IHI, anticipating the increasing demands for jet engines, decided to bring together in one area various industries from across the country. In 1994 land was purchased in Soma City’s Industrial District, which was developed by Organization for Small and Medium Enterprises and Regional Innovation Japan.

The influencing reasons to acquire land were first, Tanashi Plant’s 50-year-old building that could no longer sustain production demands, and the inability to expand within the urban area. Also, in order to build an innovative plant with high quality, internationally competitive and progressive products, the company needed a building structure that would uphold a significant superiority against rival companies. Furthermore, a hard look toward the future suggested that to support such global strategies, purchasing large land areas was considered indispensable. The company searched all over Japan for the best industrial development, and as a result, Soma City was chosen as the ideal location and a 230,000㎡ area was acquired.

For Mr. Hosokura, the decisive factors for purchasing land were, in the first place, the excellent transportation infrastructure which would facilitate the development of future plans. Tanashi Plant is located 340km from Soma City, but thanks to the expressway, the distance between the two cities can be covered in four hours. Furthermore, the Jouban Superhighway, passing near Soma Plant, is scheduled to open in four to five years, reducing the traveling time to the capital area to three and a half hours. The low cost of the industrial zones and the locals’ passion for education leading to a large supply of talented workers were also regarded as crucial. Thanks to such favorable conditions, along with Soma City’s enthusiastic participation in the negotiations with the Japan Regional Development Corporation, the company was able to establish itself in the region smoothly.

As a result, in October of 1998, Aerospace Business Department, Soma First Plant with a building area of 20,010㎡ and a total floor space of 24,600㎡ was completed, and the specialized plant for turbine blades and jet engines began operating. Also, in 2006, a 48,000㎡ adjacent piece of land was acquired, and in May, the second plant with a building area of 37,000㎡ and a total floor space of 42,490㎡ was completed. In a major moving project, the plant received all the personnel, the equipment and the machinery from Tanashi Plant. The size of the second plant, according to Mr. Hosokura, could hold four soccer fields within its periphery.

What made this major project especially difficult was the fact that both Tanashi Pland and Soma’s second plant were kept in full operations during the moving period. As Mr. Hosokura explained, the machinery was moved at night and unloaded into the plant the next day. This operation was repeated everyday over a period of nine months, and the number of carriers that transported the machinery, amounts to approximately 1,200 10t trucks. There was also the complicated matter of relocating entire families, and since it was impossible to move everybody, it was finally decided that 480 people would transfer to Soma Plant. In order to do so, complex procedures to provide special allowances to 300 business bachelors were initiated with the help of the Soma City’s moving project organizers. As for job openings, the company did not restrict itself to Fukushima Prefecture, but recruited new members from neighboring Miyagi Prefecture’s southern region as well. The second plant, now counting with a brand new staff, has 1,300 employees to its effective.

Mr. Hosokura is grateful for the excellent local human resources: The year 2006 saw the completion of a new plant, employing 37 new workers, and another 50 people are expected to be hired during the course of 2007. Currently, the plant’s average age is 40, but there are 250 employees over 50, 177 of whom hold national certificates in specialized skills. Many of those specialists are expected to retire in a few years. It is, therefore, imperative to ensure the plant with new and highly skilled workers to maintain a first-rate technology level, an accomplishment that requires time and patience since it takes from 5 to 10 years for a worker to acquire specialized skills. For IHI, the company’s top priority is to provide the highest quality product, a view expressed in Mr. Hosokura’s final words, “the safety of our clients is what makes the quality of our products.”

IHI is currently planning to acquire another piece of land with an area of 51,000㎡. In addition, the company announced, in January of 2007, its decision to add a new division with an area of 15,000㎡ within Soma Plant, and to establish another factory nearby with an area of 15,000㎡ . Finally, during the course of 2008, the Kure factory of the IHI Hiroshima branch, will join forces and share technical knowledge with Soma Plant.

In this perspective, IHI’s Soma branch is confident to reach an international competitive level.