01 September 2010

UNIDENT-s Visit of Friendship to the Land of the Rising Sun

Georgy Gabuzov, Head of X-ray Equipment Department, UNIDENT

The friendship between UNIDENT and J.Morita dates back many years. The companies' effective cooperation and shared philosophy has made this alliance strong and successful. Thanks to steadfast joint efforts, trust and high quality of diagnostic equipment, the CAT scanners and digital panoramic apparatus made by the Japanese company J.Morita have gained recognition in Russia. And shortly after a high-profile unveiling of a new X-ray line at the UNIDENT booth at a dental tradeshow in Moscow, the equipment became a paragon of taste and quality for clinic owners and an indispensable aid to physicians at major medical centres and high-end dental offices.

Every year delegations from both companies meet in Russia (at Dental Salon and Dental Expo events, as well as at UNIDENT Dealer Conferences) and in Japan (at J.Morita's factory). These meetings help the partners exchange of experience, better understand each other's situation, and share insider marketing information. In May 2010 J.Morita's team invited a large delegation of colleagues from Moscow: Georgy Gabuzov, Aleksandr Dzhankhoteli, Tatyana Nikitina, Murat Saidov (Clinic No. 3 of the Russian Federation Department of Presidential Affairs), as well as UNIDENT's dealers and partners from Russian regions: Yuri Domozhirov (PaktMedServis, Chita), Andrey Mikhalin (Kazan), Nadezhda Bilaya (Dental Plus, Vladivostok) and Ivan Pakshin (Alfa-Dent, Komsomolsk-on-Amur).

As usual, the trip was action-packed and included not only talks and study of equipment made by J.Morita but also an extensive cultural programme. The hosts did their guests proud by giving them red-carpet treatment. However, it is better to let the travellers themselves tell about their trip to the Land of the Rising Sun, while the UNIDENT team are preparing to return the courtesy and invite their colleagues from J.Morita to come for a visit.

— The Japan-based company J.Morita has a very rich history. The building that houses it is made of bricks. That was the only other brickwork we saw in all our travels across the country, the first one being the TOYOTA factory. This is because a majority of old brickworks were razed during the war, but these have survived and symbolize the soundness and rich history of corporations. As for the J.Morita factory, what is surprising here is the workflow philosophy. No part is manufactured until it is needed in the process. Nothing is produced here “for future use”. Everything is according to plan and as per specification. I was amazed by the central showroom, J.Morita Dental Plaza, located in a new district of Tokyo. This is a huge building, with a state-of-the-art infrastructure. We were surprised to see the very first models of the company's units and X-ray machines at the J.Morita museum.

That was an amazing display; I have never seen such devices! Dental appliances from the 19th century! For myself, I realized one very important thing: we know about the quality of J.Morita equipment because of its technical specifications and clinical performance; now that we have learned about the manufacturer's history, technology, production line, we understand why that is really true: impeccable work management, commitment to performance, multi-level quality control, innovative manufacturing solutions, a sense of responsibility verging on madness. Incidentally, they have one other distinctive feature: they always post conservative estimates, quoting bottom figures for equipment capabilities. They claim their [X-ray] tubes are good for 30−35 thousand expositions; to put this into perspective, the Europeans claim 10 times as many, but experience shows that Japanese X-ray machines work much longer and better. This is their hallmark.

Generally, Japan is a nation with an overdeveloped sense of responsibility. Be it a caretaker, waiter, tour guide or junior service staff, all of them see their jobs as the most important thing in their lives. Also Japan is big on education; it has 750 universities, so most Japanese have higher education degrees, which is evidence of the high intellectual level of the nation at large. This trip provided interesting experience. A lot became clearer and made more sense, for example the reason why J.Morita's X-ray panoramic apparatus and tomographs have dominated the market for many years, why they have a high price tag, and why the units made by the Japanese company are so easy and cheap to maintain. I sincerely believe that many manufacturers should adopt the serious and responsible attitude of their colleagues from Japan.

