Hello, I'm President Yasui.
On February 22nd, I attended a technical training seminar at Kagura VaporTech's SA (Service Agency) store.
When it comes to LP gas vaporizers, Kagura VaporTech is the number one domestic share holder. It's been over 11 years since the Athlete was released in 2012. Time flies...
It's been five years since my last visit in 2019!
The seminar was held jointly by Fukui Yazaki Service, Nihonkai Sangyo, and our company, NEXT.
We had introductions (company presentations), engaging discussions where we didn't hold back our opinions (laughs), practical troubleshooting sessions, hands-on troubleshooting of malfunctioning control panels using actual equipment, lectures using cut models of minimum valves, and disassembly lectures using actual minimum valve equipment. It was truly packed with valuable content.
While we refer to them collectively as SA stores, not all of them, like ours, directly receive requests from Kagura's sales stores. They don't just handle consumer vaporizers; they also perform maintenance for high-pressure gas manufacturing plants, including open inspections, in other words, disassembly maintenance of minimum valves.
Some mainly focus on consumer equipment installation and have basic maintenance skills. Others may have never disassembled a minimum valve before, especially if their seniors have always handled it.
Since the Athlete only offers on-site maintenance (disassembly and assembly on-site), it's necessary for future training sessions like this and for each company to provide more comprehensive on-the-job training (OJT).
In the field, it's common for experienced individuals to handle familiar tasks, but I think we should avoid relying too much on such personalized tasks.
The seminar ended before 5:00 PM, and we had a social gathering starting from 6:00 PM at the hotel! It turned into a lively gathering that lasted for about three hours.
The center director ran away! (laughs)
Since the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, these kinds of on-site training seminars have become quite rare, so it's really heartening to see them return.
I owe this fortunate connection not to my efforts alone but to the existence of Mr. Iwata from Tokyo Trading Mechanics Nagoya Service Center, who facilitated the connection between our company and Kagura. Thank you very much indeed.
Kagura not only provides such training sessions but also shares technical information and provides support for troubleshooting in detail. They operate their company with a wonderful philosophy, from manufacturing to service, ensuring you can use their products with peace of mind. We are also striving to do our best.
We look forward to continued collaboration with all SA stores of Kagura VaporTech in the future!