Why Yokohama?

ーCompany Interview SeriesーSensata Technologies Japan Limited
With increased demand forsensors, we hope to takeadvantage of the benefits ofShin Yokohama andcontinue developing ourbusiness in an agile way.

A massive project involving the relocation and integration of thehead office and research and development facilities. We decidedon Shin Yokohama upon careful research of potential sites.
Our company originally started business in Japan as a division of Texas
Instruments (TI) in 1964. In 2006 however, Sensata Technologies became
independent from TI as a stand-alone entity, and has expanded its technology
and business foundation through M&A to become a global leader of sensors andcontrols. We take advantage of procurement, manufacturing, and development
technology on a global scale in supporting our Japanese clients. For many years,
our research and development facilities were based in Oyama, Shizuoka, while
our head office was located in Yoga, Setagaya ward. A plan arose to move theresearch and development facilities to a more convenient location closer to ourclients, and integrate the facilities with the head office with the aim of further
strengthening our business foundation and of enhancing management efficiency.
However, this was a massive project that required the company to make a majordecision, as it meant shutting down the research and development facilities, with
their long history in Oyama, and the necessity of a large number of employees
commuting to a new location. We identified various assessment factors, including
access to transportation, public facilities and services, risk of natural disasters,
office rent, operation costs, and impression of the local surroundings. We thencreated a list of potential relocation sites based on careful research. The results
identified Shin Yokohama as our first choice, since it scored high in the overall
assessment considering rental costs, etc. Subsidy programs by the city ofYokohama were a major factor in our decision as well. Fortunately, we were able
to find an office in a convenient location just three minutes by foot from ShinYokohama Station. We made the decision to relocate in 2014.

We have benefited from Shin Yokohama’s convenient location
including in terms of a positive impact on recruitment.
Mr. Hidekatsu Yoneyama, Human Resources
Department Director

What we realized after moving to the Shin Yokohama office is that it is in an
extremely convenient location, just a stone’s throw away from Shin Yokohama
Station, where the Shinkansen stops. In addition, Shin Yokohama has good accessto expressways as well as the airport. Numerous hotels are available in the area
to accommodate business travelers or visitors from abroad. Yokohama Stationand the Minato Mirai 21 area are just 15 to 20 minutes away by train. For
example, our staff can easily access Pacifico Yokohama when we exhibit atvarious trade shows there. We have seen great improvement regarding access toour clients, which was originally our primary objective, and visits to clients haveaccordingly increased. In terms of operations, we have seen improved efficiency
with the integration of the head office and the research and development
facilities, leading to active discussions and quicker decision-making. Recruitment
has also been greatly impacted, with large increases in the number of applicants
compared to before the relocation. This has exceeded our expectations by far. In
particular, we have seen a larger number of engineer applicants, which we hope
will be a great advantage for the company in our future business development.
With increased automatization in various fields including automobiles, demandfor sensors has been rising. Taking advantage of the benefits we have gained byrelocating to Shin Yokohama, we would like to continue developing our businessin an agile way.
Interviewed by Yokohama World Business Support Center, 2/1/2017