 INTRODUCTION |
Matsushita Television Central Europe, s.r.o.
(MTE) is a subsidiary of the Matsushita Electric
Industrial Company Ltd., whose products are
known under the brands Panasonic, National,
Technics and Quasar. The production capacity
that has been created in Pilsen is without peer
in Central Europe. The plant, utilizing the
most modern production technologies of Matsushita,
is only the second such plant for the production
of Panasonic televison sets in Europe. The first
plant is in Cardiff, the capital of Wales. The
majority of products from the Pilsen plant are
to be exported to 30 countries of the Western,
Central and Eastern Europe, and full advantage
is taken of the excellent logistical potential
that the City of Pilsen offers. The project
has a deep significance for the Pilsen region
and the Czech Republic as a whole, not only
because of the export support but also because
of the employment effect. A large percentage
of the workforce is highly qualified personnel
which is one of the reasons Matsushita chose
Pilsen and the Czech Republic for its investment
- an industrial city and region with a lot of
skilled and thoughtful people. The biggest opportunity
for employees is personal development in a top-standard
working environment, mastering of modern technologies
and advanced management systems.
| HISTORY
OF THE COMPANY |
1996 March Incorporation of MTE, 100% subsidiary
of Matsushita Electric Industrial Col, Ltd.,
Osaka, Japan June Construction of the plant
started August Foundation-Stone Laying Ceremony
1997 April Mass production of Panasonic TVs
started (14 and 21 inch models) June First Shipment
Ceremony July Daily production of 1,001 units
- the fastest achievement in Panasonic TV production
history (4 months) October The Grand Opening
Ceremony - the plant was officially opened by
the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Václav
Klaus and MEI President Yoichi Morishita December
MTE received British Certificate BEAB 1998 March
MTE certified with ISO 9002 May Award from the
Czech Chamber of Commerce Exporter of the year,
1st place in the category Increase of Export
1997 - 1998 June Number of European export destinations
countries reached 30 October 500,000th TV set
Panasonic manufactured December MTE certified
with ISO 14001 1999 April Design & Development
Department established in MTE April 2nd building
finished September Production of digital 28
inch TVs started October 1,000,000th Panasonic
TV set produced 2000 December 3rd building finished
2001 April Award from the Czech Government Investor
of the year 2000, 1st place in the category
The largest expansion June 4th building finished
September 3,000,000th Panasonic TV set produced
2002 April Component production (FBT) started
May 4,000,000th Panasonic TV set produced 2003
1,700 employees RESEARCH
& DEVELOPMENT
The Matsushita project was the first and one
of the biggest green field foreign investment projects
in the Czech Republic and the first of its kind
from Japan. Could tell us about the historical background
and the development of this project until today?
The company was registered in 1996 as the first
Japanese manufacturing investor in the Czech Republic.
Soon after, we started with the construction of
the building and as soon as April we have started
with the basic production of 14 and 21 inch television
sets. In 1997 we produced about 200 000. Since then,
we rapidly increased our production, the next year
we reached half of a million, in 1999 it was 800
000, in 2000 we produced 1.1 million and this year
we produced 1.3 million. Another interesting fact
is that since we started our operations, we managed
to relatively smoothly introduce at the same time
a new system and new product ranges, this also helped
us to increase the production very rapidly. That
is the current situation, in a nutshell the main
reason to make this fast development possible was
based on that we get very good quality people here.
You managed to start production in less then
a year from the time of the registration of the
company, that was one of the shortest periods even
in the history of the company, isn't it?
Yes it is. In the Czech Republic earlier I have
heard that the usual period to establish and produce
would be about at least 1,5 year. We came here in
March 1996 and we started operation April 1997,
which is about a 1 year. That was the fastest I
ever heard of. The good cooperation with the government
also contributed to a great deal to this success.
Especially we had a great cooperation with the Pilsen
city authorities, they have really showed their
big support to us.
What were the main reasons for a Japanese manufacturer
to establish such a factory in the Czech Republic?
There were several reasons for that. The main one
is the geographical location of the country. The
Czech Republic is situated in the so-called heart
of Europe, it is located just in the center of Europe,
which gives us a huge advantage from the logistic
point of view, it is very accessible. The other
reasons for the investment were the stability of
the economical and political situation. For example,
the economic growth rate and the inflation rate
was very stable compare with the other three countries
that we were considering, like Poland, Hungary and
Slovakia. And also, as I mentioned, the Czech government
and the city of Pilsen were both very interested
in bringing in foreign investment. And at last but
not least, - we thought we could get very very good
quality people, with high professional skills.
