Tag: featured

  • Haruo Kawahara: Speed is like fresh food – Revitalization of Japanese industry

    Haruo Kawahara: Speed is like fresh food – Revitalization of Japanese industry

    Revitalization of Japanese Industry

    Haruo Kawahara, Representative Director and Chairman of the Board of JVC KENWOOD Corporation

    Keynote presented at the 6th Ludwig Boltzmann Symposium on February 20, 2014 at the Embassy of Austria in Tokyo.

    summary by Gerhard Fasol

    JVC Kenwood Chairman Haruo Kawahara speaks on Revitalization of Japanese Industry and his turnaround of Kenwood from bankruptcy. "Speed is like fresh food"
    JVC Kenwood Chairman Haruo Kawahara speaks on Revitalization of Japanese Industry and his turnaround of Kenwood from bankruptcy. “Speed is like fresh food”

    by Haruo Kawahara, Representative Director and Chairman of the Board of JVC KENWOOD Corporation

    summary by Gerhard Fasol

    KENWOOD corporate vision: Creating excitement and peace of mind for the people of the world

    JVC KENWOOD Corporation was incorporated on October 1, 2008, and has 20,033 employees as of October 1, 2013.

    KENWOOD overview

    Total sales for fiscal year ending March 2013 was YEN 306.6 Billion (approx. US$ 3 Billion).

    JVC KENWOOD today has four business divisions:

    • Car Electronics (CE): 33% of total sales
      • car navigation systems
      • car audio systems
      • CD/DVD drive mechanisms
      • optical pick-ups
    • Professional Systems (PS): 30%
      • digital land mobile radio
      • amateur radio
      • security cameras
      • professional video cameras
      • emergency broadcasting equipment
    • Optical & Audio (O&A): 22%
      • action camera
      • home audio systems
      • all-in one tower design audio systems
      • camcorder with wifi
      • 4K projektor
      • headphones
    • Entertainment Software (SE): 13%
      • Victor Entertainment Group
      • Teichiku Entertainment

    Issues of the electrical industry of Japan:

    • 1970s: overwhelmed with vertical integration and self-sufficiency
    • 1980s: appreciation of the yen (1985 Plaza Accord)
    • 1990s: collapse of the Bubble (1991), relocation of production to Asia, three excesses:
      • debt
      • facility
      • employment
    • 2000s: lost 20 years

    Going forward, Japan has the option of growth under new business models, or continue to stagnate with matured industries

    While there is dramatic global market expansion in many business areas in the global electrical industry, e.g. for Lithium Ion Batteries, DVDs, Car navigation units, DRAM, Japan’s market shares are falling in most sectors. For example, Japanese market shares for LCD, DVD players, Lithium Ion batteries, or car navigation units have fallen from almost 100% global market share 5-10 years ago to 10%-20% today.

    Restructuring mature industry can generate more economic benefit than innovating a new industry:

    • large established market, although low growth
    • reduced number of players in the market following consolidation

    Revitalization of JVCKENWOOD

    • the current main business as the core – not new business
    • speed, like “fresh food”
    • eliminate hidden waste and loss costs
    • eliminate vested rights

    Kenwood in 2002 was in a disastrous condition:

    • net income: YEN -27 Billion (= US$ -270 million)
    • debt: YEN 110 Billion (= US$ 1.1 billion)
    • accumulated losses: YEN 45 Billion (= US$ 450 million)
    • net worth: YEN -17 Billion (= US$ -170 million)

    Restructuring by March 2003:

    1. Financial restructuring: Dept/equity swap. Moved from YEN 17 billion negative net worth to positive within 6 months
    2. Business restructuring: focus on core business. Terminated cellular phone business.
    3. Cost restructuring: 30% cost reduction. Closed 3 factories. Voluntary retirement.
    4. Management restructuring: management consolidation. Eliminate huge wastes and losses in subsidiaries.

    Restructuring in FY2003 achieved a V-shape recovery. Net income margin was improved from -8% in FY3/2002 to 2%-4% in recent years.

