Hiroshima Head Office

MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES COMPRESSOR CORPORATION

Headquarters

A global workplace that is open to people around the world

The office area on the 4F and 5F of the Engineering & Design division has space for focusing and interaction. The zig-zag furniture layout creates spaces for open meetings. Shown on the left is the office area on the 5F, which has a different layout from the 4F, as each floor has its own unique style.

The office area on the 5F. Shown behind the glass panels are internal meeting rooms.

The internal meeting room on the 5F. All the meeting rooms and boardrooms have monitors installed which are connected to a video conferencing system that links to their overseas operations.

The office area on the 5F. The workstation set up is arranged for the use of double monitors.

The meeting room on the 4F. The height-adjustable desk is used for standing conferences and seated interviews.

The zig-zag furniture layout in the Engineering & Design Division promotes collaboration

98%. This is the percentage of products exported overseas of the total products manufactured, thus proving the company’s commitment to globalization. Mitsubishi’s compressors and steam turbines in operation in Asia, the Middle East, Europe, America and other regions, are supporting people’s lives around the world.

Founded in 2010, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Compressor Corporation kicked off a new project in the spring of 2015, which consolidates all previously dispersed office functions into a new headquarters to further strengthen their global competitiveness.

In November 2017, the new headquarters building was completed on the site of the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Kannon Plant.

In May 2016, the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Group created a group statement that summarizes the values they offered to society and set a slogan, “MOVE THE WORLD FORWARD.”

Working alongside global customers and local communities, they are comitted to making steady advancement towards the development of a sustainable global society.

With this in mind, the design concept of the new headquarters is “FUTURE-FORWARD.” As a global headquarters advancing toward the future, they attempt to create a diverse workplace, which has well-protected data security and is environmentally friendly.

The keywords all beginning with S communicate: Scale (large in scale), Smart (intelligent manufacturing sites) and Strong (dynamic spatial design).

These are particularly well-represented in the office layout of the Technologies Department. The 120° boomerang-shaped desks were set up in a zig-zag fashion, so a team of around eight or nine people can work together. This allows employees to focus on the work in front of them, while leaving room for impromptu conversations to happen among coworkers. There are no desks for managers, in an effort to eliminate hierarchy, allowing for open, interactive spaces everywhere. Priority is given to communication to increase creativity and productivity. The layout varies according to respective department needs to accommodate different work styles of the Technologies, Administrative and Production Departments.

The office area on the 4F. Tables are arranged in various spaces to initiate meetings, whenever needed for communication.

The office areas from the 3F to the 7F are connected through a “communication stairway” that makes it easier to move between various departments.

Sachiko Tasaki
Business Strategy & Planning Group,
Planning & Accounting Department,
Corporate Management Division

The working system has changed throughout the entire group. Even when I work from home, I can connect to the various internal company systems, making requests to book conferences, for example, and can use the same internal extensions on my mobile phone.

Whether at home or in the office, I can conduct my work in comfort. I feel the new office has created an environment that allows us a variety of working styles.

The break area located within the office space of each floor has a mini kitchen, a tea dispenser, and large bookshelves. Employees can relax and drink tea while sharing information or perusing documents.

The break area on each floor has a refrigerator and vending machines, and a couple of sets of tables and chairs where employees gather around to play the game igo for a change of pace.

The cafeteria on the 1F seats about 400 people and can be used for multi-purposes, from dining and meeting to short breaks and assemblies. Visitors can enjoy meals and pay for them in cash or with prepaid transit cards.

The Corridor overlooking the 1F cafeteria.

In the training room on the 2F, training for on-site plant operations take place, and many overseas visitors join them.

Respecting religious and cultural diversity around the world

The cafeteria located next to the entrance serves employee meals. The place also doubles as an open space for exchange for employees who work at plants on the site. It is worth mentioning the considerations made for diversity. The halal and vegetarian menus are served at the café, in consideration of overseas guests and an increasing number of foreign employees. The comfort a warm meal provides is a common enjoyment among people across the globe. The inviting and colorful interior further expresses the endless possibilities for culinary variation.

Furthermore, there is also a prayer room on the second floor, which is highly appreciated by those who take comfort in having such a space made available to them.

Visitors have also praised the creation of high-quality spaces that are deserving of the global headquarters. A variety of meeting rooms for guests available on the 2nd floor are named after traditional Japanese colors that hearken back to the Edo period, and these names are displayed in both English and Japanese. Madder Red, Siskin Sprout Yellow, Amber—a total of 17 colored spaces evoke an image that is both pioneering and traditional. The walls and sofas in the rooms are also coordinated with the traditional colors to express a Japanese aesthetic. A deep level of mutual understanding based on global diversity fosters a sense of security in the workplace.

The trust and recognition they have achieved with the fundamental approach lead to a new foundation called “FUTURE-FORWARD,” which will drive the company toward further sustainable growth.

The glass-paneled meeting rooms for visitors and guests available on the 2F were named after traditional Japanese colors that can be found in nature.

