Customer Feedback

Headquartered in Sapporo, Nichidan Inc. is a world-leading total insulation company that works on many installation projects for Japan’s top five general construction companies. Since 2017, Nichidan Inc. has been using Zero-Freon™ ER-X, the ASAHI YUKIZAI insulation foam that utilizes HRO gas, a new foaming agent. We have a shared desire to be environmentally friendly, and are committed to a joint quest for excellent insulating materials that transcends the line between manufacturer and user. President Kenji Kitagawa spoke to us about that desire.

Environmental Issues and the Current State of Insulating Materials

Our company carries out insulating work in a wide range of specialized areas; not just in buildings, but also in refrigerator trucks, large-scale refrigerators, and tunnel interiors. Up until recently we had prioritized costs, an approach that is still deeply rooted in our industry. However, I had felt from an early stage that our industry would have no future if we continued to neglect the environmental aspects and simply focus on cost. At the same time, without insulation there would inevitably be even greater use of heat sources, which is a factor in global warming. Nevertheless, I find it unacceptable that such indispensable insulating materials utilize foaming agents which damage the environment. Global warming is becoming more and more serious with every passing year and, in fact, most of the major clients we do business with have changed their attitude to an approach which emphasizes not just cost but also “environmentally friendly installation work.” Around six years ago, we independently sourced from America materials that have a low impact on global warming. We carried out a series of tests, and switched over completely to them around three years ago.

ASAHI YUKIZAI’s Enthusiasm and Corporate Efforts Defy Conventional Wisdom

Although we had changed our approach due to concerns about the natural environment, the process from materials to manufacturing our products was requiring a lot of time and money. It was around that time that an ASAHI YUKIZAI sales rep asked if we were willing to try out their product. Based on the test results, we decided that we had no use for the product at that time. However, when I was greatly impressed when the sales rep responded to our refusal with the words, “We want to work with you to make this a better product.” The following week two ASAHI YUKIZAI engineers came to our company, listened to what our shop floor staff had to say, and improved the quality of the product at an incredible rate of speed. We then engaged in a series of brainstorming sessions and, after countless tests, Zero-Freon™ ER-X was born. Up until then the conventional wisdom was that the better the performance of insulating material, the worse it was for the environment. It was generally held that it would be impossible to develop an environmentally friendly insulating material with excellent insulating properties. And that however good a product was developed, if it was expensive, construction companies wouldn’t be able to use it even if they wanted to. This revolutionary insulating material became commercially viable thanks to the enthusiasm of the ASAHI YUKIZAI engineers, and to the company’s efforts with regard to cost. We do a lot of our work on large-scale constructions, so we source a huge amount of materials. I think that was also to our mutual advantage. More than 80% of our sales come from urethane foam insulation work, and we utilize Zero-Freon™ ER-X in half of those projects.

Our Two Companies United in a Quest for Quality

Zero-Freon™ ER-X is not just environmentally friendly as a product that doesn’t use freon gas, which destroys the ozone layer; it is also a superb product with excellent insulating performance. In addition, the ASAHI YUKIZAI’s proprietary device used to spray the foaming agent dramatically improves on-site workability. It has a unique mechanism that ensures there are no seams in the finish, which makes for excellent airtightness. Our skilled workers are impressed by how easy it is to use. Better efficiency means less material wasted, which results in lower costs. However, if something is used by 100 skilled workers, there will inevitably be slight differences in how usable they find it and in their skills. In the installation industry we regard a product as “half-finished” when it has been made by its manufacturer; it only becomes a “complete product” on site. ASAHI YUKIZAI don’t regard their task as finished once they have made the sale. Reps come on site to check points such as how our skilled workers are doing the spraying, and they look at things from the user’s perspective, offering advice on how the product can be used for a particular task, or how to improve its use.
Here at Nichidan we always think about what we can do to make our customers happy. In our quest for stable quality we study up on materials as intensively as their manufacturers do, so we’re probably considered to be a very stringent company by other people in our industry. And so we are. But ASAHI YUKIZAI is an important partner who accepts that about us, and deals sincerely and swiftly with any issues that arise. I hope that we will continue to work in tandem to build a bright future for both our companies.