Panasonic Philippines Manufacturing Corp. president Shinichi Hayashi has never had a hard time adjusting from one country to another, despite the cultural differences.
After spending 30 years at Panasonic Japan Ltd., Hayashi became accustomed to mobile life, when as a young business-to-business representative he was greeted with opportunities to travel to places where Panasonic is present.
Prior to the Philippines, he was in Malaysia and before that, Singapore.
“My first B2B trip to the Philippines was in 1992 and I had a frightful experience when the water I drank at the hotel I guess was contaminated. I had severed stomach upset but after that, all was well when I travel back to Manila,” he recalls, of his first trip to the Philippines.
As a company head, Hayashi says he does not micro-manage. He delegates tasks, expecting people to deliver what is expected of them.
“I cannot say that I’m a cool boss. I admit I don’t have all the characteristics of being a perfect leader so I assign, delegate tasks to staff. I believe in the talent of Panasonic people, especially Filipinos who have keen understanding of production processes. They are all very skilled particularly in manipulating very small parts with their hands” he says.
Hayashi sata Panasonic has great expectations in the Philippine market, with local population leveling-up to their aspirations.
He observes that many Filipino families now can afford to buy not just entry-level home appliances, but also mid-level to high-end products.
This is more evident in cities where people are more affluent than in rural areas, he says.
“In Metro Manila, we have more customers who buy the top-of the-line range. Although the penetration rate of home appliance in the Philippines is still low, we believe there’s a huge room for expansion here,” Hayashi says.
He remembers the time when Panasonic operations in the Philippines hit a snag, forcing the company to pull out its TV manufacturing from the country in 2010.
“Even sales of small kitchen appliances were affected. It took us at least three years to recover but our TV production here was never revived,” he says.
The company started to slowly regain what was lost starting 2013, “but growth was painfully slow.”
Panasonic maintains its production of refrigerators, air-conditioners and washing machines in its facility in Taytay, Rizal and Sta. Rosa. Laguna.
It imports television units from Malaysia and small consumer appliances from factories in Vietnam and Japan.
In its 50th anniversary in the Philippines, the company plans to bring in inverter technology, a state-of-the-art system that minimizes electricity consumption of electrical products that run on motors, even to entry level products.
At present, the company locally manufactures two refrigerator models that run on inverter.
“Our 50th year drives us to achieve more and be more as we continuously aim to be the innovator and leader in the industry where we operate,” says Hayashi.
“We are inspired to meet the needs and demands of our market in the Philippines and they remain to be our motivation in creating products that would be part in making living easy and convenient for them,” he says.
Panasonic will launch a series of local-made “Japan Quality” refrigerator models to commemorate its 50th anniversary in addition to the new models Top Freezers, Bottom Freezers and French door.
“Our new commitment is to continuously contribute to society by realizing ‘easy living’ through ‘Japan Quality’ products for the next 50 years and beyond,” says Hayashi.