My seed is the determination to never give up

Yui Kawawada

New graduate hire Product Sales (Semiconductors) ALTIMA Company
Analog Solutions Division
Product Marketing Department

Kawawada, who acts as a bridge between American semiconductor technology and Japanese manufacturers, persistently proposed the addition of new functions to the American supplier in his third year at the company, contributing to the product's huge success.
Behind this is the power to motivate those around him with his "determination to never give up."

Q1: What is your current job and what is rewarding about it?

The birth of something new
Work that can contribute

My main job is to purchase products from major US semiconductor manufacturers and provide them to Japanese medical device and consumer electronics manufacturers.
It takes several years from the time we propose a product to a customer until the product incorporating that technology is distributed to the world. For this reason, we make proposals to our customers with an eye to what the world will be like in the future.
The best part of this job is being able to provide cutting-edge products to customers and contribute to the creation of new things that have never been seen before.

We are also currently focusing on creating content to provide and collect information digitally.
We are working to provide information to customers more efficiently by publishing information that was previously only available in paper catalogs on our website, and by creating videos of cases in which customers have adopted our products and using them at exhibitions and other events.
As a result of our steady efforts, we are proud to say that we have achieved great results, with thousands of customers visiting our digital content this fiscal year alone.
While providing such a digital platform for providing information, we also created a system that allows us to collect information from customers who access product information.
Until now, sales staff had to gather customer information on their own, but now they can achieve their goals many times more efficiently.

Q2: Why did you choose Macnica?

"Open Flat Fair"
An environment where opinions can be expressed and accepted

What I love most about Macnica 's corporate culture is that it is open, flat, and fair.
Before joining Macnica, I had heard that human relationships are open and flat, but once I joined, I found that the corporate culture was even more open than I had imagined, allowing me to speak my mind to my superiors and seniors. I was able to clearly assert my opinion by saying "that's wrong" in response to my superiors' opinions, and if my opinion was logically correct, my superiors would say "thank you" and accept my opinion.
I have had many different opinions from my boss up until now, but he has never shown any signs of displeasure. In fact, he is happy when I express my desire to do things differently.
Of course, my opinions are not always correct, so there are many times when my arguments are not accepted. However, I believe that by freely expressing and discussing opinions that we all believe to be correct, we can reach better conclusions, and most importantly, we can move forward with work in a way that is satisfactory, so I think Macnica 's open and flat human relationships are a culture we can be proud of.

I also really like the environment in which we are evaluated fairly.
When I was job hunting, I thought, "I want to join a large company where I can take on large-scale work, but I don't want to wait my turn for promotion until I'm older because of the seniority system." However, Macnica fairly evaluates employees' work results, the process of working, and their motivation, regardless of age, and everyone is given equal opportunities, so I think I found a company that really suits me.

Daily Schedule

10:00

Customer visits

Go directly to the customer's business without stopping by the company
Hearing about the progress of your development projects
11:30

Lunch

An early lunch at a restaurant near the customer's house
After lunch, return to the office
13:00

Afternoon work begins

Web content project "Special feature on best-selling semiconductors"

17:00

Web conference with overseas suppliers

Review of how to promote new products in Japan
Meetings are often held early in the morning or in the evening due to the time difference.
19:00

End of Business

Since I finished late, I set my schedule to finish work on time tomorrow.
20:30

Returning Home

Culinary training in progress
Try a new recipe from a cookbook while making dinner!

Q3: An episode that made you grow

"The determination to never give up"
Leading to the creation of a hit product

One project that I particularly remember is one that I worked on in my third year at the company.
The client I was working with was developing a next-generation digital camera equipped with new functions that other manufacturers had not been able to achieve. When I heard about their development plans, I immediately made a proposal, but they pointed out that "the product they proposed was lacking in functionality and did not meet the required specifications. In order to adopt it, we would need you to add new functions." Adding functions to semiconductors is not easy, and it required negotiating with the US supplier and investing a great deal of engineering resources to make changes to the hardware itself.

So I started negotiations with our supplier manufacturer with two things in mind.
First, clearly state the "benefits of cooperating" in adding new functions.
We compiled figures on trends and demand forecasts in the Japanese market and argued that responding to customer requests would lead to significant profits.
Secondly, it is about sharing the excitement.
To communicate the cutting-edge nature of the products being developed, we invited key people from the US headquarters of our supplier manufacturer to Japan and gave an enthusiastic presentation, working together with the customer to "create something new that has never existed before."

As a result, negotiations with the supplier manufacturer were successful, new functions were incorporated, and the product was adopted by customers. After its release, it became a huge hit, and seeing that happen with my very own eyes gave me a great sense of accomplishment. I am also very proud that we were able to provide new value to the world. Through this project, I learned that in order to contribute to the creation of something that has not yet been released, you need to be persistent and never give up, and the experience of taking on a big business and succeeding in my third year at the company has given me great confidence since then.

MY VISIONFuture goals and aspirations

As someone with experience in sales, there are many things I know, such as what kind of initiatives can help with sales activities and what kind of information and methods will be beneficial to customers.
I intend to continue to make the most of my experience to contribute to the team to the best of my ability.

COVID-19 has led to increased digitalization not only in the B2C industry but also in the B2B industry, bringing about major changes in the way business is done and how it works.
Things we can't even imagine may become commonplace in 10 or 20 years. We want to reform and improve our sales activities so that Macnica can always be at the forefront of change in the industry.
We are currently working on digitalizing information provision and collection, but in the future we would like to promote the digitalization of internal information management as well.

Message

The semiconductor industry is always fresh. I get to experience the technological innovations and updates that are born every day somewhere in the world, and sometimes I get to be at the center of them. I feel excited every day to be able to work in such an environment. I think this is the appeal of Macnica.
Come enjoy every exciting day with us!