The History of a Mother Factory

IntroductionThe term "mother factory" 1 is widely used in the Japanese industry. Every year, an increasing number of articles referencing "mother factories" appear in the Japanese mass media. Moreover, academic research, particularly in the international business domain, also uses the term. When the Japanese production system began to garner attention in the 1980s and its advantages were realized, a "mother factory" became known as the organization that facilitated the transfer of that system (Yamaguchi, 1996). Since that time, the term "mother factory" has been used in academic research outside of Japan as well (Liker, Fruin, & Adler, 1999). However, the term has never been clearly defined and is used in many ways. For example, articles in the Japanese mass media have variously described a "mother factory" as "a factory that acts as a parent for developing production technologies and human resources and strengthens the function of guiding and controlling overseas factories," 2 "a factory that engages in product development or product prototyping, creates prototypes of new products, and leads other mass production plants in development of the latest manufacturing technologies,"3 and "a factory that develops new technologies and transfers them to overseas factories. "4 Because the term has diverse meanings, it is likely to be used differently in the Japanese mass media, Japanese academic research, and non-Japanese academic research. 5 However, no studies have examined the differences in the usage of the term. Unless such differences are clarified, use of the term without a common agreement on its meaning could lead to misunderstandings.This study identifies the different usage of the term "mother factory" in the Japanese mass media, Japanese academic research, and non-Japanese academic research and concludes that a difference exists in the way each of these three groups defines the mother factory. Initially, all three groups commonly held to the definition of mother factory as "a unit that continuously supports overseas factories"; however, over time, all but those in Japanese academic research departed from this original meaning.Usage of the Term "Mother Factory" in the Japanese Mass MediaFirst, let us examine the usage of the term "mother factory" in Japanese newspapers and magazines. We used a newspaper company's database6 to search the number of articles each year that used this term.7 Figure 1 presents the results of this search while Table 1 indicates when the term was first mentioned and the company that was being referenced. Based on these results, it can be seen that "mother factory" has been widely used since it appeared in the newspaper in 1983 for the first time. We consider four periods: between 1980s and early 1990s, between the late 1990s and early 2000s, late 2000s, and since 2010. Below, we more closely examine the usage of the term "mother factory" in each of these periods.The early days (1980s-early 1990s)"Mother factory" was initially used to denote "a unit that continuously supports overseas factories as a technology center. " It first appeared in an article on Stanley Electric Co., Ltd., where a mother factory was described as "a model factory for overseas factories. " Until 1992, "mother factory" was most commonly mentioned in relation to Honda Motor (eight articles), where a mother factory was described as "a unit that transfers a company's production system to overseas factories,"8 "a unit that transmits Japan's superior production technologies to overseas factories as needed," 9 and "a unit that provides guidance as needed for improving the productivity and quality of overseas factory lines. "10 In other words, the initial meaning of the term in the Japanese mass media was "a unit that continuously supports overseas factories as a model factory. "The second period (Late 1990s-early 2000s)However, the meaning of the term "mother factory" changed during the second period. …