Osaka, Japan - Rampf Group Japan, based in Osaka, is celebrating its fifth anniversary in the country, the German-headquartered company's first operation in Asia.
The Japanese operation has a turnover of Euro4.5 million ($6.2 million) and is one of the leading suppliers of modelling and tooling materials in Japan, supplying about 1000 customers, the Grafenberg, Germany-headquartered firm said, in a 27 Oct announcement.
The board materials from RAMPF Tooling are key sellers, said MD Yoshi Naganuma in the statement, adding that it also sells tools, jigs and fixtures. Especially popular are the firm's modelling board MB-0720 and the styling board SB-0470, both made from polyurethane and used for design and master models, he added.
The firm also supplies close-contour pastes based on epoxy resins, which are used for modelling and tooling in the automotive, marine, wind energy and aerospace industries. Recently the company has also started to supply mineral castings for machine frames, the statement added.
Naganuma says that he, together with managing director Matthias Rampf, chief executive officer of the firm's German parent company, has achieved the company's first target: to establish the Raku-Tool products in Japan. Today, the company is supported by nine distribution partners and looks after customers all over Japan. Amongst these are well-known automotive manufacturers like Honda R&D and Toyota.
"Quality, cost effectiveness and the availability of our products world-wide have contributed to our success. Orders which we receive today are dispatched tomorrow", comments Naganuma, in the Rampf announcement.
"The technical service is another key aspect that our customers appreciate", he added. Employees Takao Tsutsui, Kazushige Kashiwagi and Akagawa Yasuhiro visit about 80 customers per month to introduce new products and maintain customer relations, Naganuma said.
Over the coming years the firm plans to expand its product offering. For a short time it has been selling mineral castings for machine frames from Epucret, epoxy-resin-based mineral filled systems which are produced in Taicang, China.
As a next step it is planned to introduce reactive resin and mixing systems for the automotive industry. Based on the market data Naganuma projects double-digit growth in all areas. Japan is the largest producer of motor vehicles worldwide and the country's machine industry is also amongst the leading producers.
"We are confident that we will grow further in Japan," Naganuma said in the prepared statement.
"As our experience has shown, Japanese customers are very demanding but, at the same time, have an open mind for new products and technologies. Based on a joint quality understanding we will be able to score further with innovative products", comments Matthias Rampf, Chief Executive Officer of the RAMPF Group.
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