore, we decided to extract the management issues that many companies have in common and discuss how IP education can contribute to those management issues.
Management issues common to many SMEs
Management issues faced by SMEs include profit improvement, cash flow, avoidance of subcontracting status, business succession, and today's issues such as corona infection, etc.. Then, we will introduce examples of intellectual property activities that contribute to these management issues. The management issues shown in the following figure 2 are the main management issues that many SMEs have in common. These are the issues extracted from the existing survey report "Questionnaire Survey Results on Management Issues of SMEs, March 2017, Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry". We believe that many SME managers will gain an understanding of the importance of IP education by showing IP activities that contribute to solving these management issues faced by SMEs. I think that SME owners who are extremely busy with business priority often do not understand the significance of providing intellectual property education to their employees, except for some excellent SMEs. IWe are expecting that, if it is logically explained by showing examples that intellectual property activities can contribute to the management issues of SMEs, many managers will surely pay attention to the importance of developing intellectual property human resources.
Fig.2: Management issues faced by SMEs
What is the education?
"Education" in Japan is not limited to the narrow meaning of school education, but also includes home education and social education (including lifelong learning). The modern school system from primary education to secondary and higher education was established in the Meiji era, but has since expanded to a wide range of places and areas.
The question of “what is the education?” is stated in the Fundamental Law of Education under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (former Ministry of Education before the reorganization of central government ministries and agencies). This Fundamental Law of Education clarifies the basic idea of education in writing. According to this, education is "teaching and nurturing, and intentionally working on both the mind and body to put a person in a desirable state." It is explained that "to increase the knowledge of the person to be educated, to acquire skills, to cultivate humanity, and to bring out the ability of that person".
Then, in order to achieve the educational goals, it is necessary to consider what kind of educational program should be introduced in what kind of place. At that time, the most important thing is to develop human resources who have the ability to contribute to solving the management problems that the company has. Needless to say, in industry, it is important to develop the abilities necessary for companies. As evaluation and decision criteria for this, it is necessary to examine the educational content, educational method, and educational effect.
Fig.3: Basic ideas on human resource development in a company
Educational institutions organize the basic principles of education in three policies: diploma policy, curriculum policy, and admission policy. This idea applies not only to school educational institutions but also to educational venues in a broad sense.
Here, the diploma policy is a basic policy that determines what kind of power should be acquired to confer a degree, and is also a goal of students' learning outcomes. The curriculum policy is a basic policy that defines what kind of curriculum should be organized and what kind of educational content and method should be implemented in order to achieve the diploma policy. The admission policy is a basic policy for accepting new students based on the diploma policy, educational content based on the curriculum policy, etc., and indicates the academic ability (three elements of academic ability *) required of the accepting students.
* (1) Knowledge / skills, (2) Thinking / judgment, expressiveness, etc., (3) Independence and attitude to learn in collaboration with various people
Look at the figure 3. Let's apply these three principles to working people in the industrial world. First, set the current capacity of employees belonging to a company as the level of admission policy. On the other hand, the diploma policy is to expect the ability required to solve the management issues of a company as an educational result. Then, in order to raise the ability currently possessed to the ability required to solve management issues, the content of education to be provided to employees will be decided. It is not possible to expect effective educational results for companies simply by providing existing education without going through this basic idea.
Looking at the socio-economic environment in recent years, we can define and understand the abilities that human resources necessary for corporate activities should possess. In particular, the required capabilities in the intellectual property field are shown in the figure 4 below. The ability of intellectual property-related law and practice, which was the ability of traditional intellectual property personnel, will continue to be required in the future, but in addition to these, the diversity human resource having a wide range of experience is getting more important, such as corporate management, business, international practice, and cutting-edge technology, big data analysis etc.
Fig.4: Ability required for IP human resource in the future
It is necessary to develop human resources who can contribute to solving management issues
When asked "Why is intellectual property education necessary?", it is important to explain the answer with persuasive power, "because it helps solve the management issues of SMEs". By doing so, their eyes may change in the direction of "let's focus on intellectual property in earnest".
