Fuji Car Mfg. Co. Ltd. Statement

Fuji Car Mfg. Co. Ltd.
Statement
President Tadayoshi Tanaka Corporate Profile

• Head Office : 1-6-24 Nakatsu, Kita-ku, Osaka
• Established : October 10, 1925
• Capital : ¥250 million
• Business activities : Manufacture and marketing of environmental plant, environmental equipment, chemical engineering equipment, and specially-equipped vehicles

• Filed for court protection from creditors under the Civil Rehabilitation Law in February 2001.
• Corporate rehabilitation plan approved in January 2002.
• NPF became the company's top shareholder following a capital adjustment in March 2002.

Management involvement

My professional life had been centered on corporate management in the restaurant industry and in the manufacture of high-technology equipment. I therefore had some reservations when NPF asked me to assist in rebuilding a company. The company was subject to court-mandated rehabilitation under the Civil Rehabilitation Law, and it would have been a disservice to its employees, creditors, clients and stockholders if I had not approached the decision with such reservations. Although much of my management work had been with sound companies, I had also had experience with failed companies, and was aware that rehabilitating a company would by no means be easy. Despite knowing what a difficult task corporate rehabilitation would be, I also understood what a tremendous thing it would be to share the sense of achievement with the employees of the company during its revival, and this helped persuade me to accept NPF's proposal. I do perhaps court rather than avoid confronting difficult challenges, and find personal satisfaction in triumphing over such adversity. The other major factor in my decision to take on this challenging task was the assurance of total support from NPF. I have two objectives as a manager: To ensure that each and every employee does what needs to be done in the way it should be done; and to do this in a professional manner, getting results and improving outcomes without calling special attention to the effort they put in or the way they go about things. My job is to create the system that enables this to be achieved. Although it is early days yet, the most recent company figures, the changed mood of Fuji Car's employees and the enthusiasm with which they go about their work make me feel that the company is moving towards revival.

With NPF as a Partner

I have been involved with major corporations before, and I know the difficulties involved in managing subsidiaries. Demands are made based on the necessities of capital, with little consideration given to the actual situation in-house. This works against inspiring the employees, and especially the management, of the subsidiary. I was initially concerned when I took over my new duties that the major shareholders would interfere more than necessary in the operation of the company. This concern proved to be groundless, however. I had naturally discussed the basic management guidelines with NPF before I took over, but NPF has left steering the company, as a matter of principle, to the in-house management team. We do, however, receive support from NPF in a variety of forms. One specific measure has been the dispatch of staff from NPF's Planning Division, who, in addition to overseeing daily management duties, are helping employees to upgrade their skills in a variety of ways; workshops have been set up for young and middle-level employees, for example. In addition, a support team made up of NPF staff is working in unison with Fuji Car's employees on an in-house project to create a cost management system. We have also received support from the consultants of Nomura Research Institute for proposing and implementing management strategies, and a number of management improvement projects are proceeding, including leadership training for the core staff. Seeing these various activities has made me realize more strongly how seriously Nomura works towards corporate rehabilitation and reconstruction as the leading company in its field, and has further spurred me on to rehabilitate Fuji Car Manufacturing.