EPIC NEWS
ANALYSIS AND OPINION REMEMBERING PROFESSOR BRYAN TOZER BSC PHD CENG CPHYS FIET FINSTP EPIC NEWS
News from EPIC By Carlos Lee, Director General
www.epic-assoc.com
The inaugural delegation to Japan was a success!
A
fter more than a decade, it was exciting to return to the Land of the
Rising Sun! The difference is that this time I didn´t come unaccompanied – 20 members registered for the EPIC delegation to Japan. This is part of a series of discovery tours aimed at exploring the potential for business and technology collaborations. We visited three companies: AGC (Asahi Glass Corporation), Nikon and, at Sigma Koki, we had a complete factory tour. Two sessions were organised where Japanese companies could make a short elevator- pitch about their company, and networking breaks were scheduled to allow individual networking. I had two doubts while
preparing the format of the event: one, whether Japanese speakers would be comfortable with making a short presentation of only five minutes and, two, would the Japanese participants welcome the concept of networking and exchanging business cards to make initial contact. I was happily surprised that I need not have worried – both turned out to be very positive! What I did not anticipate
was how serious the Japanese participants took the meeting: they were meticulously prepared, had reviewed in advance the description of the companies that were attending, and prepared questions. And they sent high-level
34 Electro Optics May 2023 EPIC Delegation to Japan visits the factory of SIGMA KOKI
representatives to the meetings! We also indirectly learned
about the photonics ecosystem in Japan, which is very different from Europe. Many Japanese companies are very old; some have been in business more than a century. Fujikura, for instance, was founded in 1885. There are a lot of optics companies in Japan and the semiconductor, automotive, automation, and medical markets are important application fields. Some global multinationals have a presence in Japan too – for instance, Edmund Optics established a subsidiary in 1995, starting
in Tokyo, and now also has a factory in Akita with more than 200 employees. As part of the trip, we also visited the exhibition OPIE, which gathers 500 exhibitors in Yokohama. The feedback from both
the participants and hosting companies was very positive. Jonas Vandewalle from PlanOpSim, based in Belgium, confirmed that the EPIC delegation is a good way to fast-track your market and technology knowledge for Japan. Guy Ear, Chairman of the Board of Directors of OptoSigma Group, which we
“The feedback from both the participants and the hosting companies was very positive”
visited on the first day, thought the EPIC delegation was an amazing bridge to connect European and Japanese companies.
2023 EPIC Delegation Trips
are planned to Japan, Korea, China, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, India, UAE, and Canada. The group size is limited to 20 participants. If you would like to participate, please register early.
@electrooptics |
www.electrooptics.com
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