My feet get sweaty so I bought some zori sandals again this year. They are made of a material that absorbs sweat. Natural materials are great and feel great. The problem with them is that they are slippery, so I stuck some furniture rubber on the soles. I bought them from Taketora → Taketora
Factory tour to Ishigaki Island
I went to Ishigaki Island to visit the factory Uesato Woodworking. It is a super woodworking shop that uses the most advanced IT in Okinawa. I heard about it online six months ago and I really wanted to go! So I went to this tour.
This woodworking shop attracts visitors from all over the country. The reason is that they develop their own production management software. At Nakayoshi Library, we develop our own production management software, so this time we were not visiting for the software, but to learn about the beauty of the factory and how it works.
The factory is about twice the size of Nakayoshi Library. The machines are well laid out, but here's the part I'd most like to incorporate.
Equipment is neatly managed. Even new employees can see at a glance where everything is.
On the screw boxes, we had signs to help people measure the length of the screws and QR codes to prevent ordering mistakes. We had done all of this, but it wasn't working well. I somehow understood why. (There was too much unnecessary stuff in the first place.)
Uesato Woodworks is located on a remote island in Okinawa, so materials and equipment take nearly two weeks to arrive by ship, and they can't afford to run out of supplies. Because of this handicap, they came up with a system to manage inventory and prevent mistakes in ordering.
They also seem to be very thorough with their cleaning and have invested heavily in dust collection equipment. The factory is very clean and pleasant, with almost no sawdust on the ground!
Nakayoshi Library currently has two factories, but we will start by imitating as much of the system and methods as we can at the Kochi factory.
Thank you to everyone at Uesato Woodworks for your hospitality and for allowing us to tour your factory. **If you're looking for Okinawan custom-made furniture, thank you to everyone at Uesato Woodworks☆
