My name is Gan Quan. I am 30 years old and I am from China. I graduated from Beijing Technology and Business University at the age of 19, and then I went to graduate school at Osaka University from 2012 to 2014, where I studied control engineering. After graduation, I went straight to work at a major electronic components manufacturer in Kyoto. I spent the first six months doing production training at a smartphone manufacturing factory in Fukui Prefecture, then went back to Kyoto and worked in the wireless communications business for about four years. In September 2018, I decided to go back to China and joined Daikin Open Innovation Lab Shenzhen in December after working at a venture company for roughly 2 months.

Kept a daily routine and broadened my horizon

I started to live on my own since I went to graduate school. Besides my studies, I focused on doing two things. The first is to keep a regular daily routine. I arranged my daily schedule by breaking down what I needed to do (including waking up, going to the library, going to bed, etc.) into hours, which helped me to have a balanced life without sacrificing my freedom. The second is that I tried to visit as many places as possible in Japan because of my strong curiosity to explore the culture and have new experiences. I did part-time jobs at university and internships to save up for travel, and I was able to visit not only the Kansai region but also Kanto, Tohoku, and Hokkaido.

What surprised me when I first came to Japan

I was surprised the most by the cultural diversity in Japan. Even though Japan is not a large country, people of all nationalities live here. It is said that in Minoh City, where I was doing my internship, there are foreigners from over 100 countries. Since China is a huge country, I wasn’t able to interact with people outside of my region, yet living in Japan made it possible for me to encounter Chinese people of various backgrounds. Though Japan may be a small island country, I was impressed by the multicultural co-existence in Japan, as the Japanese people can preserve their traditional culture while absorbing other diverse cultures.

Part-time jobs / Internships

I worked as TA (teaching assistant) and RA (research assistant) at university when most of my friends did part-time jobs at McDonald's and Starbucks. Also, I interned at an organization of cultural exchange in Minoh City, where I planned events for cultural exchange and led the launch of a café promoting international communication. Additionally, during summer break, I interned at a manufacturer of electronic components as a technical researcher, and this experience deepened my understanding of research and professional life. I think these experiences I had outside school helped me to prepare myself for my working life and contributed to my job-hunting.

Did your shukatsu go well?

Compared to my peers, I was able to get my job offers earlier because the graduate school recommended the job opportunities since it is a common practice in Japan to recommend companies to science major students. I believe the key to my success was my extensive research of different companies and the Japanese social environment, which enabled me to realize my own career vision and form my career plan to grow together with the company.

Grow with the company

One of the key reasons for deciding to accept the job offer was because the company was manufacturing essential electronic components for wireless communication. I believed that such components are key to the future development of information society especially considering the growth of IoT (Internet of Things) and 4G at the time. In fact, the stock price of the company, my previous employer, tripled within the next five years. Therefore, I think it is very important to look into the future and analyze which companies are likely to grow in your field of interest.

Ability to put things together

What I think the most important thing is to clarify crucial points of opinion. Summarizing the main points logically is not as easy as it sounds. The ability to turn ideas into written forms that are logical and cohesive is very important in the workplace. It is common for people to unintentionally talk longer, and when that happens, it’s difficult for others to grasp the main points. That's why it's crucial to be able to articulate your thoughts and communicate them with others clearly and concisely, whether it be either for an email or a presentation.

Manufacturing industry

I suppose many people have the image of the Japanese manufacturing industry being inflexible. Although I believe strict management is essential for high-quality products, having engineers over-scrutinizing small details would only end up with products that are over-engineered for the customers. I believe that one of the reasons why brands like Huawei and Apple have grown so rapidly in the tertiary industry is rooted in their sensitivity and awareness to the needs of customers, and developing products that target customers’ unnoticed needs and advocating for new lifestyles. Of course, since customers won’t be able to understand a new concept without actually seeing or using it, it is important to have good production control and focus on quality, yet we do need to be flexible on ideas and excel at speed on delivery to be able to compete in a rapidly changing market where people want customized services. At Daikin Open Innovation Lab Shenzhen, we are striving to create an environment where we can challenge ourselves without the fear of failure. If we have any new idea that we can propose to customers based on our technical or market research, we try to make a prototype right away. Shenzhen is a great place for prototyping new things because it has a lot of development and production resources. For example, it may take months to design and produce a sample of new hardware in Japan, but in Shenzhen, we can have it done in just two weeks. If you want to create something new and challenge yourself, Daikin Open Innovation Lab Shenzhen is a perfect fit for you.

An image that there is a strict hierarchical relationship?

At Daikin Open Innovation Lab Shenzhen, we try to have a less rigid hierarchy in the working place. We know that hierarchical management is important in manufacturing, but we keep our working environment casual so that we can plan and develop new products more swiftly. According to a recent report, people born after the year 2000 tend to spend more money on products and services that are customizable and flexible, so it will be difficult to develop our business if we do not have a system that allows us to create solutions that meet the needs of each individual. To achieve this, first of all, as the front line of innovation, the Shenzhen office has created a flat working environment where anyone can express their ideas and opinions freely at any time. And managers will immediately give feedback and make an effort to accommodate and make an immediate decision. At the Shenzhen office, we have also designed a café-like space to facilitate communication with an open-plan office.

Diversity

Since the design of air conditioners varies from country to country, Daikin Industries values the localness of each region where it runs the business. To develop our business to suit each country, we not only manufacture locally but also carefully train local personnel and entrust them with the management of local operations. In fact, many of the managers are also foreigners. Furthermore, we are shifting our emphasis from proposing solutions for different regions to different spaces. Though until now we have developed our product strategy based on the characteristics of each region, we are now putting more effort into different spaces. Therefore, we believe it is essential to understand different cultures and learn to co-exist with diversity.

What kind of talent is a match?

Since I'm in charge of both technical development and planning, I would like people who are curious and can think out of the box to join us. I would love to work with people who have a sense of risk to come up with plans to keep up with the trends, who can research with an eye on the future, and who can create their own work driven by their own curiosity. I would also enjoy working more with team members who are able to come up with new ideas based on their research and involve others in bringing ideas into reality.