In April 2024, Mr. Gu Xuxiang, General Manager of Changzhou Huiya Computer Room Equipment Co., Ltd., was invited to join the Changzhou Delegation to Japanese Manufacturing Enterprises. Together with the Changzhou Cultural Exchange Association, the delegation traveled to Himeji City, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, to conduct an in-depth visit to a benchmark enterprise in the field of automotive parts processing and manufacturing: Fukushin Electric Co., Ltd. (Team FUKUSHIN), for a multi-day study and exchange program.

Themed “Drawing on Japan’s Lean Management Experience to Enhance Corporate Core Competitiveness,” the visit aimed to gain a comprehensive understanding of how mid-sized Japanese manufacturers achieve success in product R&D, production control, quality systems, and corporate culture, through on-site visits, roundtable discussions, and production-line observations. The findings will introduce fresh thinking and methodologies to support Huiya Raised Floor‘s high-quality development.

I. Inside Team FUKUSHIN: Six Decades of Craftsmanship Heritage

Founded in 1957, Fukushin Electric Co., Ltd. is headquartered in Fukusaki Town, Kanzaki District, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. The company currently employs approximately 768 people and recorded sales of JPY 32.7 billion in fiscal year 2025. Its business spans automotive components, aviation parts, residential equipment, industrial equipment, medical devices, and aquaculture equipment, serving major clients such as Mitsubishi Electric, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, and Yamaha.

Fukushin Electric has obtained multiple international certifications, including ISO 9001, ISO 14001, IATF 16949, JIS Q9100, and Nadcap, and has accumulated profound technical expertise in core processes such as precision stamping, plastic working, metal joining, surface treatment, and mold design and manufacturing. The “Team FUKUSHIN” corporate culture it advocates, emphasizing company-wide collaboration, customer-first thinking, and continuous improvement, stands as a model for mid-sized manufacturing management in Japan.

II. Itinerary and Content of the Fukushin Electric Visit

1. Tour of the Corporate Culture Exhibition Hall

The delegation first visited Fukushin Electric’s headquarters showroom to view the “60 Years of Fukushin Electric” corporate history exhibition. There, members gained an up-close understanding of the company’s evolution from its founding to the present day, as well as its proprietary brand products, including the “SUPER POLCAR SPX-1” electric mobility scooter and the PFX series of automatic aquaculture feeders. Fukushin’s strategic evolution from contract manufacturing to proprietary brand development offered valuable inspiration for Huiya’s own product line expansion.

2. On-Site Visit to the Nishiwaki Plant

The delegation then traveled to Fukushin Electric’s Nishiwaki Plant for a hands-on tour of the production frontline. The Nishiwaki Plant is one of Fukushin’s key production bases, primarily responsible for the precision processing and manufacturing of automotive components and industrial equipment.

On-site, the delegation focused on the following management practices:

Lean Production System: The plant rigorously implements 5S management (Sort, Set in order, Shine, Standardize, Sustain). Production lines are compactly and rationally laid out, materials flow in an orderly manner, and work-in-process inventory is controlled at low levels — embodying the lean philosophy of “eliminating all waste.”

Visual Management: Kanban systems, andon (abnormality signal lights), and standard operating procedure boards are extensively used throughout the workshop to ensure transparent production status and immediate issue exposure.

Equipment Automation and Error-Proofing: Critical processes are equipped with automated inspection equipment and Poka-Yoke (mistake-proofing) devices, effectively reducing human error rates and ensuring product quality consistency.

Continuous Improvement (Kaizen) Mechanism: Fukushin Electric has established a robust employee suggestion system and improvement activity framework, encouraging frontline workers to proactively identify problems and propose solutions, thereby creating a virtuous cycle of “company-wide participation and continuous optimization.”

3. Management Roundtable and Technical Exchange

After the tour, the delegation engaged in in-depth discussions with Fukushin’s management team. Through dedicated presentations, Fukushin Electric provided detailed insights into its quality management system operations, supply chain collaboration model, and the practical implementation of the “Team FUKUSHIN” corporate culture.

The two sides exchanged views on how manufacturing enterprises can improve production efficiency while ensuring quality, and how to build people-centered management systems. Fukushin’s emphasis on “Customer First, Quality Foremost” resonates strongly with Huiya’s long-standing operating philosophy of “Quality at the Core, Customer First,” providing a meeting point of values for both companies.

4. A Testament to China-Japan Manufacturing Friendship

The visit coincided with the peak cherry blossom season in Japan, and the delegation captured a treasured group photo along Himeji’s cherry blossom boulevard. Beneath the romantic canopy of pink petals stood a sincere friendship between Chinese and Japanese manufacturing peers, learning from one another and pursuing shared development.

III. Implications for Huiya’s Management Upgrade

This Japan study tour offers multidimensional reference value for Huiya Raised Floor’s management upgrade:

1. Lean Production

Fukushin Electric integrates lean production principles into every aspect of its production lines, minimizing waste and optimizing process rhythm through Kaizen, standardized work, and visual management. On-site, the delegation observed that material delivery, workstation layout, and tool placement were all scientifically planned, and employee movements were highly efficient and orderly.

Implications for Huiya: As a professional manufacturer specializing in the R&D and production of anti-static raised floors for data centers, Huiya can adopt Fukushin’s lean management model to further optimize workshop layouts and standardize operating procedures. By introducing a Kaizen culture into the production of all-steel raised floors, OA network floors, aluminum alloy floors, and other product lines, Huiya can elevate overall manufacturing efficiency.

