The Global UD Trucks Customer Magazine
#01 2013
SAUDI ARABIA:
RELIABILITY ABOVE ALL P4
Two years after the tsunami
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A heritage of fuel efficiency
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The traditional gemba spirit
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Committed to offering you total service and total peace of mind UD Solution, the new complete aftersales package from UD Trucks, has you covered. Rest easy knowing that the combination of our Service Agreement, Service Planning Options and Fleet Max Telematics Support will reduce unplanned stops, increase vehicle uptime and protect your investment. To find out more about what the UD Solution can do for you, visit us at stand 87 at the Brisbane Truck Show on May 16–19. See you there!
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Feature Story
The Long Road to Recovery
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Two years after the March 11 tsunami, customers in Japan’s northeastern Iwate Prefecture are getting back on their feet.
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News
What’s Happening News from around the world of UD Trucks.
09 Exceeding Expectations
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or us here at UD Trucks, every new issue of Roads rekindles the passion we feel for UD Trucks. It is always exciting to read about how our company is developing in Japan and around the world, and the positive response we get from you, our customers, wherever you may be. As head of the UD Experience, my work is to bring the UD Trucks’ brand as close to customers as possible. Since the program started in April last year, visitors have continued to come from near and far to UD Trucks’ headquarters in Ageo outside of Tokyo to find out more about our company, tour the factory and get behind the wheel of a Quon or Condor. We don’t just want to tell by words who we are; we want visitors to feel the values that we stand for, make them real. And what are these values? We are a brand built on traditional Japanese hallmarks—quality, craftsmanship, attention to detail and customer service. We have a word in Japanese called monozukuri, meaning to make things with exacting precision and quality, and perhaps the part I love most about UD Trucks is that it is a company that passes on this spirit to each new generation of employees—it becomes part of the DNA. I like to think that those who come to the UD Experience expect monozukuri, and when a visitor comes to us afterwards saying “that was really something,” it’s such a great feeling, a great moment. With this magazine, I hope to communicate some of that feeling to you too, dear Reader. Please enjoy this issue of Roads.
Tomohisa Ishida Senior Manager UD Experience UD Trucks Brands Strategy & Marketing
Cover Story
Saudi Challenges Saudi Arabia’s construction sector is thriving, but local conditions demand trucks of outstanding reliability.
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Feature Story
King of the Road Visitors come from worldwide to take the UD Experience, a full-day tour of UD Trucks culminating in a test drive.
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History
The Spirit of Efficiency From the founding days until today, UD Trucks has been a pioneer in fuel efficiency.
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At the Wheel
Local Brisbane Club is Kicking New Goals UD Trucks has helped a Brisbane football club get back on its feet after the 2011 floods.
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At the Wheel
Quality and Dependability —Day after Day, Mile after Mile Two happy customers explain why they feel UD Trucks is the brand that gets the job done.
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Publisher Per Sundström Per.Sundstrom@volvo.com Tel: +81-48-726-7601 Editorial Production Next Inc. roads@nextinc.com www.nextinc.com Tel: +81-3-6436-4270 Editor-in-Chief Kjell Fornander
Tradition
Gemba and the Art of Hands-on Involvement The Japanese concept of gemba is a key part of UD Trucks’ philosophy.
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Roads is published three times per year by UD Trucks Corporation udtrucks.com
Global Business
Executive Editor Anders Lenart Art Director Koichi Asano Production Manager Kazumi Umezawa
Thinking Global UD Trucks is moving to support customer needs in diverse markets even better.
Contributors to this issue: Tony McNicol Based in Tokyo, Tony McNicol is a writer, editor and photographer who has written widely for publications in Japan and globally.
Mark Schreiber
Jim Hand-Cukierman
Author-translator Mark Schreiber has lived in Japan for over 40 years. He has written extensively about Japanese language and popular culture.
Canadian Jim Hand-Cukierman is a Tokyo-based photographer and writer whose work appears in magazines around the world.
Cover photograph The Passionates Studio
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The Long Road After the tsunami of March 11, 2011 destroyed the city of Kamaishi, things looked hopeless for truck owners and local dealers. Many businesses left, but the local UD Trucks team decided to stay. In a desperate situation, they not only rebuilt, but expanded. It was not about business—it was about doing the right thing, and standing by your customers no matter what.
