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 Seven Samurai and Burning Our Bridges
Since the short wavelength light source, the blue-violet laser, is poised to become the hero of the optical disc world, we felt that we had to develop and manufacture them ourselves.
This is an area in which defeat would be unacceptable.
We definitely had that much pride. Our idea was that we would be able to accelerate practical application if the Research Center development team moved directly to Shiroishi.
Since this was the first model case for this approach, we really wanted to make it succeed, and selected seven researchers who we thought could adapt to the new environment.
This was our version of Kurosawa’s “The Seven Samurai.” Seven outstanding samurai plus one “oddball”, that one oddball being myself, came to Shiroishi in 1999.
The Shiroishi River is flowing right beside the site here. We really felt as though we had burned our bridges. Since the manufacturing line was right next door, it felt as though we really had burned our bridges. The people involved in manufacturing were working hard every day to make sure that the line would be profitable. However, we were spending large amounts of money on research and development.
With people next door working hard to pay our salaries, we felt a lot of pressure.
This meant that all of us put all of our energy into the R&D and worked like work horses.
It’s not Interesting if all that we Produce is Theory
It’s commonly thought that the value systems in research and development and manufacturing are different, and that they should remain distinct and not be made the same. This is because one is an investment in the future while the other must produce daily profits.
However, if we could just overcome the differences between these sensibilities, we would see advantages from working together.
Certainly, the types of difficulties faced in fundamental research and in manufacturing are different. However, Sony engineers are not satisfied just to produce theories. We are aware that the effort required to release a final product is orders of magnitude larger than the effort to invent something, and we are proud to put our efforts into creating final products. The Sony spirit, nurtured by Mr. Ibuka and Mr. Morita, is still alive and breathing in current Sony engineers.
The “Seven Samurai” and I are often called on to give keynote or invited speeches at conferences and have published many papers.
Our work as researchers has been well received.
But this is not the main part of our work, rather, it is the result of the work of practical application that is our main purpose.
Also, especially for laser diodes, which are leading edge compound semiconductor devices, there is science that needs to be done for the manufacturing phase, in particular, in assuring reproducibility and in improving yields. As researchers, we get particular satisfaction from working on those issues. If someone who preferred to work freely on their research and take it in whatever direction they pleased without such “constraints” were to come to Shiroishi, they would not be suited for this project.
There is one thing here of which I was particularly proud. All seven of the “Seven Samurai” are now working in positions of responsibility in various sections of Sony.
Also, some of the people who came to this development center later have been chosen as Sony MVPs (Most Valuable Professional) or received other recognition for their activities.
While there were samurai who remained in the village in the movie Seven Samurai, at Sony Shiroishi Semiconductor, it is only the one oddball who has remained.
To Construct an Ideal Factory
Although as a researcher it is true that I have felt that there were some rather restrictive rules here, I made a point of maintaining a happy face while I worked. Even though a rather temperamental group of people had come to work at Shiroishi, the staff of the manufacturing line greeted us warmly.
We used to go out drinking a lot, too. When a university professor, who had worked for another manufacturer and is now researching laser diodes at his university, visited, he was quite impressed that there was no division whatsoever between research and development and manufacturing. Thanks to all these efforts, we have completed preparation for mass production of blue-violet lasers, and we can finally repay our debt of gratitude to the folks in manufacturing who have been earning the money for our salaries.
We entered a cross-licensing agreement with Nichia Corporation in April 2004. This aimed at taking mutual advantage of our respective patents and technologies to create even better blue-violet laser diodes. We have also started industry/academia tie-ups with several universities starting with Tohoku University.
Eventually, we would like to make Sony Shiroishi Semiconductor a major research and development center for laser diodes.
This is a “fuseki” (early-game strategy in the game of Go) for becoming the ‘center of the world’ in this area.
Shiroishi is a wonderful environment for living.
Rich in nature, with many hot-springs resorts nearby, there are also ski and golf facilities that can be enjoyed inexpensively. In golf, our younger workers are rapidly overtaking me, and I feel that all I do is dig up the turf. Nowadays, I can only go golfing with beginners. If there were adequate opportunities for work in this region where compared to the city, the quality of life is completely different, I feel there would be nothing better than if we could create the “ideal factory, made free, vigorous, and pleasant” proposed by Sony’s founder Masaru Ibuka. The reason I am here is to construct a research and development site that will be the foundation for that ideal factory. |
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Science also Happens at the Manufacturing Floor
Vol.41
