SMC Corporation has a rich heritage and an enviable track record, growing from humble beginnings in Tokyo to a global powerhouse in automation and pneumatics. PKN visited the Australian headquarters and found out from ANZ MD Wayne Driver what makes the company tick.
In April 1959, a metallurgist named Yoshiyuki Takada took a leap of faith and started a small company in his in his house in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture Tokyo, manufacturing sintered metal elements for air filters.
Its name – Sintered Metal Company – was abbreviated to SMC, a brand that is today synonymous with market leadership in engineering and pneumatic control equipment, industrial automation, as well as its origin of sintered filters and filtration equipment.
On the day I’m interviewing Wayne Driver, who heads up the Australasian arm of SMC, he tells me it’s Mr Takada’s 93rd birthday.
“Despite his advanced years, Mr Takada remains active in the company as chairman, continuing to impart his invaluable experience and wisdom to the global leadership team,” Driver says.
Driver’s deep respect for the company’s founder is evident as he relates the story of the company's humble beginnings, engineering and production evolution, and expansion over the past six decades, both globally and in Australia.