The important points in the following figure are "to show how intellectual property activities are involved in solving management issues" and "to develop the intellectual property human resources necessary to promote the intellectual property activities". In other words, by clarifying the intellectual property abilities required for SMEs, educational opportunities for that purpose will be provided.
Examples of intellectual property activities that contribute to solving management issues of SMEs
The following is an example of using intellectual property activities to solve the management issues that SMEs have in common.
(1) Examples of management issues such as improving profitability
Perhaps the biggest management issue for many SMEs is improving profitability. From the perspective of the Balanced Scorecard, management issues range from the perspective of customers, the perspective of finance, the perspective of business processes, and the perspective of organizational and employee growth. In particular, if a company is doing business and cannot secure profits, it will not be possible to invest for sustainable growth. Small business owners are working hard every day to resolve this issue. We would like to introduce an example of how intellectual property activities contributed to the improvement of profits.
CosMED Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.
Succeeded in commercializing cosmetics using the world's latest technology, and achieved profit improvement through license income.
This company is conducting research and development on transdermal absorption based on license income from the cosmetics business and pharmaceutical business using microneedles (fine needles of several microns). In the cosmetics business, they not only manufacture and sell their own cosmetics, but also supply them to other companies on an OEM basis. In the pharmaceutical business, they have entered into exclusive license agreements with major manufacturers that have built relationships of trust through joint research, etc., based on the numerous patents they hold. Even before commercialization, income is earned at each development stage, and the license income obtained is used to jointly promote the commercialization of microneedle drugs with major companies. In addition, they are using their patents to conclude license agreements with major companies, earn royalties, and proceed with research and development and commercialization, and they are using intellectual property to increase profits. It can be said that this is a good example.
Gogoh Co., Ltd.
This company protects its own technology with intellectual property and is adopted by major companies to improve profits.
The company has a bitter experience of counterfeit products after selling its own products to major manufacturers and retailers. Therefore, they think that it is necessary to obtain a patent in order to obtain stable profits, and they use the IP Comprehensive Support Counter of the National Center for Industrial Property Information and Training (INPIT). Then, patent applications are filed by utilizing the patent fee reduction and exemption system and foreign application subsidies. In addition, the company's main business is the manufacture and sale of ultra-hydrophilic inorganic paints that can remove stubborn stains such as oil on the surface with just water, and it is also an opportunity to utilize intellectual property. Although this special paint is an excellent and unique technology, the challenge was to convey its advantages to users in an easy-to-understand manner. When I was enthusiastic about the method, I received advice from an advisor of the Organization for Small & Medium Enterprises and Regional Innovation, and worked on branding the technology with a logo mark and acquired the trademark right of "Zero Clear". It can be said that this is an example of commercializing patented technology and expanding profits by branding with trademark rights.
Nabel Co., Ltd.
If you use patents, you can make money. Increase profits with a license.
The company has grown as a manufacturer specializing in the egg industry. In 1979, they entered the chicken egg field and commercialized the first automatic egg sorting device in Japan. Although it was a latecomer manufacturer, it took the share of the leading manufacturer by making the best use of its specialty microcomputer control technology.
After that, sales grew steadily, but in 1986, a leading US manufacturer sued for patent infringement. The amount of damages claimed was 600 million yen, which was comparable to the annual sales at that time, but it was settled three years later with a settlement payment of 40 million yen. At this time, the company's president actively engaged in intellectual property-oriented management, saying that "utilization of patents will generate money." And this time, they will make more profit than the settlement money paid by lawsuits against domestic manufacturers licensed from US manufacturers and licenses to other companies. Even after that, they showed their stance of always fighting through proceedings, etc., and showed their presence in the industry, saying, "Nabel will really bite when approaching unnecessarily," which led to an increase in profits.
In the first half, we provided an opportunity for SME managers to realize the importance of IP education by looking at the management issues faced by SMEs and showing examples where IP activities can contribute to solving those issues. To that end, we started with the worries of developing intellectual property human resources and introduced some examples of "intellectual property activities that contribute to improving profitability." In the second half, we will introduce examples that contributed to other management issues such as "financing" and "avoidance from subcontracting".
