11Interview and article by Miyuki TakahashiIn this session, two colleagues, one a sales representative for medical instruments and the other a member of the Purchasing Section, which procures materials, have a chat. The two, whose paths usually don’t cross during work, find common ground and exchange their views on their dreams for the future.quantity of materials at the right time. I think Rion can provide our customers with products at the optimal timing by establishing joint efforts involving the Sales Department, the division responsible for production management, and the Purchasing Section.What do you think is the best way to learn more about the company as a whole and about departments other than your own? I always try to find some time to wander around the company. For example, when I have something to do on the fourth floor, I’ll take the elevator on the way there. But on the way back, I might take the stairs. This gives me a chance to talk to people I pass on the stairs as I greet them. Interactions like this give me the opportunity to learn about our company’s products and our current problems. The information often proves quite useful in my work. I think spont aneous encounters like these are important. I’m impressed by the things you do on your own initiative. Within Rion, there’s an initiative called the Information Exchange Meeting, whose purpose is to fortify lateral ties among business divisions. But I think most salespeople, me included, don’t have the time to participate in it. The dilemma here is that we’re too busy dealing with customers to have any time left to participate in inhouse events. That’s unfortunate. Our salespeople are the ones in the company who most need this useful internal information. One has responsibilities and one has to work on them during business hours, but it would be nice if we could share a common awareness that goes beyond our respective duties. I interact with collea gues within the company through our common hobby. I feel like this helps build relationships not just vertically and horizontally, but diagonally—when we’re connected by what we enjoy doing, we can build bonds regardless of our position within the company. That’s interesting! It makes me want to get involved with other people in the company. Maybe it would be a good idea to bring the development people to sales sites to help them gain a deeper understanding of retailers and users.What are some of the things you hope to achieve in the future? While this would obviously make my position obsolete as a hearing aid salesperson, I hope to see a future where hearing loss can be cured, and hearing aids become obsolete. I’ve heard research has begun on curing hearing loss with iPS cell technologies. So, I don’t think this is so farfetched. But then, what would Rion’s role be in this future? I think we can still contribute in terms of hearing tests. Audiometers are central to hearing tests. I often hear doctors say: “Audiometers haven’t changed for de cades…” A session of hear ing tests takes nearly 10 minutes. Some children are even afraid to enter testing rooms alone because they look like giant telephone booths. There are hearing test devices for children, but the equipment is massive. Not many facilities can install them. We’d like to evolve the equipment into a form factor that lets everyone taking the test feel comfortable while providing an accurate diagnosis of their hearing. For me, I’m interested in the implementation of AI in business operations in the future. If we could realize an AI core system in our company, in the near future, it should be possible for robots to order the right materials at the right time. What would we do then…? I’ve heard on the radio that there are things robots will never do—like bowing down to people and asking for help. Only flesh and blood beings can communicate feelings and influence others to change how they feel. Right now, we’re mainly doing our jobs seated at a desk. But in the near future, the staff of the Purchasing Section may travel around Japan and the world to negotiate, leaving the actual task of ordering to AI. That sounds cool. Also, in terms of the company as a whole, I think about the issue of space waste and ocean plastic waste we’ve recently been hearing a lot of talk about. Rion’s particle counters can count exceedingly small particles. I wonder if we could apply these technologies to solve those problems. We could deploy sensors all over the world’s oceans and collect garbage in regions where we detect it. I think it’d be great if we could use Rion’s advanced technologies to solve environmental problems.A talk session with our core engineersNaoki MizunoPurchasing Section, Materials Department, Corpo rate Planning DivisionFor six years after joining the company in 2008, he was involved in designing measuring instruments before being transferred in 2014 to the Purchasing Section. Currently the most experienced member of the section, he finds it rewarding to be in charge of work that involves all of Rion’s departments.SESSIONgies and Rion’s Future
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