If we consider the big picture, our efforts over the last few years have been what follow. They are different from present ideas about printing. They are, however, for Obun Printing only, and are not generally applicable.

1. Printing is not mass production
The average commercial print run is two to three thousand copies. Even large runs are only 100,000 copies. Securities analyst reports are usually two to three hundred copies. Since we started Business Cards Online, orders of a hundred cards are standard. For blog books, we get orders for a single copy.

2. B2C can also be a market
In general, the customer of a printing company is another company. Printing is therefore a B2B business. However, because orders can be received over the Internet, B2C has become a new market. Having a new market itself is a good thing, yet a new problem naturally also arises—namely, how to exploit it. I think that this market should be developed in the form of B2B2C, that is, we should find businesses that are already B2C so that they can offer our services to their customers.

3. Not always custom-made
So far, we have produced printed matter for individual customers, and each was designed for that customer. However, it is possible to have the customer choose from a set of design patterns, enter the customer's specific data, and then make the product. It should be possible to make things this way. Actually, most things we buy every day are not custom-made. We are satisfied if we can choose a design we like from a selection. Many printing companies only deal with corporate customers, so they are not interested in this idea of "presenting a set of patterns in advance."

4. Print data is also merchandise
Printed matter becomes a product only after the final process of binding. Until reaching the final process, it is only digital information. From a general manufacturing point of view, this flow must be very unusual. Because this flow has become quite common, we can now say that, for Obun Printing, print data is also merchandise. In other words, our job is to produce the print data, and send it to the customer, who then prints it themselves, or has someone else do it. Our job is complete once we create and send the data.

5. Printed matter that appeals to the sense of touch
Printed matter that emits a fragrance has been recently produced. However, most printed matter appeals to the sense of sight only. Therefore, many advanced printing companies are searching for how to make printed matter beautiful. Obun Printing, however, is trying to produce printed matter that appeals to the sense of touch, and, at the same time, is practical. In fact, the required know-how in this field is wider and deeper than that required for sight-oriented printed matter. In other words, it is difficult to imitate. In the printing industry, it is often said that without such-and-such software, such-and-such cannot be done, or because we have this type of printing machine, we can print this type of material. That is, when printing companies want to do something, they cannot even start without buying software and hardware. If they have money, they can buy necessary things, and it becomes possible for them to do what they want. It is advantageous to have money when pursuing such things, so medium and small-sized companies, like us, cannot win against large companies no matter what we do. However, know-how is about making, not about buying. Aren't know-how and drive, which cannot be bought, the origin of a company's competitiveness?

The ideas just described are not for normal printing companies. However, our main products will continue to be things. Here are the essential elements for making things:
1. Consistent high quality
2. Establishing rational production systems
3. Ultra-fast turn-around time between receiving the order and delivering it.

I cannot relax in my efforts in their pursuit. Obun Printing understands that they are the essentials for making things, so we do not spend day and night making only superficial changes. Also, the importance of printed matter as a communication tool will not change. Therefore, we, who are involved in producing this tool, want to be experts in communication. We know that this is easier said than done. We must be aware of what is essential as we continue to improve our expertise in communication through all available means.

I have written this month about various things. I would like to touch on major directions next.

That is, database publishing. I do not know about the specifics. However, a few years ago, I declared that our job is to change Obun Printing from a manufacturing business to a service business. At that time I did not have a concrete picture of what that meant. I do now. The notion of database publishing is not new. However, no company has made it profitable. We are thinking of moving towards becoming the pioneer in profitable database publishing.

It used to be that when I went shopping at the supermarket, and realized on the way home that I had forgotten something, I would say, "It's OK. Next time." However, lately, I haven't had any of this "It's OK." I don't know why. When I think about it, though, once I have determined to buy something (forgetting to buy something at the supermarket is not such a big thing, though), the proper thing to do is to turn around, go back, and buy it.

