LONG BEACH, CA – Richard Shiozaki directs the aftermarket sales group, aftermarket planning group, commercial and industrial systems group and the corporate service group for DENSO Sales California, Inc., the more than $276 million affiliate of DENSO Corp. As senior vice president, Shiozaki is responsible for technical services, sales planning, customer service, U.S. and Latin America Automotive Aftermarket, Heavy Duty OEM Aftermarket, OES Sales, Aftermarket Planning, Marketing, Heat Management, Robotics Sales and Planning. He also oversees Accounting, Business planning, human resources and corporate administration.

Shiozaki joined DENSO Sales California in 1986 as a member of the marketing department. In 1988, he moved to the Toyota Sales and Sales Planning Department. In 2001, he worked on the development and expansion of the Advantex project with Toyota Motor Corp. Shiozaki then moved to Aftermarket Sales and Customer Service in 2002, was appointed vice president of the aftermarket sales group and corporate service group in 2004. Shiozaki was appointed senior vice president in 2005. A native Californian, Shiozaki graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Marketing from California State University, Los Angeles, in 1982. Prior to joining DENSO Sales California, he worked in advertising in the grocery food industry.

Yesterday at AAPEX, Shiozaki gave a press conference to announce a number of new initiatives that DENSO will be focused on this year. Just prior to the show, we had a chance to sit down with Shiozaki and get all the details.

DENSO was recently named GM Corporation of the year and GM Supplier of the Year, in addition to winning several other awards this year. To what do you attribute the company’s success?

We feel it starts off with our global management principle here at DENSO, which focuses on customer satisfaction through quality products and services. Customers are number-one to us. They make us successful.

Secondly, DENSO is recognized for quality. Our associates understand that quality is the foundation for our products. When all of our associates are working toward that one goal, this produces high-quality products. Right now, many of our aftermarket products have some of the lowest warranty return rates in the marketplace – less than one percent. We are able to carry over what we have grown in the OE side to our aftermarket side.

Our plants consistently produce high-quality parts. That’s the same expectation held by both our aftermarket and our OE customers. There is a movement in the aftermarket toward seeking more OE manufacturers, such as DENSO, for their product lines. The aftermarket wants the OE form, fit and function that the dealers have been getting for the longest time. We think that’s important for us.

Finally, at DENSO we have this philosophy of continuous improvement, known in Japanese terms as “kaizen.” We apply this to all areas of our business, not just in our products. We also seek ways to improve our service levels to the customer.

How do you take Kaizen and apply it to customer service?

By listening to our customers talk about what they want from us. That’s very important to us.

In March, the company announced that it had joined the NASCAR Licensing Program. What kind of impact and benefit has this had for the brand?

We recognize that many fans of NASCAR are the same technicians that use our parts in their day-to-day business. We saw a statistic that 70 percent of professional automotive technicians are NASCAR fans, and they ultimately are the ones who use our products. So, supporting NASCAR was a logical choice for us.

We also know that NASCAR fans care about their cars and demand quality parts, so we’re pleased to partner with NASCAR and feel that the brand awareness for DENSO First Time Fit will be enhanced significantly by this.

Are you involved in any other motorsports programs?

Globally, DENSO is involved in Formula 1, but its popularity is predominantly outside the U.S.. So, NASCAR was a natural choice for us in the U.S. We do some other regional sponsorships, but NASCAR is our first nationwide sponsorship.

DENSO recently unveiled a new series of Technical Training Seminars. Is this a first for the company? How did the idea come about and why was it important for DENSO to launch such an initiative?

It came from our customers, who said they wanted more technical training from us. This led us to research it for ourselves, to go out in the market find out what they wanted and provide that type of service to our customers.

When you went out in the field and talked to your customers, what was their predominant need in terms of training?

As vehicles become more complicated and the level of technology increases, it makes it more difficult for the technicians to diagnose and repair those vehicles. It’s less time consuming to diagnose a problem when the technician has more knowledge. They can provide better service to their customers by pinpointing a problem and fixing the car correctly the first time. At DENSO, we feel we can utilize our OE background and provide the same support to the independent aftermarket that we are able to supply to the OE dealers.

Many installers think training today by parts manufacturers is basically a sales pitch. When we talked to the installers, they were very clear that what they want is training very similar to what the technician gets at the dealership. So, training, we feel is very important, especially when they use DENSO products.

Our slogan for our products is “First Time Fit.” If a technician tries to diagnose a problem and uses a DENSO product to try and correct the problem, and the problem still occurs because it was mis-diagnosed, he may feel that the there is a defect in the DENSO product, and that hurts our reputation. So we have to provide better training and better knowledge for that technician so it doesn’t hurt our reputation, and so he doesn’t feel that there is a problem with our product. We feel that providing training at the technician level is a benefit for everyone involved. It provides less return of NTF (No Trouble Found) products to us, it reduces parts returns to our distributors, it provides faster diagnosis and service repair to the technician and ultimately, the vehicle owner gets better service, which is very important.

With gas and oil prices continuing to fluctuate, the market for hybrid vehicles is growing. DENSO currently produces some components for hybrid vehicles. Do you foresee the company increasing its involvement in this segment?

Hybrid vehicles are becoming more and more popular. The demand for hybrids shows that this type of vehicle is popular with consumers. Hybrid vehicles require more components that are smaller and lightweight and deliver high engine performance.

DENSO has introduced a variety of products for hybrid vehicles. We already have computers and an electric compressor for air conditioning in hybrid vehicles. In April, DENSO announced three new components. One was a DC to DC converter, which reduces energy loss by half compared to conventional converters. It’s an air-cooled converter rather than water-cooled, making installation more flexible in terms of where you can put it in a vehicle.

We also have a new battery motoring unit that is 50 percent lighter and 65 percent smaller. There is a system main relay that is ten decibels quieter than what is out there right now, and it’s less complicated to assemble. Components that are making more noise become more noticeable, so having quieter components is important.

Three of our components were launched in the new GS450h, that was just introduced. They are some of the most advanced hybrid components available today. With our experience and expertise, DENSO will continue to respond to the demands of the carmakers to develop new technology and products for the hybrid vehicles.