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arely a week had passed since the earthquake and tsunami of March 11 when Tomoko Tamayama, a general manager in the UD Trucks Iwate head office in Morioka in Japan’s northeastern Iwate Prefecture, first reached the devastated city of Kamaishi. She met a bleak sight. Channeled by the surrounding valley walls, the tsunami had travelled far inland. At the site of the dealership, some 500 meters from the coastline, the waves had reached a height of ten meters. The building had been
completely swept away, along with the residential area around it. “The tears just welled up in my eyes,” recalls Ms. Tamayama, “I was lost for words.” Masayuki Murai, a director of sales from the head office who first reached the area on March 16, was stunned. “There was absolutely nothing there,” he says. The scale of the destruction was almost beyond comprehension. But one thing was very clear: throughout the region, the dealership’s customers had been struck a grievous blow by the tsunami. Offices,
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Photo: Kjell Fornander
Feature Story
ad to Recovery Text: Tony McNicol Photos: Jun Takagi
equipment and vehicles had been damaged or destroyed and supply chains had been severely disrupted. It was weeks until even the first handful of customers could restart work— mostly transporting essential emergency goods: water, food, fuel and feed for animals. There were many months more before other businesses could get back on their feet, and a significant number are still yet to restart operations. As information about their customers’ predicament trickled in during the chaotic
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01. The restored UD Trucks sales office in Kamaishi stands in lonely triumph surrounded by a vast flat space that once was a city. The office officially opened for business on January 23 this year. 02. Knowing that they help customers rebuild their businesses is a source of strength for the staff.
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immediate aftermath of the disasters, the staff at UD Trucks Iwate realized that they had to take action. They had to help as many customers as possible get back on their feet as quickly as possible. It became their mission, their way of supporting the recovery efforts. Driven by this purpose, the team would work tirelessly over the coming two years, supporting their customers in every way they could in the most difficult circumstances imaginable. “We knew what we should do,” says President Chitaka Fujisawa. “We are transport industry professionals and we wanted to help people use their vehicles.”
Tomoko Tamayama: “I was lost for words.”
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Chitaka Fujisawa: “We are transport industry professionals. We wanted to help people use their vehicles.”
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and broken suspension springs were common from driving through debris-strewn streets. A maintenance truck was regularly dispatched to Kamaishi from the Morioka head office. But other customers had lost their vehicles in the disaster and Mr. Murai helped source them second-hand cars and trucks. Prices had shot up after the disaster, making that a difficult task.
Going forward
Yet, it was clear that a new Kamaishi office was needed. The tsunami had swept away the businesses of a number of local customers, and the UD Trucks staff wanted the sales office to stand ready for them as they rebuilt their operations. Struggling in chaos There was huge demand for a facility where trucks could The need for support was, in be maintained and repaired a word, desperate. Staff from quickly, close to the customers’ Morioka travelled every day to places of work. Kamaishi, a trip that in normal Hiroyuki Takahashi: “Almost the only Masayuki Murai: “There was absolutely By the end of 2011, the circumstances would have things we had to work with were our nothing there.” decision was made to taken two and a half hours but mobile phones.” purchase a temporary building. now took up to four hours on In February 2012, it was installed at the site roads damaged and crowded with recovery Even just locating customers was a of the original office. vehicles. formidable task. It was only through When the new branch manager, Hiroyuki painstakingly visiting more Takahashi, arrived in April, he found only than 100 refugee centers that one other building in the vicinity. The in mid-May a partial list of office still had no electricity, gas, water or customers could be completed. telephone landline. “I remember meeting many “Almost the only things we had to do our customers who had lost Iwate Morioka work with were our mobile phones,” recalls everything themselves, but prefecture Mr. Takahashi. who were doing their best to Kamaishi There was also the longer-term future of support the recovery,” says Japan the Kamaishi business to consider. Mr. Murai, adding that a few Tokyo Most importantly, they had to decide were even using their vehicles Osaka whether to rebuild a permanent sales office again. “Of course we had to on the original site, which was in one of help them and be there for the areas worst hit by the tsunami, or move them. We had to do our part.” further inland. Many needed urgent repairs “There were lots of dealers in the area to their vehicles—punctures
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Feature Story
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“ We all wanted to be there for our customers.” Chitaka Fujisawa, President of UD Trucks Iwate
before the disasters, but they all left,” says Mr. Murai. The difficulties of rebuilding in an area that had been completely destroyed, he notes, were great. “We thought about doing the same, but we’d spoken to our customers,” explains Mr. Murai. “We knew that we could be useful here.” The old sales office had been in the same place for some 30 years, close to a highway used frequently by customers. “Our customers were familiar with the location,” says Mr. Murai. To President Fujisawa, the needs of their customers meant the choice was no choice at all. “We had to be near the highway, not up in the mountains,” he stresses. Once the decision was made to rebuild the sales office in the same location, Ms. Tamayama spent hectic weeks commuting from Morioka to meet officials—she had only three months to negotiate with city hall. Among other things, she had to demonstrate that a new building could be reconnected to essential utilities, then arrange for that to happen. Despite the difficulties, UD Trucks Iwate in June 2012 received permission to build a permanent sales office. Construction started the following September. It was decided to expand the new sales office with two maintenance bays, greatly expanding its ability to quickly serve customers’ needs on the spot. When the sales office officially opened on January 23 this year, Ms. Tamayama and her colleagues invited ten customers for a small ceremony. It was a deliberately muted event as participants were all too aware that reconstruction in Kamaishi had as yet barely started. On its completion, the sales office was one of just three new buildings in the area. Many of the customers themselves were working from temporary offices in other
parts of the region, still with no idea when they could build permanent facilities. “Some of the customers thanked us for providing the new maintenance bays,” recalls Ms. Tamayama. “Others thanked us for coming back to Kamaishi.”
