8Flow of production and the role of individual departmentsThe training period for new employees lasts about two months. It’s led by the Personnel & General Affairs Department in cooperation of the training personnel from each department. Unique to Rion, the program takes our new employees on a tour of several days each at all of Rion’s divisions. The training program confers a broad understanding of the product development system, ranging from upstream to downstream processes, as shown in this diagram. This allows our new employees to experience the entire process, from start to delivery of Rion’s products to various customers, regardless of the department they are ultimately assigned to.Group work meetingA group work meeting was held to tackle the task given: “Thinking about the future of Rion: Imagine you are in the world five years from now. You find articles on the front page of a newspaper report-ing about us. What do you read there?” As part of this group work, new employees wrote their ideas down on a large sheet of paper, which they compiled into a presen-tation to executives and managers on the final day of training.SalesSales・Proposal・Sales and Delivery・Information gatheringCustomersPrototypingProduct development・Specification evaluation and formulation・Hardware design and development・Software design and developmentProduction technologies・Circuit board design and development・Design and manufacture of production facilities and equipment・Design and manufacture of moldsProcurement・Procurement of parts and materialsLegal affairs, accounting, public relations, human resources, and system management・Supporting the whole company ・Corporate planningTrial productionManufacturing technologies・Manufacturing・Prototype production and verification of new products・Establishment of mass production systems・Specification changesProduction management・Production planning・Production process managementProductionCompletionof productsQuality controls・Product inspection・Quality controlgiven a lesson in soldering. Soldering is the most technically demanding part of the hearing aid manufacturing process. The risk of burns makes care and attention vital.“This training is required for all trainees, whether their background is in the humanities or sciences. For some, this is their first experience working with a microscope. So we assign a supervisor to each person to provide guidance. The task takes about five to six hours. The time spent together handcrafting over the course of the day, with a lunch break in between, helps bring everyone closer. The real joy is in sharing the satisfaction when the work is completed. By the way, Rion technicians can assemble the same thing in about 15 minutes.” [laughs]Rion handles everything from design to manufacturing and sales. So experiencing the production process first-hand is a great way to grasp the essence of manufacturing company.“We’re proud to say that the Manufacturing Engineering Department forms the core of Rion, whose strength lies in its capacity to do in-house development. We really want them to appreciate the production process and understand what manu-facturing is all about. For example, when you face a difficult step that requires some experience, the supervisor may choose not to say anything but let you proceed on your own. I think you can learn a lot by making mistakes, and then exploring the cause of the failure while working with your hands.”The new employee training also offers valuable opportunities for the current manufacturing team, who are senior members of the company.“For us, who engage in manufacturing as a matter of course, training new employees to assemble hearing aids from the basic parts creates an opportunity to gain new perspectives and insights, as well as to respond to simple questions. That’s why we try to have as many people from our department as possible participate in the training and interact with the newcomers. Depending on the division they’re assigned to in the future, we may rarely meet again. So we want to make the most of this training opportunity.”On-site training at the Field Engineering Department of the Environmental Instrument Division is a new initiative launched in 2024. The one-day tour includes visits to two locations: an airport in Tokyo where Rion’s sound level meters are installed and Urayama Dam in Saitama Prefecture, where seismometers are installed. We spoke to Yoichi Maruyama and Naoki Kageya-ma, who oversee these training tours. Previous training, they The process of bringing products to marketSpecification decision Product developmentResearch and development・Basic research・Applied research・Technology developmentSeeing Rion products on site and in action
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