Before, I was happy with "It's OK," but now it is no longer OK. I do not know why, but, it is always enjoyable to find such small changes. For one thing, I strongly believe that change means growth. On a recent business trip overseas, I decided not to drink, and carried it out. I could not do it perfectly, but I did almost no drinking. It was a ground-breaking event for me. However, I did not make "no drinking," or "take early morning walks" into commands. Walking is surely good for your physical health, but it also heals your mind. But if you make "take early morning walks" into a command, the walks become stressful.

I am writing these sentences now, but it will be a long time in the future until I know whether the "It's OK" syndrome has really disappeared.

There was an article, "The World Bank president has holes in his socks!" with a photo. On seeing it, I laughed, but later I thought about it a bit. I imagine that the president must usually wear decent clothes and have a wonderful personality. However, both his socks had big holes in them. Westerners usually do not take their shoes off except to go to sleep, so, presumably, because the holes were not visible, he did not worry about them. However, a visit to a mosque was scheduled for that day. He had probably forgotten that when you enter a mosque, you must remove your shoes.

Of course, we are human, and should not be blamed if we dress and behave differently depending on whether people are watching. However, we can be careless. It is wrong to think that we can behave freely when no one is watching. We will easily start to think, "This much is OK," then "This much cheating is OK," and then "This much lying is OK." In this way the devil inside us grows.

However, we, ourselves, know our true minds and intentions. Even if we can cheat others, we cannot cheat ourselves. What we say or do should be based on our conscience and good sense. This is natural, however, sometimes the devil whispers, "That much will be OK." But it is quite possible that "That much" will develop to outrageous proportions. To avoid this, we should consult our consciences and good sense.

Despite how this article has developed, please do not misunderstand that I do not want to say that the World Bank president does things that are wrong.

The new fiscal year has started. The internal announcement of the management plan will be done at the end of this week. However, I will announce this year's theme on the internet at a stage earlier.

The theme for this year is "market development." The theme is not new, but I want to emphasize "development" as a keyword for this fiscal year; ability development, technological development, product development, service development, and developments that reduce costs...

Server-based typesetting was developed a few years ago, and we entered the business card market with the product name "Business Cards Online." Thankfully, the business cards became profitable last year. While developing business cards, we also developed the derivative products of pet name cards, and personal name cards. We also developed our blog bookbinding service.

Also, last fiscal year, we developed and started to use an inline surface processing technology that does such things as varnishing both sides of the page, and various kinds of coating including spot, gloss, matte, pearl, and lacquered. It is still a new process, and everyone who sees it is surprised, and praises it. The reason that I want to do blow my own horn is that this original technology was developed by Obun Printing staff. Most printing companies compete in how they use the existing hardware and software, so most of them do not have original technology. It is revolutionary for a medium-sized independent printing company, like us, to develop such technology.

People always say you should aim for the top. In truth, until now, we thought this did not apply to us. However, it is totally different now. We are able to do original development. A person's potential ability is limitless. The company must have more hidden talents. I would like to announce to such people that they themselves can create new things, and I would like to nurture "development" as one of our new business culture.

I met an associate professor at a university eleven years ago. That person is now president of the university. The university is very famous, and I dare not name it here.

The charm has not changed over the eleven years as that person progressed from associate professor to university president. Merely listening to such a fantastic person's talk makes me happy. I feel as if I gain from just listening. When that person is in agreement with my commonplace ideas, I am almost in heaven.

I once wrote that great people are reasonable; they never be know-it-all, and this reunion illustrated that. When I meet such a person I realize it is a joy to be alive. In trying to describe such a person in words, I would say they are cheerful, wise, reasonable, humble, fair, etc. I will stop there because when I am asked to describe what I like about a person, I start listing the points, but then begin to feel this kind of listing is not persuasive enough. Even so, the university president is charming. Luckily, I could work directly with the president. The communications at that time was enjoyable. The president also said there was no useless communications. This made me so happy that I showed my joy to all employees through e-mail, and in the morning assembly. By the way, that person is male. Do not misunderstand.

