Vol.44

Daring to challenge troublesome things and weaving one by one with care.

Mr. Kawamoto, who is in charge of the manufacturing section, is responsible for stabilizing the production line at the Imabari head office factory and ensuring that all the staff involved in the production process, such as weaving and warping, are able to move easily. This is Mr. Kawamoto, who is in charge of the production section. We asked Mr. Kawamoto to talk about what "IKEUCHI ORGANIC's unique manufacturing" means.

Production Manager Kawamoto

What is the job of a manufacturing section manager in towel production?

My name is Kawamoto, and I am the manager of the manufacturing section at the Imabari Head Office Factory.

The manufacturing of towels roughly begins with the calculation of the type and quantity of yarn to be used based on the towel’s blueprint.

Then, the yarn is set into a machine called a creel, which has several hundred units, and is wound onto a giant yarn reel called a “Nobe,” which is used to wind 3,000 to 5,000 threads each. After the creels are moved by crane to the looms, the weavers operate the looms to weave the towels.

As a supervisor of these processes called seikei and seishoku, I work closely with each member of the team to improve quality. When unexpected problems, such as machine trouble, occur, he quickly responds to them and stabilizes the production line. These are the main tasks of the Production Section Manager.

In addition, in order to attach the yarns created in the warping process to the weaving machine, it is necessary to tie the yarns together, and this process is called “tying. This work is called “tying,” which is like the connection between warping and weaving.

I think of various arrangements, make preparations in advance, and follow up to make it easier for everyone working in the yarn preparation and weaving processes. If I were to give a simple explanation of my job, it would be something like that.

Although I am such a person, I originally joined IKEUCHI ORGANIC (then Ikeuchi Towel) in 2009 as a maintenance worker to maintain the machines used in the factory.

I have always loved to touch machines, and I used to work for a mechanical manufacturer outside of Ehime Prefecture. When I decided to make a U-turn and change jobs in Ehime, I saw that IKEUCHI ORGANIC was looking for a maintenance worker and applied, thinking I could make use of my previous work experience.

Fourteen years have passed since then, and I have gradually been entrusted with various jobs, and before I knew it, I was in my current position.

The Value of Daring to Take on Troublesome Tasks

When I first started working at this company, I remember the factory manager at the time telling me, “Even though you work with machines, handling yarn is different.

In fact, handling yarn is difficult, and the condition of yarn changes depending on the way it is rolled, temperature, and humidity. Therefore, it often happens that the yarn, which was working well until yesterday, suddenly stops weaving. Each time this happens, I consult with Mr. Abe to figure out where to start.

It would be nice if it were easy to solve the problem, but it is often not a simple matter, and we are always in a state of “no push, no pull”. We are patiently trying this and that. Every day, I wrestle with yarn and loom in this way.

IKEUCHI ORGANIC makes towels using organic cotton of various product numbers, and each has its own difficulties.

Towels made with fine yarns have their own difficulties. Thick yarns have their own difficulties. The thread may break many times in the process, or the tension may not be maintained properly. I am not saying which towels are the best, but there are many towels that make me wonder how they made it to the commercial stage.

However, because we have gone through such a difficult path, we can be confident that we have created a product that is unique. In fact, the more difficult a product is to make, the more “cute” I find it.

I dare to take on troublesome challenges and weave each item with care and effort. I think this is the “IKEUCHI ORGANIC way of making things.

The enthusiasm of those who support us gives us strength.

What I feel since I started working at IKEUCHI ORGANIC is the closeness to customers.

For example, when customers visited the factory for a tour at the Imabari Open House, I served as a guide inside the factory. I also appeared on the “Tanzania Online Tour” and introduced the production status of Cotton Nouveau over the Internet.

At my previous companies, I have never had the opportunity to directly interact with customers in this way, so every experience is valuable and fresh. Although I feel like I am doing something I am not used to, I am having a lot of fun doing it.

After all, when we can feel the passion of customers who love our products, it motivates us to create new products.

IKEUCHI ORGANIC products are all simple in design, so it may be difficult to convey the quality of our products. However, we work very hard to weave good qualities into such simple designs.

We are very grateful that our customers are so enthusiastic about our products, whose value is difficult to recognize just by looking at them.

In order to meet the expectations of our customers who support us, we will continue to make products that are unique to IKEUCHI ORGANIC.

Interview June 2023
Interview and text by Keiji Ide
Photographer: Yuji Kimura