STORIES2021/03/26
Become an expert in elevators
ＵＴ ＭＥＳＣ
Takeo Watanabe
PROFILE
After working in at a manufacturing job for a chemical maker, Takeo joined Mito Engineering Services at the age of 28 in 2006. After 12 years of work in the manufacture of escalators, he moved to the manufacturing department of elevators. He has been a team leader with a staff of about 30 since 2020.
Introduction
Takeo had been engaged in manufacturing escalators for 12 years and had acquired solid skills, but was transferred to the elevator production site. Elevators have a completely different structure to escalators. While he is learning new knowledge from scratch, what is emerging as his new goal as a manufacturing technician?
How I became a veteran operator of a unique processing machine
After graduating from high school, I worked for a chemical company in the Tokyo metropolitan area. I was responsible for the production of raw materials for polyethylene products. When I had worked for 10 years, a turning point came. My father, working for a major electronics manufacturer, lived away from home on a job assignment, and my mother all by herself took care of her grandmother. That being alone was worrisome, but my parents owned some rice fields in Ibaraki Prefecture and were shorthanded on the farm. I was thinking of moving back home eventually but decided to do so at that point. That is why I moved to my current workplace.
For about 12 years, I belonged to the escalator manufacturing department and was engaged in manufacturing of components, such as the one called “steps” in the footwells or the specially designed pieces that customers see lining the sides of the escalator. The most difficult was one of the designed parts, which consists of the curves and half-circles at the start and at the end points to the hand rail. The machine we used to bend about 4 meters of sheet metal at once is a special machine that was built for the job and I learned on the job from my senior associate how to use it to create various curves as specified in the design drawings.
“Good. Watanabe acquired the skill and I can leave the work to him.” It took me three years to get such a good endorsement from my senior. I was so proud of myself for being entrusted with such a difficult task. Then in 2019, I got a transfer order to the elevator manufacturing department.
As a team leader of 30 members
Elevators may appear similar to escalators but they are completely different in structure. In the first year in the new department, I studied how to understand elevators from the basics. In an action movie, you might have seen a main character ride outside on top of the elevator -car or hanging on to the elevator’s cable. Actually, the space is so tight and has so many small parts, there is hardly any space for even a small person. I learned for the first time that these movie scenes are rigged for shooting purposes.
I am now responsible for building the elevator floor and assembling safety equipment, called the platform. The workplace has approximately 30 members in their 20s to 50s, workers who have different personalities and skills. I was assigned to be the team leader for the workplace since the summer of the second year. Safety came first to my mind. I had to think about how we could find and extract small seeds that might germinate and become risks and do so enough in advance to prevent personal injury. There are numerous other things, including compliance with laws and regulations and quality maintenance, I had to take responsibility for as a manager, quality, and numerous other things. I also feel it is important to walk around the worksite and listen to the voices of all staff.
My personal goal is to be a multi-skilled manufacturing technician, working with both escalators and elevators. To do this, I still have a lot to learn and experience concerning elevators. Although this industry has many model changes and many mechanical and electronic design changes, it is also possible to propose ideas from the development stage from a manufacturing perspective if a person fully understands the basics.
“That escalator was made by us, and this elevator, too.” Elevators are everywhere in everyday life, so I am so pleased to see my work accomplishment. This makes me feel more confident and prouder.