A small symbol of reconstruction In Kamaishi today, grim reminders of both the scale of the disaster and the scale of the reconstruction challenge are all too easy to find. Just behind the sales office is a huge processing facility with towering piles of debris. In fact, the facility is one of the sales office’s customers, with UD trucks being used to transport debris from all over the city. Although two years have passed, only a fraction of the debris left behind by the tsunami has been disposed of. Despite the still difficult situation, President Fujisawa says he hopes the new sales office can be a “small symbol of reconstruction” for the city and for their customers. Mechanics are already busy servicing vehicles, with customers including both local goods transport companies and construction companies involved in rebuilding.
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The building work is likely to continue for many years to come. Many local people are still living in temporary accommodation, and many businesses only have temporary premises. Like Kamaishi and the Tohoku region as a whole, the sales office and its customers face an uncertain future. Despite the new facilities, the sales office still has fewer customers than before the disaster. In the mid-term, the vast rebuilding needed in Tohoku will continue to support the local economy, but once construction stops no one knows what will happen. In any case, for the last two years, few in Tohoku have had the luxury of thinking that far into the future. For UD Trucks Iwate, the priority over the last two years has been to make sure that customers’ urgent immediate needs are met, and help them make a start on the long road to recovery. “We wanted to do something that people could see—something to show that reconstruction is starting,” says President Fujisawa. “And we all wanted to be there for our customers”.
01-06. The tsunami engulfs the city of Kamaishi. The UD Trucks Iwate sales office is circled in images 01 and 06.
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07. A customer truck hard at work clearing debris.
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UD TRUCKS NEWS New Zealand
New Quon makes debut in New Zealand
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arch 6, 2013 was a momentous day for UD Trucks Distributors (NZ) Ltd. In a highly anticipated moment, the company unveiled the new Quon range at the Waikato Stadium in Hamilton, New Zealand. The truck, designed for fuel economy and easy maintenance, is expected to sharpen UD Trucks’ competitive edge in New Zealand. An audience of dealers and sales staff heard presentations about the Quon from Taizo Matsuo, Vice President of UD Trucks Product Management, UD Trucks Global Brand; Jon McLean, Vice President of UD Truck Sales; and Mark Hammond, Manager of UD Trucks Product Planning and Engineering. After John Gerbich, General Manager of UD Truck Distributors (NZ), had wrapped up the presentations, the group moved on to viewing the new Quon model up close.
The launch coincided with the Transport and Heavy Equipment Expo, held every four years at the Mystery Creek Events Centre south of Hamilton. This popular expo draws participants from every field of the transport industry, and attracted over 12,000 visitors in 2013. The UD Truck Distributors (NZ) expo stand was based around the theme “The Road To Your Success” and had nine vehicles on display, including two of the new Quons. The centrepiece was a display of the new GH11 engine and the Escot V transmission. Visitors to the stand could test-drive a fully rigged Quon GW26-420 tractor unit coupled to a tri-axle semi-trailer carrying a 25-tonne container. Over the three days, 32 potential purchasers trialled the truck, all of them commenting positively on its great performance and the smooth and quiet ride.
The new Quon model at the test track (top); the new GH11 engine showcased at the expo.
Japan
Japan’s heavy winter is no match for the Quon
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now, snow and more snow. Perfect weather then for presenting a powerful snowplow version of the Quon heavy-duty truck at Japan’s Yuki Mirai 2013 (“Snow Future 2013”) exhibition. This annual event, held this year in Akita City in the country’s northern Tohoku region on February 7–8, covers issues and technologies related to snow, an important topic in what is actually one of the world’s snowiest countries. Japan Sales staff gave a presentation outdoors about
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the vehicle for the event’s snow removal machine exhibition and demonstration session. While the freezing temperatures and heavy snowfall—“heavy
The snowplow version of the Quon.
snowstorm,” according to the weather report—perhaps made for less than comfortable conditions, the presenters were warmed by the strong interest from customers and visits from local kindergarten children, who marveled at the powerful vehicle. UD Trucks’ snowplowequipped Quon with its 410 horsepower GH11TC engine and all-wheel (6x6) drive system
has the best snow removal capabilities among domestic products. It is also extremely fuel-efficient and environmentfriendly thanks to a combination of ultra-high-pressure fuel injection and urea-SCR catalyst technology that efficiently removes particulate matter, NOx and CO2 from the vehicle’s exhaust, ensuring that the snow left behind stays the way it should be—pristine white.
Kindergarten children marveling at the powerful vehicle.
The presenters from Japan Sales braving the snowstorm.