    In mature markets, growth is achieved through M&A, reducing the number of players in the market. As the top player in the market, profitable growth improved:

    Main four players in the car electronics after-market before Kenwood-JVC merger:

    1. Pioneer
    2. Kenwood
    3. Sony
    4. JVC

    after the JVCKENWOOD merger, and restructure to minimize losses from the TV business:

    1. JVCKENWOOD

    JVC and KENWOOD formed a capital and business alliance in July 2007, followed by management integration in October 2008, and a full merger in October 2011. The business portfolio was restructured, and in particular big losses in the TV business were reduced. Fixed costs were reduced by 40% by selling off assets, reduction of production and sales sites, and 25% voluntary retirement.

    This structural reform was completed in the FY3/2001, and led to another V-shaped recovery, and to profitable growth under the new medium term business plan.

    The JVC-KENWOOD merger led to big jumps in market share in many markets, and thus to very much improved profitability.

    Why did Japan’s mass production type electronics fail?

    Answer: Japanese management failed to deal with globalization and digitalization.

    Other factors that contributed to Japan’s failure are vertical integration, technology leakage from exporting production facilities, insufficient added value compared to the high Japanese labor costs, and lack of money for investment, because Japanese companies largely relied on bank loans instead of equity.

    Japan’s heavy electrical industry on the other hand is competitive – why?

    1. Creative know-how in the heavy electrical industry is in human brains, therefore more difficult to leak to competitors under Japan’s employment circumstances.
    2. huge capital investment is needed, and almost fully depreciated in Japan. Therefore the depreciation costs exceeds HR costs.

    How can Japan become competitive again?

    Japan needs to accelerate growth strategies in those areas, where Japan has competitive advantage, and where Japanese industries can differentiate themselves. Examples are industrial areas which depend on a long-term improvements and advanced technologies, and techniques of craftsmen, and in next generation technologies.

    JVC KENWOOD takes action to innovate

    • JVCKENWOOD invested in a venture capital fund: the WiL Fund I, LP to reinforce alliances with potential ventures in Japan and overseas
    • JVCKENWOOD invested in ZMP Inc. to promote car telematics and car auto-control
    Haruo Kawahara, Chairman of JVCKenwood
    Haruo Kawahara, Chairman of JVCKenwood
    Haruo Kawahara, Chairman of JVCKenwood
    Haruo Kawahara, Chairman of JVCKenwood

    Copyright 2014 Eurotechnology Japan KK All Rights Reserved

  • Kiyoshi Kurokawa: Quo vadis Japan? – uncertain times

    Kiyoshi Kurokawa: Quo vadis Japan? – uncertain times

    Quo vadis Japan? – uncertain times. Groupthink can kill.

    Kiyoshi Kurokawa

    Keynote presented at the 6th Ludwig Boltzmann Symposium on February 20, 2014 at the Embassy of Austria in Tokyo.

    summary by Gerhard Fasol

    Fukushima nuclear accident commission Chairman Kiyoshi Kurokawa explains the cause of the nuclear accident and says: "Groupthink can kill". Watch videos.
    Fukushima nuclear accident commission Chairman Kiyoshi Kurokawa explains the cause of the nuclear accident and says: “Groupthink can kill”. Watch videos.

    by Kiyoshi Kurokawa, Academic Fellow of GRIPS and former Chairman of Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission by National Diet of Japan

    summary written by Gerhard Fasol

    Professor Kurokawa set the stage by describing the uncertain times, risks and unpredictabilities in which we live – while at the same time internet connects us all, all while the world’s population increased from about 1 billion people in 1750 to about 9 billion people today.

    Major global risks in terms of impact and likelihood are (General Annual Conference 2013 of the World Economic Forum):

    • severe income disparity
    • chronic fiscal imbalances
    • rising greenhouse gas emissions
    • cyber attacks
    • water supply crisis
    • management of population aging
    • corruption

    Top trends for 2014, ranked by global significance (World Economic Forum, Outlook on global agenda 2014):

    • rising social tensions in Middle East and North Africa
    • widening income disparity
    • persistent structural unemployment
    • intensifying cyber threats
    • diminishing confidence in economic policies
    • lack of values in leadership
    • the expanding middle class in Asia

    This changing world needs a change of paradigm:

    • resilience instead of strength
    • risk instead of safety

    Many recent “Black Swan events” bring home that:

    • accident happens
    • machine breaks
    • to err is human

    Fukushima Nuclear Accident Investigation Commission NAIIC of the Japanese Parliament:

    Professor Kiyoshi Kurokawa chaired the Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission (NAIIC) by the National Diet of Japan, which was active from December 8, 2011 to July 5, 2012. While Parliamentary commissions to investigate accidents, problems and disasters are quite frequent in most Western democracies, this was the first time ever in the history of Constitutional Democratic Japan, that a Parliamentary investigation commission was constituted.

