Steering a course for growth Musashi

STEERING A COURSE FOR GROWTH

Musashi is a global leader in the manufacture of precision steering systems and engine parts for many of the world’s biggest automotive manufacturers. Philip Yorke takes a closer look at its European operations and ambitious plans for growth.

Musashi established its European manufacturing facility in Hungary in March 2000 as a subsidiary of the giant Musashi Seimitsu Industry Co. of Japan. The Hungarian plant was created to supply automotive parts to European car manufacturers as a tier one and tier two supplier, and at the same time be able to benefit from being located close to its customers’ manufacturing plants in eastern Europe.

Musashi Hungary produces a wide range of high-precision parts for engines and steering systems for global automotive brands such as Audi, Fiat, Jaguar Land Rover and Suzuki. Among the 20 sites that the Japanese company operates worldwide, Hungary is the only production facility within the Musashi Group located in Europe. However, the company also operates a special UK facility that serves as a technical support and distribution centre for its UK customers and has its central European sales and marketing offices based in Germany.

Growing product portfolio

Musashi is acknowledged worldwide for its high precision engine parts and steering systems. Today the company has an ambitious growth strategy in place. Mr Akira Mataga, managing director, explained, “We

have a very ambitious strategy for growth that is designed to take us through to the end of the decade. In the near future we will extend our product portfolio and also plan to start new businesses with our own design parts and unique production processes.

“By doing so we will differentiate ourselves from our competitors in the marketplace and will be able to endorse our product slogan, ‘Be Unique’. In order to achieve our strategic goals we have to strengthen still further our engineering expertise by expanding our engineering team and its functions.

“If we do our job well our turnover will increase and in turn we will be able to expand our facilities and generate more satisfied customers.

“Currently our production is split roughly 50/50 between our engine and steering products. However, we have decided to redefine these figures by widening our product portfolio in the near future. At this moment in time, Musashi has several attractive new products in the pipeline. We plan to introduce these into the European market shortly and are working hard to ensure that this will prove a successful launch programme for all concerned.”

Continuous investment programme

The global financial crisis in 2008 forced Musashi to consolidate its European production capabilities and relocate them from the UK to Hungary. This step allowed the company to optimise the utilisation of its new facilities and helped it to overcome the challenges involved in the transfer of several major ‘running projects’ from the UK plant. Since that time, in order to enhance its cost-competitiveness, Musashi Hungary has been investing consistently in its advanced process technology and making on-going improvements to its manufacturing capabilities, as well as to its automation and quality-control procedures.

This company’s on-going commitment to investment in new plant and technology has paid dividends and it continues to build upon its long-term business relationships with its customers. As mentioned, these include Audi, Fiat and Jaguar Land Rover, and although several OEMs have big

operations in Hungary, the company also supplies its automotive components to many of their other European plants. For example, Musashi’s high-precision camshafts and other engine parts are delivered to Poland for Fiat and also to the UK plant of Jaguar Land Rover, whilst its steering components, such as suspension arms, are delivered directly to Audi in Germany.

Following on from the success of its original project for Honda in 2012, Musashi Hungary has signed a new contract with them to supply high-precision camshafts for Honda’s diesel engines from 2015. The company is also optimistic about winning further new contracts from Jaguar Land Rover this year.

Quality assured

Musashi Hungary continues to strive for excellence and to improve its customer satisfaction levels by applying the highest quality standards across its entire supply chain. ‘Quality Consciousness’ is a basic value at Musashi Hungary and one that its workforce applies throughout the working day. For continuous improvement, the company measures and assesses its performance on a regular basis. The successful management system that has been built up at Musashi Hungary over the years is in accordance with the requirements of both ISO/TS 16949:2002 for its manufacturing processes, and ISO 14001:2004 for the company’s environmental management systems.

A strong customer-orientated attitude is also considered a main principle in all areas of the company’s operations. This is manifested through its regular customer audits and meetings that are designed to enable Musashi Hungary to be in complete harmony with its customers’ goals and aspirations.

Mr Akira Mataga added, “We believe that we excel when it comes to customer service and we work closely in cooperation with our clients, project by project. Regarding camshafts for example, we may propose a design modification to enhance its cost-saving and efficiency features. In the case of steering systems, the company’s design and R&D Centre at Musashi Japan can design and test products completely based upon a customer’s requirements.

“Following this research, we are then able to develop and optimise the individual production process, whilst in other cases we may simply supply an unmodified part without any design change involved.” n

For further details of Musashi Hungary’s innovative automotive products and services visit: www.musashi.hu