In this industry you always have to be up to
date and come up with creative new systems or new
products. What are the latest products and how are
you managing to introduce it in the production process?
At the beginning when we started we were only producing
the 14 and 21 inch TVs, which is the low range product
line. Now, we produce up to the highest products,
including the plasma line of products, which is
a very high quality product. Simultaneously with
that, we develop our people, the workers, the local
management, which is also a key issue in our success
to be able to increase the production.
How does the good cooperation that you have with
the Government translate into economic incentives?
At the beginning, when we came to the Czech Republic
in 1996, there wasn't any incentive at all. They
started with the incentives in 1999. After that,
we were given help in terms of taxation, we were
offered 5 years of tax holidays, after we carried
out an additional investment worth over 5 million
Euro, we also got the possibility to import machinery
and equipment duty free for a period of 5 years.
So, we are now on tax holiday till 2004. Currently
all the central European countries has the same
type of incentive, so there is no difference between
them from this point of view, whether you go to
Poland, Hungary, Slovakia - almost same. So, from
the incentive point of view there are no big differences
between these countries.
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The Czech republic will be part of the EU in
2004. How will this change your operations here?
First of all that will give us a big chance of business
opportunities and also the competition will be stronger.
On the other hand all that will also change the
business mentality and the mentality of the market.
That's a very big benefit for the Central European
countries because even though the industry is organized
according to the current EU standards, in the acceptance
countries, you have to have a different approach.
You have to be more patient to be able to reach
your goals. Also, all the competitors will have
the same terms and conditions, its very obvious
and there will be a lot of manufacturers moved from
the west to the east.
The current GDP of the country is around 2270 billion
Czech Crowns, the import and export has also increased
by 10 times roughly and in general I presume that
the Czech GDP will be still dramatically increasing.
For us it will also mean increase. This year we
produced 1.3 million products, next year we are
planning to produce 1.5 million products and after
entering the EU we will have more business chance
to produce high technology product which we cant
produce here for the time being.
The presence of foreign investors in the country
always indicates the level of development of that
certain country, what is the message that the presence
of Matsushita gives to the outside world about the
Czech republic?
I will give you a very simple example - before we
came here we had a lot of sales companies, selling
Panasonic televisions, and the question they had
was, was it ok for Panasonic to produce televisions
in the Czech Republic? Is the quality going to be
ok? We were very much worried about that too. But
from the very first day that we came here and started
production, that kind of noise disappeared. There
is no worry now. That means the people trust the
quality we make here and trust is quite important
for us as a manufacturer. We managed to prove that
we could make good quality products in the Czech
Republic. I think that is a very very important
message to the EU too.
What other projects you are already developing
in the country?
We have already established another company in Pardubice,
60 kilometers east from Prague. We have the production
of mobile phones there. We started the new factory
this march and it is already in operation.
You personally have spent here four and a half
years. From the foreigners point of view what could
you say are the specifics of working in the Czech
Republic?
I have been working abroad in total, about 16 years.
In Mexico, in the United States, in the United Kingdom,
and here. I am Japanese, and during all these years
spent abroad I saw many different cultures, different
circumstances, different ways of thinking and maybe
I started to think like some sort of a global mind,
nevertheless, my spirit is still Japanese
It's very important to understand the difference
between the countries. For me this is the most important,
to understand the difference between the Japanese
culture or Czech culture or UK culture or Mexican
culture. Understanding the difference and finding
the way, how to introduce the global mind to this
company its very important.
I enjoy very much living in the Czech Republic,
because before I came here I didn't have any chance
to go to a classical concert. Here it is very easy,
and I was very impressed the first time when I went
to the Prague Spring to hear the opening concert
'My country' by Smetana. I was very impressed. Such
historical orientation of the culture, is a very
good point to start getting familiar with it.
What would be your message to our readers keeping
in mind they are investors looking for what your
point of view is and what would you say to the ones
planning to come to the Czech republic?
I think that the Czech Republic is a good country
for investors. Of course, infrastructure, geographical
location and many other things are important, but
the most important is whether you can get good people
or not. This is the key for the business, I think.
I would say, hurry up and get the quality people
while you can.
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