Technical Position (Services & Solutions)

The three members who are gathering today, including myself, are field application engineers (FAEs) in the semiconductor business. I heard that the two of you were transferred due to an internal recruitment at the time of the establishment of the Innovation Strategy Business Headquarters.

Since joining the company, I have consistently provided technical support for the products of US semiconductor manufacturers. It was very rewarding to be in charge of a product equipped with the industry's top-class technology and to support the customer's development. I wanted to take on the challenge.

I also wanted to transfer for the same reason as Mr. Mori! I was also in charge of technical support for semiconductor products, and I especially enjoyed taking on new challenges. I wanted to jump into uncharted territory for both myself and the company, so I immediately raised my hand when there was an open call for applications.

They're both really aggressive. I heard that you moved to the Innovation Strategy Business Headquarters because you wanted to take on new challenges.

It's full of challenges! For example, in a big way, it's "system development." Macnica is a trading company that has expanded its business, so many of its business models have been based on a "distribution model" in which it purchases and sells products and solutions. As a result, there were almost no departments involved in "system development," but from now on Macnica should create even more added value.Although it is a small scale, Macnica is working to meet customers' needs. We started developing a system.

It's already gone beyond the framework of a trading company. What kind of system did you develop?

One example is a growth data visualization system for plant factories that produce vegetables indoors. It visualizes information related to growth such as water, light, and temperature as numerical values, and is used to support cultivation management.

It is rare to find a company that is able to develop such a system despite being a trading company. Macnica is known as a technology trading company, so it is a company that is strong in technology.

I agree. As a result of taking on the challenge of "system development," the next challenge became clear. After trying it out, I realized that although it is possible to develop and provide a system to a small number of customers, as the number of customers increases, it becomes difficult for Macnica to provide support. That means there are times. Taking this current situation into consideration, we are considering the future direction of our business.

Certainly, the more customers we introduce the system, the more inquiries we receive and the need to develop additional functions, which inevitably requires a lot of internal resources.

It is unique to the business launch phase that you are required to search for a business model through repeated trial and error.

Everything we do is groping. Because it's the first attempt, there's no right answer that says, "If you do it this way, it will work."

What kind of skills and mindset do you think an engineer who takes on the challenge of Services & Solutions business needs?

I think that one of the most important skills that will be required is the ability to listen. Unlike engineers in the semiconductor and security/network businesses, engineers in the Services & Solutions / Network business segment are expected to play a role similar to that of a consultant. Before proposing a solution, we start by clarifying the customer's business issues, and sometimes it is necessary to find latent issues that the customer himself is unaware of. To that end, it is extremely important to have the ability to listen to customers, draw out their ideas, and efficiently understand their current situation.

That's exactly right! Simply proposing the solutions that we can provide is just pushing our technology. We stay close to our customers' issues and continue to be an "accompaniment runner" aiming to solve them together. For that reason, hearing ability is a must-have skill.

And because I am an escort runner, I think it is important not to aim for 100 points in the "quality" of the proposal, but to first try to make a proposal to the customer, even if it is 50 points. Because the relationship is not just a "customer-supplier" relationship, it feels like first of all, we focus on "quantity" rather than "quality", and then brush up the proposal together with the customer. So, in a good way, "do not seek too much perfection". We believe that spending time with our customers to create something good together is the shortest way to reach our goals.

Because there is no correct answer for the business we are doing. Even if you seek perfection, no one knows if it's really right.

With that in mind, I would like to point out "thoughts" as what is required of Services & Solutions engineers. Precisely because there is no correct answer, there is no guideline for what should be done. That's why it's so important that you have a passion for what you want to do. If you don't have that thought, I don't think you can move forward with your head in your hands.

I totally understand that! However, Macnica 's employees are all very enthusiastic, so I feel like they all have the potential to be involved in the business of launching Services & Solutions (laughs).

Mr. Saito, what do you think about the skills and mindset required of engineers in Services & Solutions business?

I think it's about acquiring technical knowledge "widely and deeply" rather than "narrowly and deeply". In addition to basic knowledge of AI and IoT, our business requires various knowledge such as image processing, statistics for data utilization, and cloud-related knowledge such as AWS. I have over 15 years of experience as a semiconductor engineer, and have trained my "core" to acquire technology. I will always do my best to surpass my current self.