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Cover Story
Saudi Challenges
Hauling heavy cargo to exacting deadlines in temperatures reaching 50˚C is all in a day’s work for Al Rajhi Company, the biggest construction material distributor in the Middle East. But it takes trucks of superior reliability. Text: Marriam Mossalli Photos: The Passionates Studio
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he Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is one of the fastest growing markets in the Middle East. An oil-based economy with about 17% of the world’s discovered petroleum reserves, the country has positioned itself as the largest petroleum exporter in the world. The strong economy, along with the country’s comparatively recent establishment in 1932 and young population, means that construction has become one of its most active and lucrative industries. Spurred by government initiatives for economic development, such as the establishment of six gigantic “economic cities” across the Kingdom aimed at garnering over $370 billion in infrastructure projects over a four-year period, the local construction industry shows no signs of slowing down despite the global economic slowdown that has adversely affected the growth of the industry across the Middle East. In 2011, construction contract awards reached over $81 billion, and are expected to increase to $87 billion in 2013,
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“In our industry, it is all about getting from point A to point B without any delays—especially mechanical.” Saleh Al Ammar, General Manager according to the KSA Construction Industry Overview by Ventures Middle East. Together with a young and rapidly urbanizing population, the real estate development, infrastructure, and utility (ie. oil and gas, power and water) markets are now seeing unprecedented demand growth, and as a result, so are the companies within them. One of them is Al Rajhi Company for Industry and Trade. Al Rajhi was one of the first companies to pioneer the manufacture and marketing of construction materials in Saudi Arabia. Since its establishment over fifty years ago, the company has dominated over its competitors,
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Cover Story
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01 earning Al Rajhi its present position as the largest distributor of construction materials in the entire Middle East. “Building on the trust of our customers, we have worked continuously on our portfolio of products and services to ensure the delivery of quality,” says Al Rajhi’s Chairman, Abdullah Abdul Aziz Al-Rajhi. “This means working closely with local producers and cooperating with our offices and agents abroad to ensure that we import only the very best international construction materials.” The company’s internal infrastructure and distribution mechanisms ensure reliable, high quality delivery. “As the largest distributor of construction materials in the Gulf, we require tough and dependable vehicles that can withstand the Kingdom’s diversified terrain,” explains General Manager Saleh Al Ammar. Currently an owner of a 150-truck fleet that includes some 55 UD Trucks, Al Rajhi has wood transporters and steel tippers transporting materials from 70 branches Kingdom-wide.
From steel pipes and metal sheets to wood beams and wire fences, Al Rajhi’s portfolio requires reliable machinery that can also be used for multiple cargos. “Most of our UD trucks are 20-ton transporters. What’s particularly great about those is their practicality,” says Al Ammar, adding that the company also has medium-size UD MKB and PKB trucks, which are not restricted by the Heavy Duty Truck Regulations on inner city transport that are in effect in Saudi Arabia. “One of the things that I believe really sets UD Trucks apart from it competitors here in Saudi is the aftersales and customer service from its local dealership,” says Al Ammar. “I knew that Rolaco Automotive Division had a good reputation in aftersales and customer care, but it was impressive to witness it first-hand through their constant follow-up to ensure the trucks are performing to standard.” This dedication, says Al Ammar, will make him a repeat customer. In fact, during this interview, he revealed a new purchase order to acquire five more UD trucks. “I like the power of UD over Mitsubishi or Isuzu,” he explains. “More horse power, less gear shifting and better drivability. I also believe UD trucks have better handling, dependability and durability, which is paramount in our industry, when it is all about getting things from point A to point B without any delays— especially mechanical.” Frequent operations do not seem to affect the reliability experienced with UD Trucks. “We are in constant demand from customers, and we require immediate attention when issues do arise.” Here, Rolaco offers product service and spare parts. Al Rajhi’s UD MKB trucks also hold up well in the Saudi heat, which can soar to 50 degrees Celsius and cause overheating and other mechanical problems, especially during long-distance legs. A tour of Al Rajhi’s main branch in Riyadh shows the diversification of the company’s business and the high demands that come with it. “We’re interested in buying the new tractors that UD Trucks are now offering,” hints Al Ammar, as he drives through warehouses filled to the brim with wood, metal and plastics. Perhaps there’s another purchase order already on its way?
01. A UD truck being loaded with construction material at Al Rajhi’s warehouse in Riyadh. 02. General Manager Saleh Al Ammar is impressed with the aftersales and customer care from their local dealership.
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King of the Road
Dreaming of taking a gleaming, perfectly tuned Condor or Quon for a spin? Try the UD Experience, a unique introduction to UD Trucks’ values and technologies that nearly every week draws visitors from near and far to the company’s headquarters in Ageo north of Tokyo. Text & Photos: Jim Hand-Cukierman
A member of the test drive support team guides a customer back to the starting point.
