We live in a time when environmental issues have become topics of focus, even at international conferences with world leaders. It is important to work towards the creation of a recycle-based society which reuses resources and energy while maintaining sustainability. In such an environment, there is a body of IT experts that has obtained top share in the industry by successfully making possible distribution management by way of IT systems, covering everything from discharge of industrial waste materials to processing and recycling. This body is Edison Co., Ltd., which will be the focus of this interview. We talked with Edison CEO Hiroki Sunaga about how his once small company, which handled data processing related to small-sized precision meters for use with waste products, transformed into a company that acquired top share in the industry, and how the company is moving forward with its new challenge of positioning itself globally.
―Please describe your company for us.
With “environment and IT” at the core, our company aims to bring sound and appropriate waste management to Japan. We are involved in arterial physical distribution (the arterial industry) which links together the collecting and processing of resources with the manufacture, distribution, and sale of products. In contrast to this, there is what is called venous physical distribution (the venous industry) which involves the collection, reuse, recycling, and proper disposal of waste from manufacturing and consumption activities. Within the venous physical distribution chain, taking production as the “heart” of society, our company’s social mission is to create a system that recycles resources in a trouble free manner so that they can be used again in production.
As for specific products, our company offers GENESYS-ECO, an ASP service for the general management and compliance management of waste products discharged by companies belonging to the arterial industry, and the Shogun Series, which comprises systems that makes business more efficient for waste disposal and recycling companies that belong to the venous industry.
―And your company has acquired top share in the industry with these products, right?
Yes, I am thankful that currently GENESYS-ECO is being adopted by businesses in the manufacturing and service sectors more than any other software of its kind, and that our Shogun Series products have acquired top share of the market with their outstanding sales. These products are being adopted in large numbers by Japanese automobile and steel manufacturers, the food service industry, and major companies that have waste processing plants.
―What are the reasons for your company’s success? What are its strengths?
We provide our customers with a one-stop service, consisting of everything from system and software development, sales, and management. In addition, our big strength lies in having a system capable of providing consistent resource recycling management from upstream (companies that generate waste in the industrial waste industry) to downstream (processing businesses).
In addition to providing systems, our company also provides support by way of its business process outsourcing (BPO) services, where business tasks in industrial waste management are handled all together. As industrial waste processing laws continue to change, we place great weight on compliance. Complying with such changes makes managing the proper discharge and treatment of waste difficult work. On the other hand, some waste management is easy to separate from production and service work. With our specialized know-how, our outsourcing services allow companies that use them to fully focus on their main line of work.
Our one-stop service encompasses everything from system development to sales and management. Our integrated strategies allow us to provide management systems that handle everything from industrial waste discharge to processing. And our system allows business tasks to be outsourced all together. These give us a decisive advantage over the competition.