ESG

Promoting Youth Development

We cannot manufacture things without the understanding and trust of the people in the region where the manufacturing base is located. For the region, what should Fuji Electric be? And, what should we bring to the region? The “Science Class” held by Fuji Electric is the result of those thoughts. We want the region to know more about Fuji Electric. We want to provide the children living in the region with the opportunity to brighten their lives. Those wishes are reflected in the initiatives of the Kawasaki Factory. Hitomi Goto of the Technical Succession Center, who was assigned the job to launch the “Science Class”, describes her feelings at the time as follows.

“I myself decided to pursue a career in manufacturing when I participated in the ‘Robot Class’ as a child. I want children to realize how much fun science is. Having felt so much excitement that day, I thought that it was my turn to provide some excitement to kids. That’s how I felt when I was working on the initiative.”
However, the launch of “Science Class” took a lot of hard work. Developing an educational program like this was a new experience for the members. They struggled to plan a program which is not only fun but also lets children become familiar with Fuji Electric's business such as "hydroelectric power generation" and "wind power generation". She says that it was particularly difficult to find an elementary school for the class.
”Each school has its own class schedule, so we had a hard time finding a school that agreed to hold the class. It was the network of my boss working at the same base that triggered the breakthrough. We were allowed to hold the ‘Science Class’ at the school where my boss’s child attended; then, the initiative became popular and we started getting inquiries from other schools.” (Goto)

The Kawasaki Factory’s “Science Class” has another remarkable feature: They incorporate this initiative as part of the newcomer education program, and all the planning/management of the event is assigned to new graduate employees in the first year. Yuki Shimamura of the Technical Succession Center, who is a promotion team member of the “Science Class”, talks about the class’s objective as follows.

“Kawasaki Factory is the base of power-generating plant business. The work of carrying out the planning/design/construction/maintenance as a large-scale project is a major feature of our plant. The project requires teamwork and driving force, so I want new employees to experience the PDCA cycle of planning, scheduling (preparation and management of schedule), implementation and review in the "Science Class" and learn to work as a team with each role.”
The only thing that is given to new employees is the theme of experiment. It is entirely up to the members to decide what kind of program to plan and how to entertain the children. This makes the joy of seeing children's smiles even more exceptional.
“We are always achieving the best quality, but we don’ have many opportunities to see people being happy in front of us or saying ‘thank you’ to us. Another advantage of this initiative is that we can actually see and feel the smiles and surprises of ‘our customers’ in front of us. I believe that the joy we get here leads to the ability to imagine the customers on the other side of our work and increases our motivation to work.” (Shimamura)

The “Science Class” of FY2022 was held at 3 locations in Kawasaki City: 2 elementary schools and a children's center. They say that, since the impact of the COVID-19 crisis had decreased, more children experienced the fun of science and smiled at them. It seems that each of the new graduate members in the first year, who planned/managed the initiative, also felt a good response and joy. Yuka Matsukura, Production Technology Section, Manufacturing Dept. I, and Keigo Terauchi, Rotary Machine Design Section I, Electric Machinery Design Dept., who worked as team leaders, look back on the initiative as follows.

“What can children do and what can't they do? How can we keep children safe and entertained? I found it difficult to discuss those various elements with the school teachers and the members. In addition, I remember that each member involved in the ‘Science Class’ had their own training and work, so I had a particularly difficult time organizing what I should do as a leader and allocating roles. We should think about things from the other person's point of view. It was a precious opportunity for me to learn the importance of this idea. However, the moment I saw the smiles of the children made the hard work all worthwhile. What made me especially happy was seeing a child who said ‘I’m not good at science’ enjoying the class. If this experience was fruitful for the children, I couldn’t be more pleased.” (Matsukura)

“What I devised to entertain the children was to leave ‘free space’ for them to enjoy the activity freely. For example, in the theme of ‘wind power generation’, I made sure that the children could make the blades spinning with the force of the wind in any shape they wanted. It is not fun at all if you just make a certain product according to a certain process. It was heartwarming to see the children looking happy making the blades with their unique ideas and being puzzled, saying ’How can I generate more electrical energy?’ What made me most happy was receiving a letter from one of the children after the class. And the letter said, ‘Mr. Terauchi, I like you so much. You are so funny!’ I’m glad that the child had a good time and I myself enjoyed the opportunity to interact with children.” (Terauchi)

Provide the children living in the region with the “opportunity” to develop their curiosity. And then, receive great learning and joy from the people in the region. This virtuous circle created through the ”Science Class” can be the first step in realizing the ideal relationship between the community and the company. Kenji Tadano, General Manager of the Technical Succession Center, talks about their future prospects as follows.

“We can’t conduct business activities without the understanding and trust of the people in the region. There was a time when the classes were canceled due to the COVID-19 crisis, but 2023 will be the 7th year of the "Science Class" of the Kawasaki Factory. Nothing makes me happier than the fact that the initiative has been developing/continuing thanks to members’ efforts. It’s been a while since children’s disinterest in science-related subjects was first considered as a problem, and I want to draw out children’s deep appreciation of the subject and keep conveying the curiosity/inquisitiveness towards science and the fun of manufacturing to them through the ‘Science Class’. Perhaps, about 10 years from now, some employees will say, ‘I joined Fuji Electric because I participated in the class of the Kawasaki Factory’. If that happens, I couldn’t be happier.”