(2) Examples of management issues such as cash flow and proper finance
Intellectual property is an indispensable resource for enhancing the uniqueness and value of a company and for further growth. Effective use of the company's intellectual property will increase the attention and competitiveness of the company. This has the advantage of making it easier to obtain loans that were previously difficult. In particular, for venture companies and SMEs, securing intellectual property rights is an effective financing method. The following is an example of a company that has succeeded in raising funds by utilizing intellectual property.
Aim Tech Co., Ltd.
A venture company that developed a gas leak inspection device through industry-academia collaboration.
https://www.jst.go.jp/pr/info/info655/
The founder, who had a dream of realizing automation of gas leak inspection, launched the company by utilizing various support organizations and developed a gas leak inspection device based on the basic patent obtained through industry-academia collaboration. Then, he received an intellectual property collateral loan from a local financial institution that highly evaluated its technological capabilities and marketability of patented products. The development of new products through this loan has led to the company's dramatic development.
Five years after starting the business, the company received the Intellectual Property Achievement Award as a patent utilization company. It was a milestone year of the 120th anniversary of the patent system, and it attracted a lot of attention, so it was a good opportunity to motivate all employees and promote the company as a company with development capabilities. The company once again realizes the effect of obtaining a patent right, which has earned a great deal of credit even though it is a small and medium-sized enterprise.
In order to further improve gas security, they are working on the development of products desired by the market in collaboration with major gas-related manufacturers, universities, and research institutes, and are also trying to acquire rights in other countries with a view to overseas expansion. After the Great East Japan Earthquake, the company carried out community contribution activities such as lending gas leak inspection machines to the affected areas free of charge. It can be said that the company was able to obtain a loan because it held intellectual property rights.
Nihon Shoryoku Kikai Co., Ltd.
https://jss1.jp/column/column_26/
The company is a fabless manufacturer specializing in the development and sale of deburring and ultrasonic trimming machines. Currently, it is adopting a strategy of opening patents to companies that need their own technology for a fee.
The company's patents have been highly valued by patent rating agencies, and have been evaluated by the Development Bank of Japan, with an investment of 15 million yen. This triggered many venture capital firms that were interested in investing in the company.
When considering the means by which SMEs raise funds, know-how alone is unlikely to be the basis for investment, no matter how good the technology is. The company believes that holding high-value patents is an absolute requirement for investment. Mr. Akio Tanaka, the president, said, "Patents are indispensable for capital expansion, and I would like to say loudly that it is necessary to obtain patents."
The source of Mr. Tanaka's idea is to peruse technical magazines and online abstracts three times. While reading the abstract, hints come up one after another. The ideas created in this way will be organized, investigated and analyzed while warming up for one year, examined from various angles, and then applied for a patent. It is important to cultivate your own ideas so that you do not rush to apply for a patent and later say that you have "failed." It can be said that the value of patents has helped to raise funds.
Kawakubo FACTORY Co., Ltd.
Acquired patent rights contribute to fund procurement for factory construction and market development of in-house products
Since developing an automatic shirasu processing device that boiled raw shirasu in 1979, the company has developed a low-temperature shirasu dryer that can keep the original beauty of shirasu and a sorter that can remove 99.9% of impurities by wind power. I've been doing it. In the 2000s, kettle-raised shirasu and kettle-drained shirasu with a higher water content became popular with consumers, and health and safety became more important. However, there is a problem that "processed products with high water content and low salt content" required by consumers are prone to putrefaction and the expiration date is shortened.
To solve this problem, the company developed antiseptic technology and cleaning system for raw shirasu, but these were not recognized by the national standards at that time. Therefore, the company will work on research to prove its safety with the support of Kochi Prefectural Industrial Technology Center and Kochi University Regional Cooperation Promotion Center. In 2016, these safety were recognized, and it became possible to process shirasu using the manufacturing method and equipment developed by the company. In order to sell processing equipment using the manufacturing method developed in-house, the company has obtained a patent right so that it will not be imitated.
