The Challenge of Creating a New Optex Katachi

“The most enjoyable part of manufacturing is planning and designing a product with the customer in mind.” This is the Optex manufacturing and design policy that has remained the same since we started our business. This policy is also why Optex developers and sales persons visit places around the world where our products are installed, in order to get a clear picture of who will be using our products, and in what situations and ways. We have been manufacturing our products in this way, while also searching for ways to provide customers with what they truly need.

However in 2015, when we launched our design project, clouds began to gather over the Optex manufacturing site. We realized that our manufacturing had shifted from a customer perspective to an experience bias, which meant it could not fully reflect the creativity and hypotheses we had been developing from what we actually saw and experienced on site.

It was when some of us were beginning to question if this approach was ok, and thinking we couldn’t continue like this, when there started to be talk of launching a design project as a way of breaking through this situation.

In February 2015, Optex launched a design project with three members each in charge of development, marketing and PR. (The project’s scope of activities has expanded, and as of 2019 there are 10 members in the team from each Optex division.) There is no hierarchy here though; this has been a grassroots-style project from the start, comprising Optex employees with an innovative outlook and high morale.

Actually, the more discussions we have, the more we realize how many issues we need to address.

Otsuka :As it was at the time Optex was established, the foundation of manufacturing starts with considering things from a customer perspective. In the end though, in this design project we have been asking ourselves who are we manufacturing for, what value are we creating, and how do we convey that value? In asking these questions, each time we start working on something we are reminded of the importance of communication and personnel development. Eventually, what we are doing becomes so massive that it ends up baffling us.

Otsuka：That said, the design project is a forwarding-looking and proactive initiative. First, we work out a priority order for what we need to do. We want to make sure the products we launch in markets around the world are uniquely and unmistakably Optex. So the ideas, sincerity and philosophy we have toward manufacturing, its processes and even how we communicate about it, are all important in achieving that. We thought the need for design standards is an easily understandable way to describe this. And so we formulated our own Design Philosophy, while also taking on board advice from outside design firms.

Our efforts to embody Optex Katachi began with the five guidelines of “Through the eyes of the user,” “Absolute attention to detail,” “Designed to perfection,” ”Delivering the WOW! factor,” and “Innovation, but with consistency.”

Even though we have been running study sessions and workshops, the key is how we can connect what we’ve learnt to what we actually do. One tool we are using to achieve this is a Value Communication Sheet, which is written up during the product planning stage. So far we have been using a New Product Planning Sheet, which is filled in by Optex planners. The Planning Sheet had columns for entering information on the type of customers, how they use our products, and what they require. However, before we knew it, most of the sheet was filled with specifications, and even in the product planning meetings the discussions leaned more toward specifications.

Hayashi :So we came up with the Value Communication Sheet to help us understand the current situation, listen to customer feedback, and get an idea of the on site restrictions and actions of our customers. With this information, we can get a clearer idea of how we can address the issues customers are facing and provide them with value. This sheet is primarily a tool for us to focus more on customers. We need to move forward with a new approach to product planning, one that focuses on creating new value rather than specifications; and I think we’ve done that.

In the four years since we started our design project, we have launched about 20 products. The people involved in the development of those projects have each changed the way they look at things after being exposed to an aspect of the Optex design approach.

Otsuka :Optex employees have a passion for manufacturing that considers the users, and they want to make customers say WOW! about products that exceed their expectations. The Optex Design Project aims to keep creating products and services that can deliver that WOW! factor to customers.