    Examples of Parliamentary commissions in other western democracies are:

    • Three Mile Island, USA 1979
    • Space Shuttle Challenger, USA 1986
    • 9.11 Terrorist Attack, USA 2001 and many many many more in USA
    • Oslo’s shooting incident, Norway 2011
    • Mad Cow Disease, UK 1997-, and several Parliamentary commissions every year in UK

    The records of the Parliamentary Commission for the Fukushima Disaster can be viewed here.

    Fukushima Nuclear Accident Investigation Commission of the Japanese Parliament NAIIC key results: Fukushima nuclear disaster was caused by “regulatory capture”

    The key result of the Parliamentary Commission is, that the Fukushima nuclear disaster was caused by “regulatory capture”, a phenomenon for which there are many examples all over the world and which is not specific to Japan. Regulatory capture was studied by Goerge J Stigler, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1982 for “for his seminal studies of industrial structures, functioning of markets and causes and effects of public regulation”.

    Since the full report of the Independent Parliamentary Commission NAIIC is long and complex to read, few people are likely to read the full reports and watch the videos of all sessions.

    Therefore short summary videos the key results of the Independent Parliamentary Commission NAIIC were prepared both in Japanese and in English.

    The simplest explanation of The National Diet of Japan Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission NAIIC Report (English):

    1. What is the NAIIC?

    2. Was the nuclear accident preventable?

    3. What happened inside the nuclear plant?

    4. What should have been done after the accident?

    5. Could the damage be contained?

    6. What are the issues with nuclear energy?

    わかりやすいプロジェクト 国会事故調編

    1。国会事故調ってなに?

    2。事故は防げなかったの?

    3。原発の中でなにが起こっていたの?

    4。事故の後対応をどうしたらよかったの?

    5。被害を小さくとどめられなかったの?

    6。原発をめぐる社会の仕組みの課題ってなに?

    “Groupthink can kill”

    We need leaders to be accountable, and we need to understand that “Groupthink” can lead to disasters.

    We need the obligation to dissent instead of compliance.

    The Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission (NAIIC) was like a hole body CT scan of the Governance of Japan.

    Richard Feynman when charing the Space Shuttle Accident investigation wrote in 1986: “for a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled.

    For his work chairing the Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission (NAIIC) Professor Kurokawa was selected as one of “100 Top Global Thinkers 2012” by Foreign Policy “for daring to tell a complacent country that groupthink can kill”.

    Professor Kurokawa was awarded the AAAS Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Award “for his courage in challenging some of the most ingrained conventions of Japanese governance and society.

    “Japan is clearly living in denial, water keeps building up inside the plant, and debris keeps piling up outside of it. This is all just one big shell game aimed at pushing off the problem until the future”, New York Times, quotation of the day, September 4, 2013 Professor Kiyoshi Kurokawa

    Professor Kiyoshi Kurokawa
    Professor Kiyoshi Kurokawa
    Professor Kiyoshi Kurokawa
    Professor Kiyoshi Kurokawa

    Copyright 2014 Eurotechnology Japan KK All Rights Reserved

  • Gerhard Fasol: Boltzmann constant and the new SI system of units by Gerhard Fasol

    Gerhard Fasol: Boltzmann constant and the new SI system of units by Gerhard Fasol

    Boltzmann constant k, “What is temperature?” and the new definition of the SI system of physical units

    Gerhard Fasol

    Keynote presented at the 6th Ludwig Boltzmann Symposium on February 20, 2014 at the Embassy of Austria in Tokyo.