When the company built the Shirasu processing plant, the financial institutions with which it had transactions were reluctant to provide financial cooperation due to concerns about entering new fields and the excessive investment scale. However, by acquiring the patent right, a new financial institution evaluated the business feasibility and was able to proceed with fund procurement smoothly.
Although the company has just entered the food processing industry, it is in talks with a large number of mass retailers through high-end restaurants, department stores, and trading companies in the Tokyo metropolitan area. This is because the superiority and uniqueness of the company's products were evaluated by buyers in terms of taste, salt reduction, shelf life, safety, etc., and the patent right served as technical support in explaining them in business negotiations. This is an example of patent acquisition leading to financing.
(3) Cases related to the management issue of avoiding subcontracting status
There are two ways to avoid subcontracting status: The following are examples of companies that have successfully challenged these issues.
① Entering a new business
Instead of sticking to existing products and services, we will enter new businesses and break away from subcontracting through technological development and technology introduction.
② Increase new customers
Instead of relying on existing customers, we will take on the challenge of developing new customers and break away from subcontracting existing customers. It is important to find potential customers on the optimal scale for your company, utilize your strengths, and utilize products, services, and intellectual property that competitors do not have to acquire customers.
Aichi Dobby Ltd.
A long-established casting manufacturer founded in 1936 in Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture.
https://www.projectdesign.jp/201902/innovation-from-nagoya/005994.php
Aichi Dobby is a long-established town factory founded in 1936. It has a history of developing with the development and production of "Dobby machine" which is one of the weaving machines, but with the decline of the Japanese textile industry, the business was reduced and it continued as a subcontractor of industrial parts. Kunihiro Hijikata and his younger brother Tomoharu attempted to rebuild the company's management.
The two thought that they should develop their own products and make them pillars of new business, and when they learned that "casting is suitable for cookers," they proceeded with technological development. Since castings have excellent heat conduction and heat storage properties, they are suitable as materials for cooking cookers, but they are inferior to stainless steel and aluminum in terms of airtightness. The company has completed a casting enamel pot with high airtightness by utilizing casting and precision processing technology.
Taking advantage of the high technology cultivated over many years, they further developed the technology and registered patents related to cooking pots and trademarks related to "Vermicula". In this way, the company developed new products that are evaluated by technology and brand, entered new businesses, and sought to break away from subcontractors.
(Business Concept, Graduate School of Project Design, February 2019 Issue)
Ueba Esou Co., Ltd.
Japan's oldest paint dealer with a history of more than 260 years.
https://www.gofun-nail.com/
The company was founded in Torocho, Kyoto in 1751 by the first Sobei. As a Japanese paint shop, it is the oldest paint shop in Japan that still handles white fox-marked gofun (white pigment), mud paint, and stick paint. After the burst of the bubble economy, the number of Japanese painting painters decreased due to the rapid contraction of the painting market, and the company was in danger of surviving with existing customers alone.
Therefore, the company, which handles various colors, has developed nails using whitewash that beautifully attracts Japanese women by making use of that knowledge. In 2010, with the concept of "human-friendly products," the company started selling "whitewash nails" that do not use nail polish remover. Gofun nails are recognized as a high quality brand and are favored by women of all ages. It is a new product that has been created with particular attention to product quality and raw materials in order to inherit the pride of a paint shop and make a real woman shine. It is no longer necessary to rely solely on the customers to whom the paints are sold, and the company has succeeded in breaking away from subcontracting.
(Ueba Esou official mail order site)
Mold Tech Co., Ltd., Goko Hajo Co., Ltd., Qulead Co., Ltd., etc.
The stationery "Facsionary" made by the town factory.
Factionery is a coined word that is a combination of factory and stationery. Since 2013, Moldtech (Fujisawa City, Kanagawa Prefecture) has devised a concept and consulted with Qulead (Chigasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture) for design precision processing to brand it.