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Feature Story
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he UD Experience, launched in April 2012, is not just a test drive. It is, as the name implies, a complete hands-on experience of the values that power the UD Trucks brand. First, a short presentation takes visitors from the founding in 1935 of Nihon Diesel, UD Trucks’ predecessor, to the global brand existing today. Then it’s off to the factory to check out the world-class production line and meet the people who keep everything humming. “When you look at the gentlemen here, and the quality checks, it shows you these guys are not just mass-producing vehicles,” says Ahmed Khalil Ebrahim Isa, a visitor from Bahrain. “At every step, there’s a quality check.” Mr. Isa, who started out as a firefighter,
now serves as fire, health and safety manager at Bahrain Petroleum Company. He knows his trucks and has seen assembly lines around the globe. “This,” he says, “is very clean, very efficient.” After the factory tour, visitors are shuttled to the proving ground, where they get to take a Quon or Condor for a spin. “This is a very big truck,” Mr. Isa marvels, “but it feels like a small one.” The UD Experience attracts participants from both inside and outside Japan; the ratio is about 50:50. Besides representatives from Bahraini enterprises, visitors have also come in recent weeks from Myanmar and Pakistan. Interest is clearly spreading and the list of happy participants grows steadily longer. With visitors coming nearly every week, there are now plans
to build a full-fledged customer center to improve the visits. Each UD Experience requires plenty of preparation, especially for overseas clients. “Accommodation, transportation and sightseeing are included,” explains Tomohisa Ishida, head of UD Experience, UD Trucks Brand Strategy & Marketing. “Many clients are in Japan for the first time, so we offer some opportunities to connect with the culture.” Of course, Mr. Ishida notes, the main goal is to show visitors first hand what UD Trucks’ commitment to go the extra mile really means. Three words from Mr. Isa suggest the message is getting through loud and clear: “Seeing is believing.”
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03 01. Ahmed Khalil Ebrahim Isa from Bahrain checks out a UD cab. 02. Kurniawan Ali, CEO of Win Strategic Group of Myanmar, in the driver’s seat. 03. The factory tour gives UD Experience visitors a chance to see for themselves the assembly of trucks and engines in very modern, very clean facilities.
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The Spirit of Ef ficienc y From the founding days until today, fuel efficiency innovation has always been central to UD Trucks’ competitiveness. Text: Anders Lenart
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n Japan after World War II, transportation—a key to rebuilding—was scarce and expensive. In this environment, word began to spread of a truck powered by an engine claimed to be so highperforming that “it could fly an airplane.” Yes, it cost nearly four times as much as the 15,000 yen you’d need to pay for a standard gasoline truck, but it had twice the range at half the fuel consumption. The company behind the truck was a small truck manufacturer with roots in a very different industry—aircraft. Today, this company is known as UD Trucks. The focus on delivering fuel efficiency remains a competitive hallmark. In a chronicle of the company’s history, a former director of sales recalls the time immediately after the war: “A customer came to our headquarters in Kabuto-cho [in Tokyo] with his backpack stuffed with 100yen bills and asked us to sell him a truck. People came with cash in their hands all the way from Kyushu and Hokkaido to buy our vehicles based on reputation by word of mouth.” In the 1920s, former air force pilot Kenzo Adachi had resolved to use his experience to help develop Japan’s domestic aviation
01. Kenzo Adachi, the founder of UD Trucks, in front of the very first truck, the legendary and very high-performing LD1. 02. The ND1 diesel engine, a milestone in Japanese automotive history.
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01 industry. Impressed by the diesel-powered aircraft manufactured by German company Junkers, he decided to introduce these to Japan, where diesel technology was rare. In Germany, Mercedes-Benz had developed the first diesel engine vehicle in 1924, and Krupp had bought the Junkers engine patent and in 1926 for the first time put a direct injection diesel engine in a truck. A trip to Germany in 1933 deeply impressed Mr. Adachi. Not only were diesel vehicles everywhere, the Krupp-Junkers brand outperformed other European diesel engines—putting its performance and fuel
efficiency far ahead of the gasoline engines common in Japan. Mr. Adachi decided to manufacture highperforming diesel engines in Japan. In 1935, he bought the Krupp-Junkers engine patent and founded Nihon Diesel Industries Ltd, six employees strong. The turbulent times caused many delays, but in late 1938 came the company’s first Japan-made engine: the 60 horsepower ND1. It performed as well as the KruppJunkers engine—a milestone in Japanese automotive history. This engine was at the heart of the company’s first truck, the
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History
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“A customer came to our headquarters in Kabuto-cho with his backpack stuffed with 100-yen bills and asked us to sell him a truck. People came with cash in their hands all the way from Kyushu and Hokkaido to buy our vehicles based on reputation by word of mouth.” 3.5-ton payload LD1, which was released in November 1939. The test drive has entered UD Trucks lore. Over 13 days, President Adachi and his team drove the LD1 over 3,000 km of some of Japan’s toughest roads. The feat proved beyond doubt the vehicle’s—and the engine’s—durability, reliability and efficiency. These keywords, which today are central
to the UD Trucks DNA, drove the company’s post-war success. Although buyers were initially skeptical since few had experience of diesel engines, the Industrial Bank of Japan soon lent support and large-fleet owners took notice. In 1947, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government put its prototype diesel bus into service. In January 1955 came the iconic product:
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History
the two-stroke UD engine. The race for horsepower had begun. In Japan and overseas, trucks were travelling farther and bus passengers wanted to go faster. Engines capable of 150–200 horsepower were in huge demand. The UD engine was the first produced by a Japanese company to reach this level. Known as a Uniflow scavenging Diesel engine—the origin of the UD name—its one-way airflow enabled higher performance than the cross-flow or loop-scavenging models of the time, with “scavenging” meaning pushing out exhaust gases while pulling in new fuel and air. Of the first two models, the 150 horsepower version was the first of its kind in the industry. The UD6 engine that followed in May 1955 went even further by delivering 230 horsepower at a weight 40 percent lower than conventional models. In fact, it was one of the world’s lightest per horsepower. For truck owners, this meant lower vehicle weight and therefore less fuel used for a given distance and payload. At this time, engine power rather than fuel efficiency guided innovation, resulting in the turbocharged intercooler engine in 1971, a first for Japan, and two world-firsts: the continuously controlled variable nozzle turbocharger engine in 1990 and ceramic tappets for use with a 4-valve medium-duty engine in 1993. However, environmental regulations grew ever stricter, and in the latter half of the 1990s the company made fuel efficiency its key sales point. Kenzo Adachi’s spirit continued to lead the way. Innovation became focused on combining efficient engines with multi-
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01. The 230 horsepower UD6 engine, the world’s lightest per horsepower at the time of its launch in 1955.
01 gear transmissions, so as to deliver the best possible torque at all times. In 1995 came Escot AT, Japan’s first electronically controlled semi-automatic multi-speed transmission for heavy-duty trucks. This was followed in 1998 by the GE13 engine, which was the first in the world to include a ball-bearing turbocharger—meaning better mechanical efficiency with less friction, stronger throttle response and less oil needed for lubrication. Together, the Escot AT and the GE13 delivered superb mileage and solidified the company’s reputation for excellent fuel efficiency. In 2004, the Quon set a global
benchmark for fuel efficiency and environmental performance. The heavy-duty truck was built from the ground up for lower fuel consumption, featuring aerodynamic cab and body parts, a lightweight chassis, a new type of ultrahigh-pressure fuel injection that drastically improved fuel combustion, and a world-first urea-SCR technology for breaking down NOx and CO2 in the exhaust. The Quon complied with Japan’s 2005 emissions regulations—the world’s strictest at the time—one year early, and later models have continued to raise the bar. Add extensive driver training to hone fuel-saving driving techniques, and research into wireless technology for precisely coordinating the movements of vehicles in convoys, and fuel efficiency emerges as one of UD Trucks’ defining features. The company’s pioneering heritage is today fused with the leading-edge technologies of the Volvo Group. The result: extremely fuel-efficient drive-line solutions that live up to the name of UD—Ultimate Dependability.
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At the Wheel
Local Brisbane Club is Kicking New Goals
Text: Kathryn Adams Photos: Mark Strambi
The Centenary Stormers Football Club in the Brisbane suburb of Darra is back on its feet after the floods of 2011, with sponsorship support from UD Trucks.
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he sponsorship has allowed the club to purchase uniforms and equipment, such as cones and balls, for a new children’s soccer program that began at the end of March. Jon McLean, Vice President of UD Trucks Australia, says the company is always looking for ways to support local communities across the country. “Our head office is in Wacol and a lot of our staff live in the area so it made sense for us to give the Stormers a helping hand,” he says. “Club sport teaches children good values and promotes team spirit, which are very important characteristics at UD Trucks.” Alan Wilkins, president of Centenary Stormers Football Club, says UD Trucks’ sponsorship ensured the program could go ahead after the club was wiped out by the 2011 floods. “After the flood waters receded, we were left with a huge damage bill which meant that we didn’t have the necessary funds for the program,” he says. “We’re a small community club run by volunteers so it means a lot to us to have the support of such a big company. It makes you realise that someone really does care. Without the sponsorship from UD Trucks, we wouldn’t have been able to launch this fantastic program for local kids.” In its first year, the program is aimed at children aged 3 to 11, as this is the most crucial time for kids to learn the necessary skills to play and excel in sport. “With about 80 percent of our 500 members falling into this age group, it was important for us to get the program up and running,” he says. “It’s the first of its kind in Australia and
01 01. The parents join their young football heroes in front of the camera. 02. The kids from the Centenary Stormers Football Club cheering and holding up presents from UD Trucks at the sponsorship ceremony.
the kids will learn different sets of soccer skills at different stages depending on their age and ability.” UD Trucks Australia is part of Volvo Group Australia Pty Ltd (VGA), which is a member of the Volvo Group. UD Trucks first arrived in Australia 40 years ago and has since
02 grown to become one of the largest truck manufacturers in Australia.
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Quality and Dependability —Day after Day, Mile af te For Tony Eastwood, owner of Melbourne-based EAL&AW Transport Group, UD Trucks has been the truck brand of choice for over twenty years.
