News Releases

The Kansai Quality Award Committee (Kansai Productivity Center (Chair: Kiyoshi Otsubo)) met on January 27, 2010 to select the recipient of the 2009 Kansai Quality Award, which is now in its six year. The following company was selected as the recipient: (Qualifying criteria are as follows with supporting information in attachments.)
The awards ceremony, 2010 Kansai Productivity Congress, will be held April 19 at the Teikoku Hotel Osaka. The award will be presented to the winner, along with a speech by the winning company.

Kansai Quality Award
PRIMIX Corporation (President and CEO, Hisashi Furuichi)
Qualifying criteria of this recipient:

• Through advanced core technology in high-speed dispersion and customer testing visits, PRIMIX provides superior added-value solutions to customers.
• It has developed a corporate culture geared toward the customer by shifting away from a "products out-the-door" emphasis to "market needs-in-the-door."
• The company's community involvement is aligned with and supports the achievement of the corporate mission.

* Prior to 2009, the award was presented for excellence in three different categories, however, for 2009, the award was changed to one award overall, "Kansai Quality Award." A consolation award was also established for a company striving for the level of management worthy of the Kansai Quality Award, and that shows much promise for the development of superior quality management systems. The recipients of the two Consolation Awards are:
Bell Company, (President and CEO: Toshio Oku)
Shiga Daihatsu Motor Sales (President and CEO: Yoshihiro Goto)

Contact information:
Kansai Productivity Center, Kansai Quality Award Office
Kobayashi, Minamiura, Takahashi
Nakanoshima Center Bldg. 28th Fl.
6-2-27 Nakanoshima, Kita-ku, Osaka. 530-6691
TEL 06-6444-6464　　FAX 06-6444-6450

Overview

Business Overview (Company History)

PRIMIX Corporation was established in 1927 as a mixing equipment manufacturer. PRIMIX has always been a industry leader by being the first domestic manufacturer to develop such equipment and by adopting innovative design and technology. PRIMIX has a reputation among companies for superior quality in mixing (especially high-speed) equipment for industries such as food, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. PRIMIX recently developed the innovative Filmix unit, making high-speed dispersion possible in a continuous manufacturing line. This state-of-the-art dispersion technology is central to the lithium-ion battery manufacturing process adopted by many major battery suppliers.
Hisashi Furuichi assumed his current position as president in 2004. During that time he has implemented major improvements to the quality of the management team toward solidifying company brand in the eyes of the customer, and took a progressive approach toward fostering attitudes of employees along with the corporate culture.

Qualifying Criteria (Main Points)

PRIMIX Corporation was selected for the Kansai Quality award because of "strategic thought and action toward achieving the desired value" in order to realize its ideal presence as an organization as manifested by the following four examples.

1. Provide high value-added solutions to companies through core, high-speed dispersion technology and "Customer Visit Testing."

Through its high-speed dispersion equipment used in a continuous manufacturing line, PRIMIX has been able to develop its own innovative technology that yields uniform emulsification and dispersion at the "nano" level. Through its high-speed dispersion equipment, PRIMIX has been able to make a positive contribution to the manufacture of high valued-added products in the food, pharmaceutical, chemical and battery device industries.
Furthermore, through Customer Testing Visits, PRIMIX is able to solve any problems (manufacturing processes and conditions) a customer may have from the product development stage to production (manufacturing line engineering) by sharing its knowledge and experience in dispersion and mixing technology. From the perspective of the customer, PRIMIX is not simply a supplier of equipment, it is in the "solution business" in the area of dispersion.

2. Developing a customer-oriented corporate culture with a market emphasis as opposed to a products emphasis.

During his current tenure, Hisashi Furuichi, President and CEO, has taken the corporate culture from one that emphasized getting products out-the-door to one that emphasizes bringing market needs in, working to improve customer satisfaction throughout every aspect of the business. PRIMIX keeps its track of its progress by surveying the customer’s experience at every step in the supply process and translates these results to improvement quickly by sharing the customer experience company-wide. PRIMIX even developed its production system to allow customers to see the manufacturing process of equipment as it goes through the purchase order, design and engineering, production and shipping phases, thereby improving customer confidence in the quality and reliability of PRIMIX equipment.

3. Putting a customer-oriented corporate culture into practice through employee satisfaction.

PRIMIX fully understands that by implementing a management policy grounded on the premise that a company built on employee satisfaction, leads to satisfied customers. Based on this policy, a cross-functional committee was organized to evaluate and develop ways to foster a flexible, dynamic and interactive working environment in which employees are ambitious and excited to work. With daily, incremental progress toward this goal, all employees have a heightened sense of awareness of problems or issues, and are encouraged to take a proactive approach to making improvements to other departments outside their own wherever the opportunities rises. This management philosophy has yielded superior results.

4. Contributing to Society toward fulfilling its corporate mission.

Always with its corporate mission, "Contribute to the development of society by promoting technological progress and innovation in each industry through advancements in dispersion and emulsification processes and materials," as the guiding principle, PRIMIX consistently works toward this goal by actively submitting white paper and other reports to trade organizations, hosting technical seminars, etc., in cooperation with foreign universities and research institutions, and releases on a regular basis information about technological improvements in the dispersion and emulsification business. The company also sends employees to participate in Osaka’s working-adult visiting instructor program designed to get kids interested in math and science called "Naniwa-ko," and has maintained a 30-year continuous relationship with a facility for handicapped, both of which demonstrate the company’s commitment to making a positive contribution to the local community.