There are many highly-skilled town factories in Japan, but many of them are subcontractors of major companies, and their own PR and branding have not been realized. To achieve this, it is essential to develop our own products. However, the current situation is that there are not many small and medium-sized manufacturing industries that have planning and design know-how. With the desire to change that situation, the above two companies and Goko Hajo collaborated with designers to launch an original stationery brand. High-quality design and practicality devised in detail not found in other stationery. And it is characterized by the ultra-high level manufacturing technology that made it possible.
Factionery, a brand that values the "beauty born from skill" of Japanese town factories, is attended by professionals from various fields such as town factories, designers, and web creators who agree with the concept. They work together to produce and sell their products. This is a rare case where the town factories gathered and broke away from subcontracting through product development.
Takara-Youjyou Co., Ltd.
At the Kawasaki City Intellectual Property Exchange Meeting, the company encountered a new photocatalytic material "titanium apatite" and decided to start developing new products using this material. This titanium apatite is jointly developed by a university and a major manufacturer in collaboration with industry and academia, and the major manufacturer holds a patent. The company develops new products using the open patent utilization business. With the support of the Kawasaki City Industrial Promotion Foundation during development, they formulated sales strategies such as product concepts, naming, package design, pricing, and sales methods. Then, by blending the company's patented functional sanitary water "Apritech" and the photocatalytic material "Titanium Apatite", the company has a body soap with excellent detergency and deodorant power. It has been successfully commercialized.
The company has traditionally been a subcontractor that delivers curing materials used for construction and moving to client companies, but with the strong will of the management, it is a joint industry-academia collaboration to make body soap for the final consumer. I proceeded with my research. This is an example of successfully breaking away from subcontracting with a new product while maintaining the conventional business.
(Official website for treasure curing materials)
TOKYO Oil Electric Power Co., Ltd. (currently Use Co., Ltd.)
A project that started in 2007 to "turn Tokyo into an oil field." A collection station is set up at a local base to collect waste cooking oil from households, but it is difficult to recruit cooperators. The company collected 1 kl of tempura oil for the 2010 environmental event "Earth Day Tokyo" and implemented a plan to self-sufficient electricity with a generator on the day. The great success there led to the emergence of collaborators. After that, friends spread by word of mouth, and now there are collection stations in about 500 locations in 1 metropolitan area and 5 prefectures. As of 2018, the supply of 145kW is about 500 households, but by 2020, the company aimed for a 1MW power plant.
Traditionally, oil collected from households, oil that has been used up in restaurants, olive oil that has expired, etc. have been sold to industrial waste companies that dispose of waste oil. It was in 1993 that biofuels were developed using these oils. Later, the company also developed a conversion device from waste oil to biofuel.
The project called "TOKYO Oil Field 2017" has taken the form of converting the recovered oil into electricity and delivering it to homes and businesses. They have succeeded in developing a generator that uses raw oil to generate electricity, and the Tempura oil power plant is also in operation. In Japan, where resources are scarce, the collected oil is used as energy instead of being trashed.
The company's dream is to build a "recycling-oriented society" through oil. Instead of selling it to an industrial waste company, it built a business that sells biofuels that it commercialized (fuel purchasers are customers). This is an example of a successful break from subcontracting by changing the way of thinking.
(TOKYO Oil Field 2017 Official Website)
Hamano Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
In 2009, the company started joint development of an unmanned exploration boat that can withstand the deep sea at a depth of 8000 m with five small and medium-sized enterprises, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Shibaura Institute of Technology, Tokyo Kaiyo University, Tokyo Higashi Shinkin Bank, etc. .. Then, in November 2013, the company succeeded in the world's first 3D shooting at a depth of about 8,000 m, and received a lot of attention. In addition to this, the company has traditionally entered into new businesses through industry-academia-government collaboration, environmental and social contribution activities that utilize local factory resources, hands-on learning for children who will lead the future, and collaborations with designers in different industries. We have developed various projects that go beyond the image of a town factory that performs subcontracting work.
