Metal One Corporation - Value One - Introduction of Group Companies

	From Value One Spring 2006 No.12

Osaka Tamatsukuri Kogyo Co., Ltd. leads the steel plate laser-cutting industry and became a consolidated Metal One subsidiary in October last year. The company has achieved rapid growth under President Shigeru Nakamoto's leadership and, as part of efforts to develop close business ties in areas where customers are located, began operating a new plant in Nagoya in May this year.

Largest Steel Plate Laser-Cutting Processing Company in Japan

[Outline of Osaka Tamatsukuri Kogyo Co., Ltd.]

Headquarters: 2-29-5 Kujominami, Nishi-ku, Osaka;
Tel: +81-6-6581-8251

Established: 1971

Capital: ¥70 million (Metal One: 88.4%, executive officers: 11.6%)

President: Shigeru Nakamoto

Number of employees: 174

Main businesses: Laser cutting, processing and sales of steel plates

Sales amount: ¥15.4 billion (As of the term ended Oct. 2005)

Bases: Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka, Fukuyama, Shikoku (Kanonji)

CAD room, the company's nucleus.

Large laser cutters operate round the clock.

Osaka Tamatsukuri Kogyo has Japan 's largest laser plate-cutting operation, processing 120,000 tonnes annually. Metal One increased its shareholding in the company last October, further strengthening our relationship and increasing synergy within the Group by making it a consolidated subsidiary.

The company was founded in 1949. It was engaged in steel plate processing and sales from that time and came under the Mitsubishi Corporation umbrella in 1971.

The company invested heavily in facilities from 1991 when Shigeru Nakamoto became President. Since opening its Fukuyama Works in 1994, the company lost no time in expanding its operations, rapidly growing into Japan 's largest laser-cutting operation through its Fukuoka Works and Nagoya No. 2 Plant in 1996, its Shikoku Works in 1998, and expansion of the Fukuyama Works in 1999 and the Shikoku Works in 2000. A new Nagoya area plant, the Yatomi Distribution and Processing Center , began operating in May this year. Sales have more than doubled during the past 10 years.

President Nakamoto explains the reason for the continued investment in facilities during the post-bubble '90s. "We devoted efforts to small lot, small item, short delivery work that other firms did not want to do. We built plants nationwide because plants near customers were needed for this."

Customer needs eliminated what, at first glance, might be considered the high risks of Nakamoto's business strategy. President Nakamoto says: "Imagine, for example, a customer calling up at 5 in the evening with an order and saying, 'I would like you to fill this today.' Most other companies would probably turn it down. However, we can deliver three hours later."

The CAD (computer-aided design) teams always on duty at each plant and the latest laser-cutting equipment operating 24 hours are what sustain this speed and quality. Because there are numerous small lot orders, CAD technology is employed to produce the data to enable cutting a single, large plate without any waste. The company can also respond to rush orders 24 hours a day because the laser cutters can operate automatically during the night.