The Trajectory of “Assembling” and Parts Manufacturers in the Japanese Home Sewing Machine Industry

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  • ミシン工業におけるアセンブル・部品メーカーの帰趨
  • ミシン コウギョウ ニ オケル アセンブル ・ ブヒン メーカー ノ キスウ

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Abstract

Before Japan became a major exporter of home appliances and automobiles, there was an age of light-machine production in the 1950s and 1960s that included items such as cameras, home sewing machines, binoculars, etc. There were three types of home sewing machine manufacturers in the 1950s: the integration type that manufactured arms, beds, and other parts of the sewing machines entirely in the plant; the assembling type that assembled outsourced parts into finished products; and the mixed type that both manufactured and assembled parts.<br/>Large companies such as Janome Sewing Machine, Riccar, and Brother Industries formed the integration type, while small- and medium-sized companies that were largely located in Osaka formed the assembling type. Large home sewing machine companies went through an era of rapid growth in the domestic market. The export of home sewing machines was led by the small businesses, i.e., the assembling manufacturers.<br/>However, the competition to dominate the U.S. market—led mainly by assembling manufacturers—was so harsh that the export prices decreased due to market forces. The MITI introduced the minimum export price system (the supposed check price) to respond to this situation. Japanese sewing machines manufactured by the assembling manufacturers were often called Karasu (crow) machines, because they were completely black and did have no brand labels. In 1954, in the wake of the depression after the Korean War, integration manufacturers started making an effort to export products. By the 1960s, the distinction between the large manufacturers of Tokyo and Nagoya in the domestic market and the small business of Osaka in the export market had collapsed. The situation was symbolized by Janome’s acquisition of Sanko Sewing Machine Co., a medium-sized manufacturer that began as an assembler in Osaka in October 1959.<br/>One advantage that large integration manufacturers possessed over assembling manufacturers was that they could establish their own sales networks in the U.S. market. For assembling manufacturers of Karasu home sewing machines, the sales network behind the U.S. distributors was a black box, while the large integration manufacturers tried to establish their own sales networks in the U.S. market.

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