japan's midsize companies which are world-beaters

nov 9th, 2009

i had been aware of the reactor steel-container company, but didn't know there were so many leading companies in the middle-segment (much like germany's "mittelstand") that were such leaders. it is not clear if japan will be able to maintain its leadership though, as a) its population ages, b) they move away from an innovation-based society to a wealth-based society.
 
is there a similar opportunity for india's medium-sized companies? one or two companies that seem to have made a transition to the big time -- bharat forge, suzlon, moser baer. maybe there are others doing 'frugal engineering' that are in the pipeline.

http://www.economist.com/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14793432&source=hptextfeature

Japan's technology champions

Invisible but indispensable
Nov 5th 2009 | TOKYO
From The Economist print edition


A host of medium-sized Japanese electronics firms have developed
dominant positions in many areas of technology. Can they keep them?

ABOUT 40 nuclear reactors are under construction around the world,
designed by half a dozen companies from America, China, France, Japan
and Russia. But to obtain a huge, solid-steel vessel to contain the
radioactivity, all must turn to a single firm, Japan Steel Works, on
the northern island of Hokkaido. Though smaller or welded vessels
exist, only the Japanese company has the technology to forge the
critical $150m part from a single 600-tonne ingot.

Few companies find themselves in such a privileged position. But Japan
Steel Works is only the most visible example of an insufficiently
appreciated feature of corporate Japan. The country has a host of
medium-sized firms that dominate specialised global markets. Some of
these are in simple engineering: Shimano earns around $1.5 billion a
year by supplying 60-70% of the world's bicycle gears and brakes; YKK
makes around half the world's zip fasteners by value, and used to
control far more. But it is in the arcane corners of electronics,
engineering and materials-science that Japanese companies reign. The
technologies are largely invisible to consumers, but the firms enjoy
outsize market shares because they are essential for making particular
products.

For example, around 75% of motors for hard-disk drives in computers
come from a firm called Nidec; 90% of the micro-motors used to adjust
the rear-view mirror in every car are made by Mabuchi. Often the
products are components, materials or equipment used to make other
equipment: TEL makes 80% of the etchers used in making an LCD panel;
Covalent produces 60% of the containers that hold silicon wafers as
they are turned into computer chips.

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