This article is a tie-up with the Niigata Prefecture Federation of Small Business Associations and Manufacturing Support Centre.

Pick up 'Change Leaders' who create new value by 'changing themselves in a positive way'.

The 17th edition of Storio developed a technology for bending 'hardwood' into small pieces and applied it to sundry goods. The company has developed a bending technique that cannot be easily imitated and has produced a series of unique products.

Develops unique products that are appreciated for their beautiful curves, using bending technology.

The late 1990s saw the spread of the internet and advances in technology for small-lot production of a wide variety of products. Storio was founded as a web-based business selling kits for DIY, in collaboration with wood processing companies, to create original furniture for individual homes. The business gained popularity due to its overwhelming price advantage over furniture made by others, but sales declined when major companies in the same business started offering similar services. We felt the need for a 'technology' that could not be imitated, rather than a 'mechanism' that could be copied.

This led to the idea of applying the technique of bending solid wood, known as 'bent wood', which had been used for large wooden products such as chairs, to small wooden products. In 2012, the company utilised a manufacturing grant to develop manufacturing equipment that could bend hard wood into small pieces, which would normally split when bent, by examining various factors such as how force is applied to the solid wood, the bending angle and the material. Using the unique bending technology thus developed, the company launched wooden goods such as business card holders, spectacle cases and card holders. The feel and beautiful curves of the solid wood were highly appreciated, and the company expanded its sales channels to select shops and other retailers.

The newly developed lamp, TANZAKU Lamp, won the grand prize in the 2019 NIIGATA IDS Design Competition for its beautiful curves. Starting with the lamp, the company plans to try other interior products in the future.

advertisement

Processes are brought in-house, enabling in-house prototype development

• such as painted maple wood and tamo wood.
• Even hard materials can be processed.
• By bringing it in-house,
• Significant cost reductions have been achieved.

When the company was founded, all processing was outsourced. However, in order to establish its own technology, it was essential to have its own processing facilities. Using a manufacturing grant, we introduced cutting equipment in 2013 in addition to our core bending wood manufacturing equipment. Although we had some difficulties before we were able to bend wood as we wanted, we were able to create many new products, such as fountain pen cases and new business card cases.

Consider direct sourcing of timber from an engineering perspective

• Using wood from beech forests,
• Finished table lamps
• In table lamps
• Made from 'snow beach' beech wood from the Ooshirakawa River.

In 2018, the bending and cutting technology was utilised to develop a rechargeable table lamp made of 'snow beech', a beech wood from Ooshirakawa, Uonuma. Originally, we purchased the wood from the market, but the quality was not stable due to the different production areas. We thought that we could solve the problem by purchasing the same wood directly from the market. After searching around the prefecture, we met a university professor who scientifically clarified and utilised timber, which led us to develop this into a sustainable initiative that takes the global environment into consideration.

Unifying the image of luxury at awards and exhibitions

At the gift show, the background colour was reduced to make it more eye-catching and put the product in the foreground.

Once the product is completed, it will participate in the 2019 'Tokyo International Gift Show'. By unifying the products with a high-end image, the target audience was clearly defined. The products were highly appreciated by new and existing customers and led to new business deals. Furthermore, winning the IDS Grand Prize in the 'Niigata IDS Design Competition 2019' strengthened the sales strategy in the high-end segment.

The Chairman of the IDS Jury said.

'Technology from Niigata will create a stir in future lighting design.'

Even if the materials we work with are different, we never give up, we keep trying.

Kazuhiro Asada, Development Officer

I do not come from a woodworking industry background, but from the metalworking industry. I worked making moulds and machines, but it wasn't until I came to Storio that I became involved in woodworking. Plastic and metal can be bent by spreading the outside when heated, but wood does not bend easily. At first, I cracked many times when trying to bend wood, but I was able to give it shape by gradually changing the values during processing. In the future, we would like to focus on developing interior products like the TANZAKU Lamp by exploring the hidden needs of consumers.

TANZAKU Lamp" - a table lamp that creates a space of harmony.

Portable, rechargeable table lamp. The concept was based on the soft light and vivid shadows of a sunken hearth, as the lamp is made from a beech forest in a satoyama, which was once used for firewood and charcoal.

Company profile

Storio, a web-based seller of timber and manufacturer and distributor of wooden goods and interior products for making their own woodwork, started a web-based sales pilot operation in 1999 and built an integrated system from customer service to design, production and shipping. Later, in 2004, the company established a joint-stock company and, while continuing its web-based sales business, developed the technology to bend wooden products. Currently, the company develops and sells wooden goods and interior products.

Contact details.

Storio Corporation.

Address : 1-3-1 Honmachi, Ojiya City

TEL : 0258-81-0006

HP : http://www.storio.co.jp