Schunk Carbon Technology Japan: Reacting fast to change

Dr Thomas Wittek, managing director of Schunk Carbon Technology Japan KK, was born in Poland, and moved to Germany at age nine before the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

“We moved a few times until my high school graduation,” Dr Wittek recalls. He learned back then “to be flexible, not to be too surprised if things around you change faster than you might have imagined.” He stressed that the main thing was to be able “to react fast to those changes.”

After finishing his PhD in Japan in 2008, Dr Wittek happened to hear about Schunk by sheer coincidence.

“It was actually my first career step outside of academia,” he recalls.

Yet, receiving a doctorate in engineering from a small private Japanese university proved to be invaluable to his leadership role in business today.

“It taught me how to achieve my aims with limited means,” he states. “[Ironically] my education also taught me to stay away from an academic career, particularly as a foreigner in Japan.”

Founded in 1913, the Schunk Group comprises four divisions and 13 business units across 29 countries with more than 60 companies. While consolidated sales came to €988 million in 2014, the group achieved the €1 billion mark in 2015. Dr Wittek points out that this is “a huge topic among our top management in Germany.”

Although mostly unseen, the billions of components that Schunk Carbon Technology produces and distributes worldwide are for everything from cars, ships and space shuttles, to electrical and medical equipment, production of LEDs, and even solar technology and wind power stations. Their products ensure reliable drive mechanisms, proven safety, and a high degree of comfort.

The drive for innovation and cutting-edge technology has made Schunk’s components and equipment irreplaceable in numerous processes, technologies and devices — in all the major industries. The group embraces the challenges of each sector by tackling problems in a unique way — always seeking to discover new solutions. The key to this approach is to gain the trust of its customers by cooperating closely with them.

The Japanese market is a significant case in point.

“The aim of our main activities in Japan, in particular regarding the automotive business, is not to sell our products to Japan,” explains the managing director. “Rather, we try to persuade our global Japanese customers to buy our products locally, where their production sites or projects are located outside of Japan.”

Dr Wittek explains that Schunk Carbon Technology Japan is in the perfect position to suggest such a unique point-of-sale to its Japanese clients.

“Here, our strong global presence and effective network helps a lot,” he adds. “The railway sector, for example, is the field where we are next aiming to sell our products to Japan.”

He believes that the current negotiations for the EU–Japan free trade agreement will bode well for his company.

“We hope that the free trade agreements between Japan and the EU will tear down some hurdles which make it difficult to sell our products here,” he says. “Our railway products provide an ideal fit in all markets, regardless if it’s Japan or some other country.”

That said, Dr Wittek offers the following advice: “A certain degree of stubbornness helps a lot in pursuing aims under difficult circumstances, as is mostly the case in Japan.”

Such a business strategy aligns well with the insight Dr Wittek gained early in his life: to react fast to change.

Time spent working in Japan: Since 2005. My whole professional life, except for six months in Austria when I started working for Schunk.

Career regret: Not yet.

Favourite saying: “Nicht nachlassen zwingt.” Conrad Freytag, German master builder, 1846 – 1921. (Hard to translate; roughly: “Not giving up will force success.”)

Favourite book: Hard to give a favourite, but "Lord of the Rings" is the only novel I have read twice.

Cannot live without: Oxygen, food, clothing — and, close after that, my family.

Lesson learned in Japan: Still learning on a daily basis.

Secret of success in business: Ask me once again in 10 years.

Favourite place to dine: Tonkatsu Ozeki, a small family-run place in Fujisawa, near Tsujido-Kaigan.

Do you like natto?: Got used to it. Tastes best when mixed with kimchi.

© Japan Today