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History The 120-Year History of Oki Electric

The 120-Year History
of Oki Electric

OKI celebrated the 120th anniversary of foundation in November, 2001 and published the History book "The 120-Year History of Oki Electric."
We are glad to introduce OKI's contribution to the development of the information and communications industries in Japan with the "progressive spirit" of the founder which has been passed down inside the company over thee centuries.

Chapter 1. Kibataro Oki, Pioneer of Telecommunications Industry (1881-1912) [216KB]

Kibataro Oki and Development of Telecommunications Industry
- Dawn of telecommunications in Japan
- Engineers in Telegraph Bureau
- Oki Electric's Roots - Establishment of Meikosha, Ltd.
- Invention of "microsound" device
- Ministry of Communications starts telephone service
- Development of Oki Electric Works
First Telephone Expansion Plan, and Oki Electric Works
- Sino-Japanese War, and first telephone expansion plan
- Oki Electric and Oki & Co.
- Business discussions between Oki & Co. and WE
Second Telephone Expansion Plan, and Establishment of Oki & Co., Ltd.
- Russo-Japanese War and increase in demand for telephone service
- Entrepreneurial activities of Kibataro Oki
- Establishment of Oki & Co., Ltd.
- Shift toward domestic telephone production

Chapter 2. Becoming Modern Corporation, and Era of Automatic Exchanges (1912-1936) [240KB]

Establishment of Oki Electric Co., Ltd., and Growth under Third Telephone Expansion Plan
- Merger of Oki Electric and Oki & Co., and improvement of management system
- Business expansion during First World War
- Technical developments, and business management
Dawn of Era of Automatic Exchanges
- Great Kanto Earthquake, and introduction of automatic exchanges
- Technical cooperation with GEC (U.K.)
- Contracts with GEC (U.K.), and Shibaura Plant construction
- Toward domestic production of automatic exchanges
- First radio broadcast in Japan
- Composition of top management, and abundance of talented employees
Showa Depression, and Economic Recovery
- Soichiro Asano II installed as chairman
- Competition in automatic exchange business
- Creating R&D system
- Additional plants built, and organization expanded

Chapter 3. Expansion of Wartime Military Demand, and Postwar Hardships (1937-1948) [141KB]

Expansion of wartime military demand
- Second Sino-Japanese War, and expansion of military demand
- From designation as munitions company, to end of war
Corporate Restructuring during Postwar Period
- Defeat, and resumption of production
- Change of president, and formation of labor union
- Reconstruction, reorganization, and establishment of new Oki Electric

Chapter 4. High-Level Economic Growth, and Entrance into New Business Areas (1949-1965) [360KB]

Postwar Restructuring of Oki Electric
- Oki Electric Industry established, and President Suteji Kanbe takes office
- NTT established, and first five-year telegraph and telephone expansion plan
- Managerial reform amidst intensified competition
- New product development, and introduction of overseas technology
Start of High-Level Economic Growth, and Modernization of Management
- Challenging technical innovation, and building new plants
- Shift toward domestic production of crossbar switching systems
- Start of transistor research
- Development of millimeter wave magnetron
- Oki Electric: manufacturer of peripheral devices
Business Expansion, and Slowdown in High-Level Economic Growth
- Managerial reform and recession of 1965
- Type-600 telephone, and exclusive mass-production plant
- Electric teletypewriter OKITYPER 2000
- General-purpose computer OKITAC 5090, and establishment of Oki Univac
- Making inroads in overseas markets

Chapter 5. Oki Electric, the Electronics Company (1966-1978) [204KB]

Entrance into Electronics Industry
- Installation of President Akira Mori, and growth during Izanagi boom
- Development of electronic switching system and digital transmission devices
- Transfer of telephone production
- First-generation online banking systems, and development of terminals
- Development of minicomputers
- Software Division established
- Start of IC research
End of High-Level Economic Growth, and First Oil Crisis
- President Masaaki Yamamoto takes office, and first oil crisis
- Development of electronic products for data communications
- Expansion of foreign markets
- From industrialization of ICs to independent VLSI development
- Efficient management in post high-level economic growth period

Chapter 6. Challenge of Management Reform, and Globalization (1978-1992) [405KB]

Management Reform, and Development of Strategic Businesses
- Toward period of belt tightening
- Management reform plan
- Digitization of telecommunications networks
- Fame as minicomputer manufacturer, and new products for private sector
- Decision to invest in 64K DRAMs
- Avoidance of management crisis, and start of M-100 movement
Toward Further Drastic Management Reform
- Part II of management reform plan starts
- Third-generation online system of financial institutions, and OKITAC 2300 series
- Overseas business and depreciation of yen
- Stability needed in semiconductor business
- "Scenario 1990": Becoming an excellent company
- Construction of Numazu and Takasaki plants and Systems Development Center
- Liberalization of electronic telecommunications business
Appreciation of yen, and bubble economy
- Yen's appreciation after Plaza Accord, and countermeasures
- Installation of President Nobumitsu Kosugi
- Recovery of semiconductor market, and Japan-U.S. semiconductor agreement
- Development and production of digital switches
- Development of mobile communications business
- Intensification of competition in banking systems business, and development of ATM series
- Development of LED printers, and development of business in Europe
- Bubble economy, and its collapse

Chapter 7. Arrival of Network Society, and Global Competition (1993-1998) [197KB]

Efforts toward Corporate Restructuring
- President Jun Jinguji assumes office, and new management policy
- Sharp jolt by slump in memory industry
- Changes in telecommunications carrier business
- Toward open systems standards for information networks
- Deregulation and dawning of borderless age
- Relocating printer production overseas
- Innovation in work processes, and improvement of operating performance
Start of Business Restructuring Plan, Part II
- President Shiko Sawamura Assumes Office
- Year One of Internet, and recovery in business performance
- Construction of S2 Plant at Miyagi Oki Electric, and worsening of semiconductor market
Aiming to Change Oki Electric's Corporate Culture
- "Progressive spirit," and in-house venture business system
- Announcement of "Vision 2000"
- Providing new node system, and innovations in in-house networks
- Leading company in automated terminals
- Shift to logic, based on silicon platform architecture
- Reorganization of Oki Group-Oki Electric's third founding

Chapter 8. Oki, Network Solutions for a Global Society (1999-) [140KB]

Katsumasa Shinozuka Assumes Presidency, and "Phoenix 21" Business Plan
- President Katsumasa Shinozuka, and Phoenix 21
- Corporate Vision: "Oki, Network Solutions for a Global Society"
- Changing to new business model
- Organizational restructuring: three core business groups
- Select and focus, and supplementing managerial resources
In-House Company System
- In-house company management for realizing corporate vision
- Establishing additional in-house venture companies
- Reform of top management, and emphasis on performance
Oki Electric in the Twenty-First Century: "Phoenix 21 Sky High"
- New business plan, "Phoenix 21 Sky High"
- Network infrastructure, and three service bridges
- Businesses supporting network solutions
- Phoenix reborn: voyage into twenty-first century

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