Dayflower, one of the visitor conference rooms.

The spacious two-story atrium in the entrance hall. The glass-paneled cafeteria can be seen in the background.

A business meeting area next to the entrance hall.

The 7-story office headquarters of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Compressor Corporation is located in south-west Hiroshima and overlooks the Hiroshima Bay.

DATA

Location	Kannon Shinmachi 4-6-22, Nishi-ku, Hiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture
Office Floor area	25,000m²
Number of Employees	660
Interior Completed	November 2017
Architectural Design	OBAYASHI CORPORATION
Office Layout and Design	OKAMURA CORPORATION (Osamu Hasegawa, Tadasuke Nakahara)

INTERVIEW

Finding unexpected
discoveries through
interaction.

Keiji Tagawa
Business Strategies & Planning Group,
Planning & Accounting Department,
Corporate Management Division

Realizing the concept of strength through global competitiveness

To further expand our stage on a global level, we have adopted an overarching concept of “Strength through Global Competitiveness,” to create a new office. Within the concept lie our three pillars, “Global Response,” “Accelerated Decision-Making” and “Environmental Consideration.” Consolidating all the offices into one location has shown a positive effect on accelerating decision-making. While five offices were on the same site before, they were dispersed in five different locations, and traveling from one building to another for meetings took as long as 10 minutes.
Not only was it time-consuming to gather everyone in one place, but often times conflicts would arise with other teams who had booked the same conference room, forcing one of them to find another location to meet. This is why consolidating our offices into one location was very significant.

Accelerating decision-making by eliminating unnecessary preparation and work

As one of the efforts to accelerate the decision-making process, various meeting rooms, both large and small in size, were made available whenever meetings became necessary. The entire second floor was dedicated to meeting rooms for guests and visitors, and a glass-paneled internal meeting room was set up on each office floor. At the same time, a conference room booking system was introduced, which made the process easier by clearly identifying rooms that are available, and figures for room usage rates are also taken to suit future changes in the needs of their operation.

The monitors were installed in all the meeting rooms, and whiteboards are placed against the walls to help speed up the work process. With the use of laptops in the room, meetings can be held anywhere, without the hassle of setting up a projector or teleconferencing system each time. The FMC (Fixed Mobile Convergence) system was adapted to unify the landline, mobile and internal networks, which helped further eliminate unnecessary work and increase productivity. Now we can contact whomever we need to speak with directly, without having to waste labor and time in phone transfers. Rather than merely speeding up the decision-making process itself, we thought ahead to accelerate the entire process through which decisions are made by indirectly removing roadblocks.

A prayer room made available on the 2F for those who wish to spend time in private for religious reasons. A washing area where people may cleanse their hands and feet is also available and features carpets and other essentials.

The “Bush Warbler” conference room for visitors.

The front wall of the reception area at the entrance features a unique flat tile design that evokes the vitality of a turbine blade in motion.

Working stress-free increases creativity and productivity

The office area was organized based on openness, making it a dynamic space where individual and group activities can be observed. The layout of the Engineering & Design division was specified by the department itself, and designers from Okamura Corporation have visited this space many times to attend meetings.
The members of the Engineering & Design division have many opportunities to visit overseas offices. We have used these business trips as learning opportunities to devise ways to increase creativity and enhance intelligent productivity. Walking through and interacting sparks inspiration—the layout promotes a serendipity of surprising discovery. Additionally, we carefully considered how to strike a balance between focusing and interaction, setting up an environment where everyone can work stress-free.

In the technologies department, we shuffle seats about every week and revitalize communication. The only thing to be done is to move laptops and storage carts, which is very easy. Again, we can easily do this because we’ve consolidated our offices into a single location. We wouldn’t have been able to do these kinds of things before, no matter how much we wanted to.

We have received compliments from overseas visitors, on both our new office and our hospitality. I hope our customers will continue to rely on us as we carry on looking for new ways to satisfy them through the value our company provides. Active exchange, using both office spaces and systems, enables various information to be shared.

Promoting active sharing of information using both office spaces and systems.

I work closely with a group of people within the same division, but division members from each group change seats every week to promote communication among divisions. This policy was set by the General Manager of Engineering and Design Division. No single project can be completed by just one team alone, and communication between divisions is vital. Changing seats helps promote diverse interaction.

I also conduct a course called “Technology Fundamentals” where young people from various divisions convey the basics to other division members in English. We also hold weekly “Town Meetings” where employees share their opinions, objectives, and accomplishments with their superiors to promote active sharing of information. Until now, we didn’t have a dining hall in the building, so it was a big change to be able to have conversations over a hot meal in the cafeteria. The Refresh Rooms on the office floors also offer chances for interaction with people from other departments when grabbing a juice from the vending machine. Since I was selected to be on a team where our job is to provide office guidance to customers while showcasing our positive features, I am always thinking about the best ways to present our incredible office.

Masaki Shakuda
Engineer,
Compressor Engineering & Design Section,
Engineering & Design Division.