We meet many people in our daily lives. In our daily lives we experience great and small joys, anger, sadness and fun, and we learn plenty through such stimuli. We often start to think as we consider how to handle them.

I think it is important to ask and answer questions of one's self in the brief time between major stimuli, making time for introspection. It is difficult to find time to be alone if your children are small, or if you are taking care of ailing or elderly family members. However, I recommend that you find such time, if only for half-an-hour or an hour per week.

There are mountains of things to think about: such as what you should do to make life more valuable; how far to accommodate other people's feelings; how to use time effectively; or about the meaning of words that we use every day without thought. We need time alone to form our own opinions and ways of thinking.

Being on my own for introspection, rather than for solitary, is important for me.

Until yesterday, our company's six values were communication, teamwork, trust and trusting relationships, solving problems, professionalism, and the spirit of challenge.

I have been unhappy with the value of "problem solving" for about a year, starting when we took up these values during President's School, and considered them from various angles.

Depending on how we think, problem solving is completely natural. Of course, not solving problems when they occur is strange, but it is more important to notice the signs of problems before they occur, and deal with them then. Problems occur when there is a gap between what is wanted and reality. So if there is no concept of how things should be, no problems will be noticed, and they will remain undiscovered. Moreover, if, when observing reality, we do not see any problems, we will not take action against them. As a result, identifying problems is quite difficult.

For this reason I have inserted "identifying" ahead of "solving problems" to produce "identifying and solving problems." In some ways, this new value is more challenging than the old one. Facing challenges leads to personal growth, so I think it is good to raise the bar.

I feel that when problems occur, Obun Printing has many good catchers, but few good pitchers. I am not talking about the Obun Printing baseball club. A catcher is a person who solves problems when they occur. When a problem is thrown towards them, they catch them well. There are many such experts (from this you might infer that we are always experiencing problems, but this is not true).

I am saying that I want more pitchers to identify the problems, and throw them to the problem solving experts before they become too big. Obun Printing should not be out maneuvered by problems. In some ways work is routine. However, questioning the effectiveness of the routine tasks will lead to problem identification. Doing this for all tasks and determining how things should be done (this is not easy to do); and the problem will be found in the difference between the ideal and reality. That is all that is necessary, but it seems that people find it surprisingly difficult.

Looking back, I have been solving problems quietly since I took over the position of president. By identifying differences between what the company was and what I imagined it should be, I have been making the company closer to my ideal. Of course, most of the problems could not be solved easily, and there are some that are unsolved even after sixteen years of continuous efforts. The company was able to overcome stagnation and setbacks, and through the efforts of the employees, we were able to advance again. I could form a new image of the company, and steer the company towards it. There is no joy greater than this for a president. Management of the company has recently become very interesting. I have been sidetracked, but I think that this is what I really wanted to say.

I made up this phrase. It came to my mind while thinking about the future direction of Obun Printing. Applying varnish to printed matter has given it a new feel. I just noticed that President Miyata at Tokyo University of the Arts said "it has the pleasing, smooth feeling of lacquer."

Most printed matter appeals to the sense of sight. However, this printed matter with a lacquer effect appeals to the sense of touch as well. At best, people have described visual printed matter as beautiful. But, with the lacquer effect, when people touch the page, they say the feel is unusual and interesting.

For a long time I have viewed our job as information processing. However, this newly-developed lacquer effect is completely outside the nature of the information processing industry. To tell the truth, I was confused about how to define this manufacturing technology which is beyond our usual framework. But when I read the report on the Kansei Value Creation Initiative by the Ministry of the Economy, Trade and Industry, which president Miyata was involved in, I felt the novelty and familiarity with the phrase "Kansei Value," which means a value through the senses, and it stuck in my mind. I was ecstatic that we became a manufacturing industry that has produced something that people find interesting and mysterious. I decided on the name "Manufacturing for the Senses" by joining "senses" to "manufacturing."

