Nabeya Bi-tech Kaisha

Nabeya Bi-tech Kaisha

Type	Limited Liability Company
Industry	Machinery, metal
Founded	1560
Founder(s)	Taro-Uemon-i Okamoto
Headquarters	Seki, Gifu, Japan
Key people	Mitsuo Kaneda (President and CEO)
Products	Components for machinery
Revenue	JPY 8 billion (Total of group)
Employees	410 (Total of group)
Website	http://www.nbk1560.com/index_en.html

Nabeya Bi-tech Kaisha (鍋屋バイテック^?), also known as NBK, is a machine component parts manufacturer located in Seki, Gifu, Japan.

History

NBK was incorporated by Tomokichi Okamoto in 1940.

Head office and factory

NBK’s head office and main factory NBK Seki Plant are located in Seki city, Gifu prefecture. Even though the main factory is merely a manufacturing facility, the former President Taichi Okamoto had a unique concept for it inspired by the slogan "a convergence of nature and creativity", due to this he built not just a factory but a “Garden Factory”. The Seki Plant is surrounded by a swimming pool, art museum, bar, sports gym, concert hall and well-designed training and conference rooms.

On top of that, Okamoto strongly believed that the so-called bench mark management concepts like management by objective and pay for performance are against the maximization of creativity and productivity, therefore all employees are not bound by any revenue goals and are allowed to act freely. This unique management concept has brought NBK significant growth for years.^{[citation needed]}

Okamoto was awarded The Commendation for Science and Technology Promotion Category in 1995 (by Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology), Design Excellence Company Award 2005 (by Design and Business Forum). In 2007, Okamoto resigned his position as President and became the Chairman of NBK. Mitsuo Kaneda was appointed as his successor. Kaneda is the first ever non-Okamoto family member that has been appointed President since the company was established in 1560.

Sushi bar concept

NBK adopted what it calls the “Sushi Bar Concept” for the manufacturing of its products. Like a sushi chef at an expensive sushi bar, NBK basically produces its products one by one as they are ordered by its customers in order to provide their customers with what is exactly needed. They aim to keep the lead time overnight for any customers located in Japan 365 days a year.

Prizes and awards

• 1991: "iF" Design Prize, chosen as One of "The Top Ten of the Year-1991" by Industrie Forum Design Hannover.
• 1993: "Best Office in Japan" award by Nikkei News and MITI
• 1994: "Good Design Facility" award by MITI
• 1994: "President of the Japan Greenery Research and Development Center" award for the Seki Garden Factory
• 1994: "Medium and Small Business Research Institute Award"
• 1998: "Chubu Architecture Prize" for the MEME Center and the ‘Genki-Tei’
• 2005: "The 1st Japan Craftsmanship Award" by the Prime Minister for micro-scale production of diversified V-pulleys.
• 2005: "Design Excellent Company Award"
• 2007: "Good Design Award", "Long Life Design Award"

Group companies

• NBK Zimmer Limited
• Nabeya Shoten Limited
• NBK Trading Limited
• PT. Himalaya Nabeya Indonesia
• NBK Marketing Limited

External links

• Official website (English)