The company not only has a "manufacturing attitude" such as strict adherence to delivery dates, low cost, high quality, and high precision processing and manufacturing, but also proposes new products, jointly develops new products, and prototypes newly developed products. Has been actively working on. In addition, the company utilized the intellectual asset management support of the Tokyo Metropolitan Industrial Technology Research Center, "visualized" unique strengths that do not appear in figures such as human resources, technology, organization, brand, etc., and made business improvements and business reforms. Although it is a small and medium-sized enterprise with about 50 employees, it can be said that it is a development-type enterprise that focuses on product development as well as subcontracting.
(Hamano Manufacturing Co., Ltd. official website and the company's intellectual asset management report 2016 edition)
Pan Akimoto Co., Ltd.
"Let's deliver bread to the world" and "Kyukancho project" are promoted independently.
The Kyukancho project is a project that allows you to participate in hunger relief activities around the world by preparing emergency food. Bread Akimoto provides canned bread with a long expiration date and is working on hunger relief activities. Since the opening of the store, they have adhered to the principle of providing "safe, secure and delicious bread" to customers. It does not change with canned bread (called "Kyukancho") delivered as relief supplies. Akimoto's bread is a company that is developing its business with the aim of spreading energy and smiles all over the world. The company has satisfied both customers who purchase disaster-prevention food and prepare for disasters, and customers who eat bread in the disaster-stricken areas. This is a successful example of contributing to solving social problems with the company's unique business model.
(4) AI, IoT, Society 5.0
Increasing communication speeds from 4G to 5G is rapidly transforming the social systems surrounding data communications. Many business models have already been proposed, but they range from high-hurdle technologies that introduce AI to relatively easy technologies that incorporate IoT into business flows. The Japan Patent Office has also published examination standards for these new technologies. Many technologies can be introduced for SMEs.
In the rapidly evolving technological field, speedy application to business is important to keep up with the times. Below are some examples of small and medium-sized enterprises. There are many other cases, and we hope that they will help your business evolve.
Marumi Kouji Honten Co., Ltd.
Located in Soja City, Okayama Prefecture, the company is a brewed food manufacturer and distributor that handles miso, amazake, and other jiuqu, which values health and continues to aim for natural brewing. Founded in 1950, the company has been working on quality-first koji making, but temperature control, which is important in the manufacturing process, relies on intuition and experience.
Therefore, the company introduced a device that can record the temperature and accumulated and analyzed the data to "visualize" the manufacturing know-how. After that, by linking the temperature sensor and the air conditioning equipment, the temperature control work is automated, which leads to the reduction of the work burden and the stabilization of product quality. This is an example of realizing automation while systematizing the intuition of experts into the know-how of the company by utilizing IoT.
(Small and Medium Enterprise Agency "2018 White Paper on Small and Medium Enterprises" Case 2-4-2)
Masuoka Tokyo Co., Ltd.
The company, located in Taito-ku, Tokyo, is a wholesaler that handles rubber products such as O-rings (ring-shaped sealing parts). Although the company's strength was sales activities based on long-term relationships with customers, there was a problem in sharing information within the company because many sales staff work outside the company.
In response to this issue, the company introduced a cloud sales support system with an IT introduction subsidy to share information among employees. In addition, they have begun developing robots that pack products in warehouses by utilizing manufacturing subsidies, aiming to automate orders, packing, and shipping in the future. This is an example of IT being used to properly manage the valuable intellectual property of customer information.
(Case 2-4-4 of the above-mentioned "2018 White Paper on Small and Medium Enterprises")
Marutomo Fruit and Vegetables Co., Ltd.
Introduced tablets to reduce the burden on employees. As a result, shortening working hours led to new hires, and annual cost reductions of approximately 4 million yen were realized. Marutomo Fruit and Vegetables Co., Ltd. (22 employees, capital 24 million yen) in Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture is a central wholesaler of Kanazawa City that handles Kaga vegetables such as red sweet chestnut squash, sweet potato, and lotus root cultivated mainly in Kanazawa City.
(2018 White Paper on Small and Medium Enterprises, Case Study 2-4-1)
Colors Co., Ltd.