Tatyana Nikitina, Deputy Head, Retail Sales Department, and Senior Key Account Manager, UNIDENT

— The trip promised to be action-packed and unusual. To start from the end, I will say that our expectations were met in full. In Japan we managed to discuss a lot of outstanding issues with our colleagues; we were happy to be joined on our trip by our partners and long-time friends of UNIDENT — Andrey Metelkov and Masanori Mori, who gave us a very warm welcome. All was organized at the highest level. In the few days of our stay, we managed to visit J.Morita's showroom (Tokyo), factory (Kyoto), museum (Kyoto) and training centre (Osaka). I am very pleased that our working visit did not turn into a purely official function, and the trip's action-packed programme gave us time to get to know the country.

We visited Japan's major cities such as Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka. They all have millions of residents. I was surprised by the amazing density of their urban development, with ultra-modern skyscrapers and small cottages co-existing in their streets. I'd like to point out that in spite of being densely populated, they have very friendly people, with strangers greeting us happily, letting us photograph them, smiling and trying to talk to us. The hospitality of our colleagues from J.Morita, the kindliness of local residents and even fawns, which freely roamed around the Todai-ji Temple waiting for dog biscuits, gave us a lot of positive emotions and spectacular unforgettable impressions.
In terms of sightseeing, we had time to visit the Toyota Factory, the Noritake Porcelain Factory and Museum, Akihabara Electronics Shopping Area (we found it very much like our Gorbushka), the Golden Pavilion, the first Buddhist Temple Asakusa, and the Kaiyukan Aquarium.
Our day was planned to the minute, but we got a lot of impressions and had an insight into the culture of our partners. For our part, we are always happy to welcome guests from J.Morita in our home country because nothing is better for business and social relationships than communication, exchange of positive emotions and experience in one's area of expertise.

Aleksandr Dzhankhoteli, Corporate Relationship Director, UNIDENT

— Our meeting with partners from J.Morita was very effective; it enabled us not only to address certain business matters but to socialize, too. I am certain that such events go a long way towards strengthening business and personal relationships. I expect that our trip in Japan will result in many important decisions being made to maximize the sales of J.Morita equipment in Russia.

The delegation of representatives from UNIDENT, dealerships and the company's key customers was satisfied that J.Morita was committed to innovation in the manufacture of its equipment and met in person the director of the Kyoto factory Mr. Sekiya Ogino. We have satisfied ourselves that the management and staff of J.Morita are committed to running all stages of brand product manufacturing in a smooth, professional and well-organized manner.

In the course of our business trip, we visited J.Morita's office, museum, showroom and training centre. We discussed business matters, watched production activities, learned about the company's history and philosophy. During our visit to the company's office in Osaka, Russian dentists and trading representatives were given a unique opportunity to attend a conference on applications of the Beach Method, which provides for the patient to be treated at a “12 o'clock” position. In the course of the class we met its originator, Mr. Beach; we were greatly honoured to be instructed by such an illustrious mentor.
After the course and discussion on the subject with Andrey Metelkov, it was decided to offer such a class on a regular basis at Moscow and regional clinics and specialist training centres.

When speaking about the trip, you can't fail to talk about the Land of the Rising Sun, which was a totally unexpected discovery for us. This is a country of philosophy and amazing culture. It was here that we understood that Japan is a country of details, minutiae and nuances, which make no sense until after a certain time. As for the trip's cultural programme, which was carefully prepared for us by the receiving party, I can say that it was action-packed and exciting. For this, special thanks go to our long-standing partners and friends Andrey Metelkov and Masanori Mori, who accompanied us on sightseeing tours in Japan.

All of the above, taken together with the amazing landscapes, kind people, rich history and cultural traditions of Japan, turned our trip into a wonderful experience. For all that, however, the most important thing is that the working visit laid the groundwork for further effective cooperation, which will pave the way for dental market growth and dentistry development in Russia.

Friends, partners and welcoming hosts Andrey Metelkov and Masanori Mori (J.Morita)

J.Morita factory	J.Morita showroom, Tokyo
J.Morita's production facility runs like clockwork	After training with their mentor and father of the method for treating patients at a “12 o'clock” position Dr. Beach
Delegation from Russia at J.Morita's showroom	Andrey Mikhalin (Aplomb Clinic), Georgy Gabuzov (UNIDENT) and Yuri Domozhirov (PaktMedServis)
J.Morita's first unit and Aleksandr Dzhankhoteli (UNIDENT)	On the Golden Pavilion tour