    Gerhard Fasol: Ludwig Boltzmann
    Gerhard Fasol: Ludwig Boltzmann

    (by Gerhard Fasol, CEO of Eurotechnology Japan KK. Served as Associate Professor of Tokyo University, Lecturer at Cambridge University, and Manger of Hitachi Cambridge R&D Lab.)

    see also: https://www.boltzmann.com/ludwig-boltzmann/physics/boltzmann-constant-k/

    (in preparing this talk, I am very grateful for several email discussions and telephone conversations, and for unpublished presentations and documents, to Dr Michael de Podesta MBE CPhys MInstP, Principal Research Scientist at the National Physical Laboratory NPL in Teddington, UK, who has greatly assisted me in understanding the current status of work on reforming the SI system of units, and also his very important work on high-precision measurements of Boltzmann’s constant. Dr Michael de Podesta’s measurements of Boltzmann’s constant are arguable among the most precise, of not the most precise measurements of Boltzmann’s constant today, and therefore a very important contribution to our system of physical units).

    Boltzmann constant k, the definition of the unit of temperature and energy

    Temperature is one of the physics quantities we use most, and understanding all aspects of temperature is at the core of Ludwig Boltzmann’s work. People measured temperature long before anyone knew what temperature really is: temperature is a measurement of the average kinetic energy of the atoms of a substance. When we touch a body to “feel” its temperature, what we are really doing is to measure the “buzz”, the thermal vibrations of the atoms making up that body.

    For an ideal gas, the kinetic energy per molecule is equal to 3/2 k.T, where k is Boltzmann’s constant. Therefore Boltzmann’s constant directly links energy and Temperature.

    However, when we measure “Temperature” in real life, we are not really measuring the true thermodynamic temperature, what we are really measuring is T90, a temperature scale ITS-90 defined in 1990, which is anchored by the definition of temperature units in the System International, the SI system of defining a set of fundamental physical units. Our base units are of fundamental importance for example to transfer semiconductor production processes around the world. For example, when a semiconductor production process requires a temperature of 769.3 Kelvin or mass of 1.0000 Kilogram, then accurate definition and methods of measurement are necessary to achieve precisely the same temperature or mass in different laboratories or factories around the world.

    The SI system of physical units

    The SI system consists of seven units, which at the moment are defined as follows:

    • second: The second is the duration of 9 192 631 770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the cesium 133 atom.
    • metre: The meter is the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of 1/299 792 458 of a second.
    • kilogram: The kilogram is the unit of mass; it is equal to the mass of the international prototype of the kilogram.
    • Ampere: The ampere is that constant current which, if maintained in two straight parallel conductors of infinite length, of negligible circular cross-section, and placed 1 meter apart in vacuum, would produce between these conductors a force equal to 2 x 10-7 newton per meter of length.
    • Kelvin: The kelvin, unit of thermodynamic temperature, is the fraction 1/273.16 of the thermodynamic temperature of the triple point of water.
    • mole:
      1. The mole is the amount of substance of a system which contains as many elementary entities as there are atoms in 0.012 kilogram of carbon 12
      2. When the mole is used, the elementary entities must be specified and may be atoms, molecules, ions, electrons, other particles, or specified groups of such particles.
    • candela: The candela is the luminous intensity, in a given direction, of a source that emits monochromatic radiation of frequency 540 x 1012 hertz and that has a radiant intensity in that direction of 1/683 watt per steradian.

    The definitions of base units has long history, and are evolving over time. Today several of the definitions are particularly problematic, among the most problematic are temperature and mass.

    SI base units are closely linked to fundamental constants:

    • second:
    • metre: linked to c = speed of light in vacuum
    • kilogram: linked to h = Planck constant.
    • Ampere: linked to e = elementary charge (charge of an electron)
    • Kelvin: linked to k = Boltzmann constnt
    • mole: linked to N = Avogadro constant
    • candela:

    Switch to a new framework for the SI base units:

    Each fundamental constant Q is a product of a number {Q} and a base unit [Q]:

    Q = {Q} x [Q],

    for example Boltzmann’s constant is:
    k = 1.380650 x 10-23 JK-1.