Colors Co., Ltd. (35 employees, capital 6.1 million yen) in Ota-ku, Tokyo is a long-term care provider, and the pillar of its business is home-based long-term care services. The business has been running smoothly since its establishment in 2011, but as the number of customers and employees has increased, the amount of paperwork for receipts and salaries has become enormous. As a result of introducing cloud services by utilizing IT experts, the working hours and costs required for paperwork have been dramatically reduced, and it has become possible to spend time formulating management strategies.
(2018 edition [SME White Paper] Case 2-4-10)
Konno Seisakusho Co., Ltd.
Konno Seisakusho Co., Ltd. (36 employees, capital 30.2 million yen) in Adachi-ku, Tokyo is a manufacturer that operates two main businesses, the hydraulic equipment business and the sheet metal processing business. With the Lehman shock halving sales, they decided to strengthen orders for custom-made products with the aim of cultivating demand. The company then returned to profitability by introducing IT tools with cloud capabilities. In addition, IT was used for joint orders with other companies in the same industry to link data from companies.
(2018 edition of "White Paper on Small and Medium Enterprises" Case 2-4-12)
Denshukan Co., Ltd.
Denshukan Co., Ltd. (47 employees, capital 3 million yen) is a company that develops cram schools for elementary, junior high and high school students throughout Tottori prefecture, mainly in Tottori city, Kurayoshi city, and Yonago city. In December 2017, the company introduced the interactive digital teaching material "Surara" to the Tottori Higashimachi classroom. By using digital teaching materials that utilize AI, it has become possible to provide education tailored to each student. The teacher's time was also secured and the quality of service was improved.
(2018 edition of "White Paper on Small and Medium Enterprises" Case 2-4-17)
Welks Co., Ltd.
Welks Co., Ltd. (262 employees, capital 12 million yen) in Taito-ku, Tokyo is engaged in recruiting nursery teachers and nutritionists. In the recruitment service for childcare workers, it has the top share in the industry, introducing about 1/5 of childcare workers. In the work with a huge amount of work, we introduced RPA (Automation Tool) with less investment burden, and as a result, business expansion was realized and sales increased 2.5 times.
RPA stands for Robotic Process Automation. Conventional industrial robots have been engaged in blue-collar work such as carrying luggage and assembling parts on factory lines. RPA, on the other hand, mainly targets systems and services that engage in standardized white-collar work with certain rules. RPA has made it possible for robots to perform tasks that only humans can do before. Coexistence with humans is expected to contribute to corporate growth and sales.
(2018 edition of "White Paper on Small and Medium Enterprises" Case 2-4-18)
Conclusion
In this research, in response to the research question "Why are SME managers not actively engaged in intellectual property education?", we proposed the answer "They misunderstand that intellectual property activities are not related to solving daily management issues." Furthermore, we established the hypothesis that "if IP activities can contribute to solving management issues, they will work positively on IP education." And, we have introduced many cases of companies that utilized intellectual property activities to solve management issues. We could not fully explain the process of hypothesis verification in the limited space, but at least we believe we could present the examples in which intellectual property activities actually contributed to the solution of management issues. By doing so, we expect that SME owners could feel a certain degree of certainty about the hypothesis that "IP activities can contribute to solving management issues." We hope that they will keep this in mind as a driver for future efforts in intellectual property education.
Reference material on extracting management issues faced by SMEs
- "Questionnaire Survey Results on Management Issues of SMEs", March 2017, Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry
- "Current status of intellectual property of local SMEs and expectations for support organizations", March 14, 2017, Japan Patent Office General Affairs Department Promotion Support Division
- "IT / AI utilization of small and medium-sized enterprises", November 1st year of Reiwa, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
- "Small and Medium-Sized Manufacturing Companies IoT Utilization Casebook", Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry Kanto Bureau of Economy, Trade and Industry, March 2017
- "FY2018 Consignment Business Report on Survey on Succession of SMEs and Small Businesses to the Next Generation and Retirement of Management", March 22, 2019, Mizuho Information Research Institute Co., Ltd.