So, Obun Printing's three pillars have become: information processing, e-printing, and manufacturing for the senses.

Professionalism is one of Obun Printing's values. Thinking about it again, I thought, "What type of person is called a real professional?" There is a whole range within the word "professional."

Consider, for example, pro golfers. Pros range from those who are able to survive on their tour prize winnings, to those who give lessons at driving ranges. The difference between them is immeasurable. The same is true in the business world.

There are those who improve themselves, think carefully before acting, and accumulate both wisdom and skill. Then there are those who do only routine work, require detailed instructions, and, on holidays, from the morning onwards, are waiting for the opening of the pachinko parlors. Such people are also paid, so, technically, they are professionals. Yet, I resist calling them pros.

The fact is that the top pros are not satisfied with the present level of ability, that is, they put effort into aiming higher. This means that we determine if we are professionals or pseudo professionals by asking ourselves, "Am I never satisfied with the present level of ability, and do I put constant effort into aiming higher?" and answering the question honestly.

I would like to talk about, not the year-end inventory, but my personal inventory.

This is what I did forty years ago as a student. I cannot remember the details, but, to understand my true thinking, I decided to write down my own thoughts religiously on a large piece of paper. At that time I clearly saw a difference between writing and simply thinking. I could not deceive myself when writing. In trying to chase down what I meant, I found contradictions and jumps in my logic. Through resolving the contradictions and correcting the logic, I arrived at my true thoughts. Also, spoken language is very ambiguous, and you can develop only vague half-logic with it. You cannot do this in writing. I also noticed that the written word contains immeasurable power. If I wrote powerfully, I became positive, and if I wrote weakly, I sank. It is mysterious.

I got sidetracked. First of all, perform an inventory of yourself, and write it out. Look over what you have written under "good points" and "bad points." Just as your natural healing power heals you when you are sick, language can also heal you. When looking over the list of bad points, you'll see what you should avoid doing, and without your realizing it, you will be giving warnings to yourself. Your writing will reveal to you what needs to be done, and you will be able to take action to make the changes. I think this is fantastic. Many people do not like to be directed or scolded. However, through this inventory, you talk to yourself, and have no choice but to accept what you say. Admit what you write honestly, pay attention to how you have written it, and make changes to yourself, through your own will. It is as if you were coached by yourself. Please try it at least once.

There is a very good printing company in the U.S. that I have visited often over the last twenty years. On each visit, I have talked with the president. The company is much larger than Obun Printing, and its business activities are also wonderful and go far beyond imitation. Even so, what I respect most is the president's personality and his ideas as a business manager. This company has constantly stimulated me. So I started to think that this company would be a good candidate for analysis from last summer, I visited there in the autumn of last year and this year.

I was told that the president had retired, and that if I wanted to know the current situation of the company, I would have to go to Seattle to see the vice president in charge of sales. I flew to Seattle, and we talked about various things for five hours without break. I realized again that the company would be a good one to analyze. The next day I went to Tucson, Arizona to visit the former president. I stayed in his fine house, and we talked for a total of over ten hours, only the two of us.

At this time, I realized again businesses are living things. He said that three years ago the company got a president from outside, and the new president implemented a new strategy at great speed. As a result, the company was having a too big system which does not fit or function for an undeveloped market. It was a major problem. When I talked with the vice president, I did not hear such stories. However, he told me the outrageous truth.

Even though he is more than a dozen years older than me, he answered carefully the questions I had sent him beforehand, and he told me things that he could not say to others. Yet again, I felt the reliable relationship beyond generations, and I felt gratitude and awe.

The normal work of a president concerns putting out information only, but, this time, for the first time in a while, unexpectedly the trip became a training trip where I learned many things deeply. This is because of two Americans. When I visit again next year, I hope to see that the company has recovered well, and, again, I want to gain more experience than before.