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oday, having just purchased the latest model of the Condor, Mr. Eastwood now has 25 UD trucks in his fleet. His reason for loving the brand is simple: these trucks offer the dependability his company needs to get the job done smoothly and efficiently. “We deliver windows to domestic building sites up and down the Queensland and Victorian coastlines so we need trucks that are reliable and safe,” he explains. “I’ve got 70 staff and all our drivers love our UD trucks. They’re comfortable to drive, affordable and we don’t have any problems with them on the road.” Mr. Eastwood is also impressed by the stellar customer service offered by the staff at the Dandenong dealership in the outskirts of Melbourne. “You’re not just a number to them,” he says. “The team at UD Trucks are passionate about their trucks and look after you every step of the way. They don’t just forget about you once you’ve bought the truck. The aftersales service is fantastic.” On a recent trip to the UD Trucks factory in Japan, Mr. Eastwood saw for himself that this commitment to dependability goes all the way back to the drawing board and the factory floor. “It was a great experience to be able to see every part of the production process. As an owner, it was very reassuring,” he says. “UD Trucks understand the needs of the Australian transportation business and are always improving their trucks to reflect that. They just keep getting better.”
“ It was a great experience to be able to see every part of the production process. As an owner, it was very reassuring.”
01 01. Mr. Eastwood has been a happy UD Trucks customer for over twenty years.
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At the Wheel
bility af ter Mile
Two Australian customers share their thoughts on why they feel UD Trucks is the brand that gets the job done. Text: Kathryn Adams
After switching to UD Trucks four years ago, Peter Gould, CEO of Richmond-based Australian Truck and 4WD Rentals, hasn’t looked back.
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s a Hertz franchisee owner, Mr. Gould needs to be able to swiftly meet a wide range of challenging demands from customers. Quality, reliability and cost-efficiency are essential—which is why he today has no less than 39 UD trucks in his rental fleet. UD Trucks, he says, is a brand that consistently lives up to customers’ expectations. “Many of our clients have long-term leases so we need to provide them with trucks we know will last the distance without any major problems,” he explains. “The high level of reliability also lowers the maintenance costs over the life time of our trucks, which means we can lessen the financial impact to our end consumers, the customers.” UD Trucks is without question his top choice when recommending trucks to customers. “UD Trucks offers a fantastic overall package, from a competitive price right through to their high-quality servicing program. I love the way they drive and the in-dash products are first-
01. UD trucks ready for another day of fulfilling customers’ expectations.
class. UD was also one of the first companies to offer automatic trucks, which suited our business perfectly.” Should anything go wrong, Mr Gould knows that UD Trucks will be quick to help—not that he’s had any problems with his vehicles yet. “We have a good relationship with UD Trucks and they are always contactable and quick to react to any issues that may arise,” he said.
“ UD was also one of the first companies to offer automatic trucks, which suited our business perfectly.”
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Gemba and the Art of H When Japanese people hear the word gemba, they pay extra attention. Text: Mark Schreiber
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emba is written with the Sino-Japanese characters “gen” ( 現 ), which means “to appear” or “at present” and is used in such words as genzai (“appearance” plus “presence,” i.e. “right now”) and gendai (“current” plus “generation,” i.e. “modern times”), and “ba” (場 ), which means a place. When combined to read gemba, the expression literally means the place where someone or something appears. In everyday usage, however, gemba means being on the scene, or where the human element comes in. A reporter covering a big news event, for example, might telephone his editor and say, “Ima gemba desu” (I’m at the scene right now). In a business context, the word captures a sense of immediacy and involvement and can be understood to refer to the places where value is created in all phases of a product’s life cycle. According to Roger Schreffler, a Tokyobased trade journalist for Ward’s Automotive, the word first became popularized in the context of motor vehicles back in the 1930s. In those days, roads were still primitive and repair facilities few and far between. When a serious problem occurred, the company manager would personally drop whatever he was doing and go to the site of the breakdown—the gemba—to observe the
problem first-hand. When related to R&D or manufacturing, gemba is translated as “on the factory floor” or “on-site.” On the design and production side, engineers and assembly workers engage in gemba kaizen, literally “on the spot improvements,” through innovative ways to reduce waste and boost efficiency as well as develop and implement enhancements to vehicle safety. In the case of sales and aftermarket service, it refers to satisfying customers’ needs through speedy response and conscientious follow-up to feedback. A frequently heard expression among managers in Japanese companies is gemba shugi, which can be described as a policy of hands-on management, or management involvement at the grass-roots level, something widely seen as a key strength of Japanese manufacturing. In this sense, gemba can be considered the diametric opposite of the term “ivory tower.” Trusting people on-site to provide decision makers with on-the-spot evaluations means fewer worries about complexities such as internal politics, and more time spent focusing on actually solving problems. This translates directly into greater quality and reliability—attributes that are known worldwide today as central Japanese production values.