    Thus we have two ways to define the SI system of SI base units:

    1. we can fix the units [Q], and then measure the numerical values {Q} of fundamental constants in terms of these units (method valid today to define the SI system)
    2. we can fix the numbers {Q} of fundamental constants, and then define the units [Q] thus that the fundamental constants have the numerical values {Q} (future method of defining the SI system)

    Over the next few years the SI system of units will be switched from the today’s method (1.) where units are fixed and numerical values of fundamental constants are “variable”, i.e. determined experimentally, to the new method (2.) where the numerical values of the set of fundamental constants is fixed, and the units are defined such, that their definition results in the fixed numerical values of the set of fundamental constants. This switch to a new definition of the SI system requires international agreements, and decisions by international organizations, and this process is expected to be completed by 2018.

    Today’s method (1.) above is problematic: The SI unit of temperature, Kelvin is defined as the fraction 1/273.16 of the thermodynamic temperature at the triple point of water. The problem is that the triple point depends on many factors including pressure, and the precise composition of water, in terms of isotopes and impurities. In the current definition the water to be used is determined as “VSNOW” = Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water. Of course this is highly problematic, and the new method (2.) will not depend on VSNOW any longer.

    In the new system (2.) the Kelvin will be defined as:

    Kelvin is defined such, that the numerical value of the Boltzmann constant k is equal to exactly 1.380650 x 10-23 JK-1.

    Measurement of the Boltzmann constant k:

    In order to link the soon to be fixed numerical value of Boltzmann’s constant to currently valid definitions of the Kelvin, and in particular to determine the precision and errors, it is necessary to measure the value of Boltzmann’s current in terms of today’s units as accurately as possible, and also to understand and estimate all errors in the measurement. Several measurements of Boltzmann’s constants are being performed in laboratories around the world, particularly at several European and US laboratories. Arguably today’s best measurement has been performed by Dr Michael de Podesta MBE CPhys MInstP, Principal Research Scientist at the National Physical Laboratory NPL in Teddington, UK, who has kindly discussed his measurements and today’s status of the work on the system of SI units and its redefinition with me, and has greatly assisted in the preparation of this article. Dr Podesta’s measurements of Boltzmann’s constant have been published in:
    Michael de Podesta et al. “A low-uncertainty measurement of the Boltzmann constant”, Metrologia 50 (2013) 354-376.

    Dr Podesta’s measurements are extremely sophisticated, needed many years of work, and cooperations with several other laboratories. Dr. Podesta and collaborators constructed a highly precise resonant cavity filled with Argon gas. Dr. Podesta measured both the microwave resonance modes of the cavity to determine the precise radius and geometry, and determined the speed of sound in the Argon gas from acoustic resonance modes. Dr Podesta performed exceptionally accurate measurements of the speed of sound in this cavity, which can be said to be the most accurate thermometer globally today. The speed of sound can be directly related to 3/2 k.T, the mean molecular kinetic energy of the Argon molecules. In these measurements, Dr. Podesta very carefully considered many different types of influences on his measurements, such as surface gas layers, shape of microwave and acoustic sources and sensors etc. He achieved a relative standard uncertainty of 0.71. 10-6, which means that his measurements of Boltzmann’s constant are estimated to be accurate to within better than on millionth. Dr. Podesta’s measurements directly influences the precision with which we measure temperature in the new system of units.

    Over the last 10 years there is intense effort in Europe and the USA to build rebuild the SI unit system. In particular NIST (USA), NPL (UK), several French institutions and Italian institutions, as well as the German PTB (Physikalische Technische Bundesanstalt) are undertaking this effort. To my knowledge there is only very small or no contribution from Japan to this effort, which was surprising for me.

    What is today’s best value for the Boltzmann constant k:

    Today’s accepted best value of Boltzmann’s constant is the “2010 Codata value”:

    k = 1.380 6488 . 10-23 JK-1, and the standard uncertainty is:
    su = 0.000 0013 . 10-23 JK-1

    Boltzmann constant by Gerhard Fasol
    Gerhard Fasol
    Boltzmann constant by Gerhard Fasol
    Gerhard Fasol

    Copyright (c) 2014 Eurotechnology Japan KK All Rights Reserved