Creating a "global standard for towels" to save towel refugees
During my job search, I was hoping for a dynamic sales and planning position where I would be able to create and bring to market products that were close to consumers.
The appeal of Izawa Towel is that, even though towels are a familiar product to everyone, I can be deeply involved in all processes from planning, development, distribution, and sales. I grasp the needs of the market and deliver the products I have conceived to the global market. I felt a strong desire to take on the challenge of an environment with such discretion and speed.
Our job is not just to sell products.
From grasping market trends, designing the supply chain, negotiating specifications with factories, pricing strategies, and even creating sales areas, our job is to derive the "economically optimal solution" for towels, a product, from the perspective of a general trading company.
For example, in response to a request to "create a luxurious towel at this price," I will select the most suitable raw materials, utilize the strengths of factories both in Japan and overseas, and create specifications and designs. From sample production to proposals and final sales floor layout, I design everything at my own discretion.
Currently, with the goal of building a "global standard," the company is focusing on expanding into the American market while closely monitoring consumption trends and price ranges in each country and collaborating with production bases in Asia and Europe.
We have a total of five planning and sales groups in Tokyo and Osaka. We are not just a sales promotion department, but we play a role like a "control tower" that oversees the entire supply chain and creates product strategies. We work in cooperation with highly specialized departments such as manufacturing, quality, and logistics, and act as the "center of gravity of the business" in all projects.
Delivering towels to consumers around the world
To sum up the best part of my job in one word, it's "a job that lets you get a feel for the economy."
Our clients are well-known first-class companies. Our production plants are located across Asia and Europe. My decisions can affect the amount of money flowing and the number of people involved. I find the weight of the responsibility and the dynamism of the business very rewarding. We are now in the phase of making our "global standard" a reality, as we are starting to build a sales network overseas.
Since joining the company, I have been involved in materials, manufacturing, distribution, pricing, marketing, etc. This has sharpened my ability to think about how to put together products from an "economic perspective."
You can also hone your essential business skills, such as the ability to negotiate with overseas factories regarding quality and costs, business negotiation skills in English, and the ability to build trusting relationships with business partners from different cultures.
As the scale of the projects we handle is large, the perspective we are expected to have is naturally high. We are sometimes responsible for designing sales floors on a national scale for listed companies, so even young employees are required to make proposals with a "business sense." Currently, I am in the position of sales manager and am directly involved in many projects, but one of the attractions of Izawa Towel is that depending on your abilities, you can take on a position to move the organization from a young age.
As a leading towel company and a towel professional, I am aware that I am the only one who can deliver the best towels to consumers around the world, and I will work with that in mind.