2. Stringent Quality Management System

Fukushin Electric is equipped with advanced 3D inspection machines, image-based inspection systems, and other high-precision testing equipment, with certified inspectors strictly auditing each production batch. Its Fukusaki Plant has simultaneously achieved three rigorous certifications — IATF 16949 (automotive), JIS Q9100 (aviation), and Nadcap (special processes) — placing its quality control at world-class standards.

Implications for Huiya: As critical infrastructure within computer rooms, raised floors directly impact the operational safety of downstream data centers, financial computer rooms, and telecommunications facilities through their load-bearing capacity, fire-resistance ratings, and anti-static performance. Huiya will adopt Fukushin’s “whole-process, full-participation, all-elements” quality control approach to further refine its three-tier inspection system spanning raw material intake, production processes, and finished goods dispatch; continuously strengthening product stability in distributed loads, concentrated loads, and fire resistance. Huiya Raised Floor has already obtained multiple management system certifications including ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, JIS A 1450 (Japan), and KS F 4760 (Korea). Looking ahead, in high-end application areas such as data center floors (OA network floors) and cleanroom floors, Huiya can apply Fukushin’s “multi-system overlay” approach by introducing more granular domestic and international industry-grade testing standards.

3. Deep Integration of Automation and Smart Manufacturing

Fukushin Electric has extensively introduced automation equipment and smart manufacturing technologies, achieving high levels of automation in core processes such as plastic working, precision stamping, welding, and laser processing. This significantly reduces human error and enhances product consistency.

Implications for Huiya: Huiya will accelerate its intelligent transformation, deploying automated production lines and digital control systems in key processes such as floor stamping and forming, grout foaming, and surface treatment, to enable real-time data collection and full traceability in production management.

4. The Innovation Path from OEM to Proprietary Brands

Although Fukushin Electric began as an OEM serving major clients such as Mitsubishi Electric, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Yamaha, and the Toyota Group, its independent innovation in products like the SUPER POLCAR mobility scooter and the PFX aquaculture feeder demonstrates a clear pathway: OEM accumulates craftsmanship → Technology spills over into new applications → Proprietary brands take shape → Core business is reinforced.

Implications for Huiya: Huiya Raised Floor has cultivated extensive expertise in OA network floors, all-steel anti-static floors, ceramic anti-static floors, and aluminum alloy raised floors over many years, accumulating deep know-how in metal stamping, surface treatment, and structural design. This technological foundation can be extended into emerging niche markets such as residential bunk-bed systems, age-friendly flooring solutions, and integrated flooring systems for smart data centers — replicating Fukushin’s “OEM → Proprietary Brand” evolutionary logic.

5. “People-First” Philosophy and the “Team FUKUSHIN” Culture

Fukushin Electric champions the Team FUKUSHIN spirit of “mutual aid, mutual encouragement, and shared growth,” placing high value on employee training and career development, and treating all employees as equal participants in collaborative co-creation. The egalitarian communication atmosphere between management and frontline workers left a deep impression on the delegation.

Implications for Huiya: Huiya Raised Floor is at a critical stage in evolving from a “family-style enterprise” to a “team-oriented, professionalized organization.” The Team FUKUSHIN practice reminds us that a brand is not only an external product image but also an internal organizational covenant. Huiya must further strengthen the co-creation and shared-success philosophy of “Team Huiya” in its corporate culture. A company’s competitiveness is, ultimately, the competitiveness of its people. Huiya will further refine its talent development mechanisms and cultivate a corporate atmosphere of “team collaboration and shared growth” through skills training, job rotation, and technical competitions, igniting employee innovation and ownership.

6. Global Vision and Localized Operations

In 2013, Fukushin Electric established Fukushin Electric (Suzhou) Co., Ltd. in Suzhou, Jiangsu, China, and has since deployed related operations in Taiwan, Shenzhen, and other locations — forming a “rooted in Japan, radiating across Asia, serving the world” development pattern.

Implications for Huiya: As a professional manufacturer in China’s computer room flooring industry, Huiya should expand its international vision, accelerating product exports and overseas channel development while consolidating its domestic market, bringing “Made by Huiya” to a broader global stage. The establishment of Qiode Import & Export Trading Company marks a pivotal leap for Huiya from a “heavy-asset manufacturing” model to a “manufacturing + trading dual-engine” model, and represents a solid step in Huiya’s globalization journey for raised floor exports.

This study tour to Fukushin Electric in Japan stands as a key practice in Huiya Raised Floor’s strategy of “benchmarking against the best, advancing through continuous improvement.” By witnessing firsthand the management essence accumulated by Japanese manufacturers over decades, the delegation gained a wealth of first-hand experience and inspiration in lean management, quality control, and corporate culture building.

Huiya Raised Floor will leverage this visit as a catalyst, combining its own circumstances to advance management improvements in a planned, step-by-step manner – deepening lean implementation in production management, refining process control in quality management, and cultivating a positive culture of improvement in team building. Through these efforts, Huiya will continually elevate its overall competitiveness and deliver higher-quality raised floor products and services to its customers.

Huiya firmly believes that solid management foundations and a continuous spirit of innovation are the fundamental drivers of enterprise development. Looking ahead, Huiya will maintain an open learning mindset, actively benchmarking against advanced manufacturing practices at home and abroad, continually advancing its management capabilities and product quality, and contributing its strength to the high-quality development of China’s raised floor industry.