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10cal designer for measuring instruments. So, I do have a reasonable understanding of machining and other processes. But I have no knowledge at all of certain fields. In such cases, I ask someone else in the Purchasing Section who’s familiar with the subject. That’s great. I, too, have a question, which I wanted to ask you. In the Purchasing Sec­tion, we sometimes have to negotiate with our customers and ask for their under standing when we’re facing difficul­ty procuring materials as requested. In sales, too, I imagine you must apologize in certain situations as a representative of the company, even when you’re not at fault. How do you handle situations like that? For me, it’s not a question of whether I’m at fault or not. Rather, I feel like I have to apologize to my customers because a defect in our products has caused them inconven­ience. For example, if we’re unable to deliver a hearing aid on sched ule due to a defect in the hear ing aid, we inconve­nience the user and his/her family, who were looking forward to that day and had adjusted their schedules accordingly. And even if it’s not the retailer’s fault, they would apologize to the customer, ask them to make another appointment, and return to the store. To avoid repeated inci­dents like that, we provide feedback on our findings to our company and try to prevent any repeat cases. That’s a wonderful mindset. Sales can be stressful, but pre­cisely for that reason, numerous occasions come up that give me joy. For example, if something goes wrong and we end up be­ing able to solve the problem with the customer, I find that I’ve established a re­lationship of trust with the customer even though we’re on different sides.What challenges are you currently facing in your work? Our main challenge involves the sluggish growth of hearing aid sales. In the coming years, we need to incorporate more of the fea­tures currently in high demand into our hearing aid products. At the same time, we have to provide the value only Rion can provide. To do this, we’re building a new system based on a website called the Rionet Circle (see page 2), which connects users, retailers, healthcare professionals, and Rion. Have you heard of the Rionet Circle, Mr. Mizuno? I’ve heard the name, but to be honest, I don’t know exactly what it does or how effective it is. That’s understandable. The Purc­hasing Section and the Sales Department don’t cross paths often. How true. But we do need to es­tablish ways to promote interactions be­tween the Purchasing Section and the Sales Department, and the sooner the bet­ter. The recent business improvement ac­tivities of the Purchasing Department highlight the problem of inventory costs. In the past, the standard practice was for Rion to procure volumes of materials at low cost and keep them in stock. But this practice led to various costs, including storage costs, and also presented certain risks. We’ve gradually shifted our thinking and decided it would be better to buy only what we need, when we need it. That’s better in terms of total cost. But for this practice to work, we need to work with the Sales Department. We need the opin­ions of the Sales Department—they have a better understanding of the market—to understand what, when, and how much of our products are likely to be sold. And the production management can use that information to formulate more detailed production plans, based on which the Pur­chasing Department can procure the right To start, can you tell us about your responsibilities? I’ve worked in sales ever since I joined the company. I belong to the Medi­cal Instrument Division. Currently I’m in charge of wholesale sales of hearing aids and medical instruments, mainly to retail­ers in Hokkaido and Kanagawa prefec­tures. I also provide support to retailers to encourage them to sell more Rion prod­ucts. I belong to the Purchasing Sec­tion of the Materials Department. My re­sponsibility involves fielding requests from all departments within the company, in­cluding some group companies, and pro­curing the ordered materials by specific dates at the lowest price possible. Procur­ing materials in short supply worldwide, like semiconductors, takes all the skills I have. The satisfaction I experience when­ever I succeed in securing the materials af­ter repeated negotiations is rewarding. This might seem like a question out of the blue, but there’s something I’ve long wanted to ask. In sales, we get all kinds of inquiries, and I refer calls asking for technical consultations or those that involve sales pitches to the Purchasing Section. I've always thought that was bet­ter than connecting them to someone in the development department. Was that the right decision? Yes! That’s the best move! Please continue referring them to us. I’m glad to hear that. I know you some times get questions about really specializ ed matters. Am I correct in as­suming everyone in the Purchasing Sec­tion has an incredibly wide range of knowledge? I graduated from university with a science major and worked as a mechani­The Now and Future of RionNaohiro KimuraMedical Instrument Sales Section, Medical Instru­ment DivisionSince joining the company in 2007, he has devot­ed himself to the sales of medical equipment. Af­ter working with sales of medical testing equipment for hospitals, he began supporting hearing aid retailers in Hokkaido and Kanagawa.、FUTURE TALK Future Technolo

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