“We’re off to a good start,” said Matsuura Machinery USA (MMU) President and Chief Executive Officer John Schwartz.
Since establishing the Japanese subsidiary in St. Paul, Minnesota a mere nineteen months ago, Matsuura has already doubled the volume of its exports to the United States.
Historically, Matsuura has exported around one-third of its total production in the United States, making the recent surge in export volumes impressive.
“Matsuura’s decision to set up its operations here speaks volumes on the importance with which it views this market,” Schwartz said.
In the United States, MMU primarily provides automated turnkey solutions to various levels of the supply chain for medical device, aerospace, oil & gas drilling and automotive companies requiring highly precise work.
Living up to its reputation in Japan for making high quality reliable machines, Matsuura has raised the competitiveness of its customers.
“When customers realize that Matsuura technology allows them to literally run machines all night and all weekend without needing any people, and they figure out what that means to their bottom line, they absolutely make more money with our product than with anything else,” he said.
Backed by its reputation for reliability and premium quality, Matsuura’s move into the United States has also allowed it to greatly improve its customer service.
“Customers expect support. We have installed about 10,000 machines in the USA over the past 40 years. That’s a lot of customers expecting the best service because they bought the very best equipment. When they call, they expect to talk to someone who knows what they are talking about,” Schwartz said.
Having invested millions of dollars into its facilities, equipment and inventory in the United States, Matsuura’s commitment to North America is unwavering.
“We are here, and we are going to be here for a long time.” Schwartz said.
- Originally prepared by Global Media for The Japan Times Special Report on the U.S. Midwest 2014 (Credit: Philippe Le Saux, Angelo Romualdez, Elizabeth Arcega and Brian Banta)
