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THREE DECADES AGO, in 1979, Tamron Co. Ltd. of Tokyo, a well-respected Japanese lens manufacturer, founded Tamron USA, Inc., with the vision of increasing its sales volume, market share, name recognition and profitability. Today, largely based on the phenomenal success of its U.S. branch in Commack, New York, Tamron is a household name among picture-taking enthusiasts—a world-class manufacturer of digital camera lenses for photographic, industrial, laboratory, video, digital and scientific applications; a leading supplier of lenses for CCTV security and factory automation applications; and a technological pioneer in advanced optics and electronics. Here, in the heartfelt words of three top Tamron executives who continue to play vital roles in the success of the company, is the incredible story of how a small U.S. subsidiary grew from humble beginnings to become one of the most effective sales and marketing organizations in the imaging industry.
The Beginning Shoji (George) Kono, vice president, Tamron Co. Ltd., joined the company in 1972. In 1978, Tamron’s CEO and founder, Takeyuki Arai, sent him to the United States on a unique mission that was to have profound consequences. |
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“When I was sent over as our first staff member, Tamron lenses were distributed by Berkey Marketing Co. (BMC), the distributor for Konica, Omega, Sunpak and more,” recalls Kono. “One of my first contacts was the legendary Henry Froehlich, who taught me much about the business. I was given what the late Mr. Arai said was an easy task—visit 500 dealers in every region of the United States over a period of three months, just to say hello and get some feedback. It was a daunting assignment. I stayed at the Holiday Inn, and every night I would go through the local phone book looking for authorized Nikon, Canon and Minolta dealers; I figured they were well established and financially sound. |
“Basically, I asked everyone two questions,” says Kono. “Do you know Tamron, and what do you think of our interchangeable mount system? BMC thought our Adaptall mount system was not suitable for the U.S. because Americans have big hands and prefer fixed lens mounts. But when I spoke to the dealers. I got quite a different story; they were very enthusiastic about our mount system because it allowed them to sell lenses for 200 different SLR models by carrying 15 different interchangeable mounts and far less inventory. I also discovered that one reason Tamron lenses weren’t selling so well was that the dealers’ credit limit was all used up on other BMC products that were easier for their salesmen to sell, and there was nothing left for our products. Also, in the U.S., credit authorization was controlled by the credit manager, an occupation then unknown in Japan.
“Based on my report, Takeyuki Arai took immediate action, gradually changing our relationship with BMC and committing to selling direct in the U.S. Over the course of the next few months, Tamron USA was born. At first we operated out of an apartment in Queens, New York, hired our first employee, a credit manager, and began setting our own credit limits. Soon afterward we moved to Port Washington. The key to our success, then as now, was hiring talented, passionate, hardworking people. By January 1980, we had 58 sales reps from 16 sales organizations at our big organizational meeting. We knew we needed top caliber professional sales help, and we were determined to get it. “In his opening speech, Mr. Arai forthrightly stated why he was committed to establishing Tamron USA. He wanted to see that every individual was properly rewarded, that the benefits were rationally shared among all those involved in the sale of Tamron lenses, from dealers to people behind the counter to sales representatives. Furthermore, the corporate structure should be constantly optimized to remain in line with everchanging market conditions, and in an orderly fashion. With all parties from upstream to downstream well motivated, closely collaborating and sharing the happiness, he was firmly convinced that in the end Tamron would be positioned as #1 in the U.S. market.
“When I returned to the U.S. from 1999–2001, Tamron USA was in its second phase, moving to our present, much larger facilities in Commack. By then we had more than attained Mr. Arai’s dream and were now a market leader known for innovation, especially in the area of high-ratio zoom lenses.” |
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The Transition Hisaaki (Hank) Nagashima, senior managing director, Tamron Co. Ltd., came to the U.S. in November 1981 to assist George Kono. He took the helm of Tamron USA in 1983, as Kono was preparing to return to Japan, overseeing the critical transition of the company to its present leadership position. |
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“When I first arrived,” recalls Nagashima, “Tamron USA was a small operation with about 25 employees. Our products included SLR lenses, Pro Tamron lenses for the Kodak Ektagraphic projectors and CCTV lenses. SLR lenses were doing OK, but we had no new products and our revenue was flat. I undertook a painful restructuring, cutting the number of reps, trimming the number of sales managers to two and working with one national sales manager. We also shifted gears, allocating our major resources toward OEM camcorder lenses. There was little development in SLR lenses, and when the paradigm shifted to autofocus with the introduction of the Minolta Maxxum 7000 in 1985, we had no exciting new products to offer. |
| “Things started to turn around in ’91. Building on the technological know-how we had acquired in designing and manufacturing video lenses, we came out with a revolutionary product, a lightweight, compact 28–200mm zoom lens in Nikon mount, and a year later in Canon mount. It incorporated hybrid aspherics and innovative production engineering using plastic-barrel construction for enhanced stability, much lighter weight and lower cost. There had been other long-range zooms, but this was a key product for Tamron, and it enabled us to get on track with the AF SLR bandwagon. It was a pivotal moment for Tamron.
“When I left Tamron USA in 1998, I knew we had spearheaded a new generation of zoom lenses, and we were building on that success with even bolder designs. Another product that showcased our advanced technology was the Fotovix, which output analog video signals and was the precursor to Digital Fotovix. It too was an outgrowth of our involvement with camcorders, and it helped position Tamron as a technological leader. Looking back, I would say that one of my greatest accomplishments was to promote closer relationships among reps and dealers and to facilitate the free, easy communication that is now an integral part of the corporate culture of Tamron USA.” |
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The Present and Future of Tamron Takashi (Tak) Inoue, the president and CEO of Tamron USA, has a background in international banking, both in Japan and the U.S. He joined the company in 2000 and assumed his present title in 2002. |
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“Over the past nine years we have been working together to reorganize Tamron USA in ways that encourage a closer relationship among our dealers and more direct communication with consumers,” notes Inoue. “We know we have to deliver exciting new products like long-range zoom lenses with vibration compensation (VC) to our customers and to do so at reasonable prices. This clearly entails more close cooperation with dealers and sharing the profits, so we can all achieve a greater rate of return and invest in the future. In order to make this happen, we have expanded our internal staff, increased marketing and field services, run more workshops with dealers and engaged in cooperative brainstorming to help dealers leverage their core competencies. |
“We’ve targeted consumers as well, expanding our website content, utilizing socialnetworking sites such as Facebook and making more effective use of our clients’ extended marketing bases. Good examples are our promotion to women in vertical markets like digital scrapbooking, having a presence at various events and making speakers available. We’re also extending our reach by sponsoring more educational events with dealers, and we have more service people available for direct contact with their customer base to keep customers informed of our new products and end uses from a Tamron perspective. All this has had the effect of vastly increasing our brand recognition, and we go to great lengths to associate the Tamron brand with top quality at every decision point—even our new shopping bag looks classy and upscale, like it came from a 5th Avenue store. “These times require maximum agility, flexibility and outreach,” concludes Inoue, “and I’m proud to say Tamron USA has been and will continue to be successful because it is still guided by the founding principles set forth by Takeyuki Arai over 30 years ago: ‘Do your best to make everybody—including customers, dealers and ourselves—as happy, productive and fulfilled as possible, for that is the true measureof success.’ ” |
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