“ Gemba captures a sense of immediacy and involvement and refers to the places where value is created.”
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Tradition
of Hands-on Involvement
[Gen]
[Ba]
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Thinking Global Faced with a rapidly changing global market, the product development team at UD Trucks is working hard—and rapidly—on ways to dramatically change how the company will serve a wide variety of customers in many different markets around the globe. Text: William Ross
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or most of its history, UD Trucks focused on producing trucks in Japan for the Japanese market, and in exporting from Japan to Asia and the rest of the world. While this worked well for many years, today the company finds itself in very different markets, in Asia and elsewhere. Along with aggressive European and Japanese rivals, new low-cost competitors from China and India have entered the picture. Customers have a whole new range of choices as they try to find the right balance of price, performance and total cost of ownership. Loic Mellinand, Senior Vice President, UD Trucks Global Brand, is the man
successful in a number of these markets for a long time”, says Mr. Mellinand. The dilemma, as Mr. Mellinand points it out, is the variety of customer needs from a global perspective. It is clear that customers in mature markets with complex legislation, like Australia, Japan and South Korea, have different needs from customers in growth markets like South Africa, China and Indonesia. “We have taken on this challenge within the UD Trucks brand and started to develop a new truck range several years ago, with the right specifications for customers in growth markets. We are nearly ready for launch.” While Mr. Mellinand is reluctant to
“ The shift of production is a prerequisite for being able to offer our customers outside Japan and in other mature markets trucks and services designed exactly for their needs.” Loic Mellinand, Senior Vice President, UD Trucks Global Brand
in charge of trying to navigate these challenging waters. Based at UD Trucks’ headquarters in Ageo, outside of Tokyo, his responsibilities include building and implementing the global UD Trucks brand, as well as laying out the product strategy for the UD Trucks of the future. His focus is not exclusively on Japan, but on the global market—or, more accurately, a number of local markets worldwide. The new strategy is a global approach, aimed at developing dedicated products for different markets, and customers with different needs. “We have an aggressive growth strategy for Asia and other fast-growing regions and believe that UD Trucks will be vital for the Volvo Group’s ambitions since it already has a good reputation as a dependable truck brand and have been
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reveal details about the coming truck, he is certain of its competitiveness. The team has focused on excelling in fuel efficiency, reliability and uptime—features that are essential to customers’ profitability. “The great advantage of being part of a global company becomes fully expressed in an industrial project like this. We can use the local knowledge about our customers to understand their needs, the strength of global production and technology and UD Trucks—a brand with very strong Japanese heritage. We say that our new truck is the best of three worlds.” He emphasizes UD Trucks’ strong history—because, he says, you need a clear vision of the past to be able to set out on the road to the future. The UD Trucks brand was first launched in 2010, although “UD” has been part of
Loic Mellinand
the brand for more than 60 years. “Many of the things we are dealing with today go back far before the Volvo Group became involved in UD Trucks,” Mr. Mellinand says. “I see myself and my team today as part of the entire history of the brand.” A key to being able to take part of community development in fast-growing economies is, of course, offering transport and construction companies vehicles and services that are affordable. Accordingly, the new approach also involves a major operational shift from Japan to Asia. Production for Asian markets will be placed in Asia. “The shift of production is a prerequisite for being able to offer our customers outside Japan and in other mature markets trucks and services designed exactly for their needs,” says Mr. Mellinand. He stresses at the same time that this doesn’t mean that UD Trucks is ignoring Japan, or moving all of its production out of its home—and largest single—market. “We do want to have a product that is designed for Japan, so I’m not talking about taking a product that was designed for Asia and bringing it into Japan. Instead, we want to provide a product that meets the expectations of Japanese customers.” Tomorrow will be exciting, Mr. Mellinand promises, for customers as well as for the people who design, build and sell UD trucks. “I can promise that these products will be something that we can be proud of offering to our customers.”
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Global Business
“ I can promise that these products will be something that we can be proud of offering to our customers.� Loic Mellinand, Senior Vice President, UD Trucks Global Brand
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.95% 1 Finance Packages from
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Available on all new
Models
Make sure you check us out on Stand 87 at the Brisbane Truck Show! UD Trucks offer the perfect balance between rock solid dependability and industry leading business solutions. From the best technology around, to this amazing finance package. It’s for a limited time only so talk to your UD Trucks dealer today. www.udtrucks.com.au
Finance to approved business customers of UD Trucks Financial Services^ with a minimum deposit of 10%. Offer valid from 1 May 2013 to 31 July 2013 from participating UD Trucks dealerships. Offer applies to new UD Trucks Quon 11 Litre models @ 1.95% for 36, 2.95% for 48 or 3.95% for 60 month terms with a nil final balloon payment. This offer is not available in conjunction with any other offer. Terms, conditions, fees and charges apply and are subject to change without notice. ^ UD Trucks Financial Services is a registered trading name of Volvo Finance Australia Pty Ltd. Offer not available for the Quon GW 26 470.