Support Women in Addressing Health Concerns with Seating Technology

Taking on the Challenge of Developing a New Product

KurosawaAs we engaged in the various co-creation activities that led off from the business alliance with Alps Alpine, we focused on addressing women’s health issues aiming to create new value. The Femtech Working Group volunteered with a goal of “wanting to do things with our own hands to address our concerns.”

SatoListening to female employees, we’ve learned that more women experience menstrual pain than we’d thought. This led us to develop Watashi la Seat®, a product designed to provide support for women when they’re driving.

TakaniwaOur main business is seats for cars. In typical product development, we receive requirements from our customers and set the criteria accordingly. The development process follows them. But when it comes to creating a unique new product like this, we had to establish our own criteria. We found ourselves asking, “Is this truly acceptable?” In the end, we established the criteria that would ensure user satisfaction while repeating tests and taking into account user feedback.

Kurosawa When you’re trying something new, it can be hard to tell what’s good and according to what criteria. We made each decision based on our own determination that this would satisfy users.

Kurosawa I was surprised by the speed of decision-making at Alps Alpine. It took less than a year from planning to decision-making and final product design. We might not have been able to do this as quickly just by ourselves. I believe their sense of speed comes from their exposure to the rapid changes in the industry.For many years, we’ve been working on seats that protect users, so we’ve developed a step-by-step mechanism to ensure safety. That feeling is deeply rooted in me, so the speed of co-creation activity like this was a very motivating experience.

TakaniwaI was also surprised by the depth of expertise and the wide range of connections of those who participated in the working group. When some kind of evidence was needed, someone would quickly respond, “I have a connection with a professor at that university.”

SatoIn my third year at the company, I was asked if I wanted to participate in this co-creation activity. I was pretty young and worried whether I could meet their expectations, but it was a valuable experience as I gained many insights and an opportunity to grow.

KurosawaAs we aim for its commercialization, I’d like to keep going without losing speed. I think it was the successful combination of the strengths of both companies, generating synergy, that enabled development to progress so rapidly. I’d like to engage in creating products that provide new value by leveraging our expertise in seating.

SatoThis may be a topic from a slightly different perspective, but until this development began, it seemed somewhat taboo to talk about concerns specific to women. We heard from some women that they are embarrassed and hesitant to take period leaves. In my department, I feel reporting progress and repeatedly discussing fFemtech issues throughout the development process has helped break down the psychological barrier to things like this. I think it would be great if broader recognition of Ffemtech within the company could lead to creating more comfortable workplaces.