Technology Microcosm

What motivated the development team amidst the mounting problems? It was the belief that "One day, electronic materials will become Fujikura's core business!"

Fujikura's first order for an FPC came from a major camera manufacturer. It was an FPC to be incorporated into a printer head. First, they received the design drawings and completed a prototype through trial and error. However, it astonished the client's engineers. They delivered a prototype that was completely different from the client's design. This was a huge misunderstanding: they delivered a "single-sided fine FPC" when the client requested a "double-sided exposed FPC." They couldn't even read the design drawings... They started from such a low level. Subsequent prototyping approaches would also see numerous legendary failures. What motivated the development team amidst the days of mounting problems? It was the belief that "electronic materials will one day become Fujikura's core business!"

The FPC project was based in a corner of the Sakura factory, and although the working environment was not ideal, the project steadily achieved technological results. However, it continued to struggle in terms of profitability. For every 100 million yen in sales, the company was in the red by the same amount. With low yields and rising costs, the vicious cycle gradually led to growing criticism within the company. The group was ridiculed as the "Flutter-Flutter-Flutter Club," a play on the name FPC.

The turning point for mobile phone modules in 1993

The turning point came when a mobile phone manufacturer placed a large order for FPCs to be incorporated into their new model. Two years of aggressive sales activities finally led to an inquiry from a Singaporean manufacturer of mounting equipment. First, Fujikura shipped samples of its FPCs, which were well-received, leading to an order for mass production, including mounting. Through numerous trials and errors and complaints, the company steadily acquired knowledge, refined its technology, and developed techniques to improve cost performance in sales, development, and manufacturing. This effort blossomed and bore fruit. This transaction eventually developed into a major business, with orders for 4 million pieces. In 1993, the company recorded annual sales of 8 billion yen from this single company. At the time, Fujikura was operating a specialized FPC factory, PCTT, in Kingdom of Thailand, which would handle mass production and expand to other mobile phone manufacturers. This would lead to even bigger business.