Yukari Kobayashi
Joined the company in 2016,member of Purchasing Department, Material Purchasing Group
Graduated from the Department of German, Faculty of Foreign Languages, Nanzan University.
Negotiate prices while building good relationships with suppliers.
I wanted to choose a job where I could use English, so I chose Musashi, which is located in my hometown, Toyohashi. At present, I am in charge of purchasing products and steel materials used at manufacturing sites in Japan and Europe. There are various kinds of steel materials, and we order what we need at the right time according to our daily production plan. In addition, we respond to RFQs from sales representatives. Also, we are working with our superiors to review our purchasing system, which improves the balance between price, delivery, and quality. Under these circumstances, I sometimes negotiate prices with our suppliers, even though I’m dealing with steel products, I have to value them while negotiating with the other side. I am thankful for the cooperation of our suppliers because they are the ones who deliver our company products that are aimed for our customers.
A sense of accomplishment I get whenever I see my contributions to the company
I am happy that I am working in Procurement department which provides me the opportunities to use English by exchanging emails with local staff based in Canada and Germany. And I am excited when I succeed in reducing costs with the cooperation of suppliers. However, since my career has just started, I have learned a lot from the experienced staff of the supplier, and my next goal is to acquire the ability to negotiate on an equal ground. Even though I am still new to the company, I am free to try out my own ideas and take the initiative in automating routine work that is carried out by our entire department. They respect my opinions and I can utilize the use of automated software provided by the company, which makes me feel satisfied.
