We are asking suppliers now to get more involved in cost-reduction within our plants. We have a fairly substantial program in North America where we ask our suppliers to work with us and provide ideas we can implement in our plants. We're going to be implementing something very similar to that in Europe in the near future. Kawasaki in Japan visits auto companies only once or twice a week to learn how its material is performing. Car companies in Japan are very confident in their skills and expertise to solve the problem.
Japanese automakers are reluctant to share information in the design phase.
It's very rare to have an opportunity to be very, very close to designers in an automotive company. Meanwhile, Japanese steelmakers are reluctant to work closely with these automakers. Sending more representatives into auto plants drives up costs for steel companies. That creates a dilemma, Sakamoto says. The Southeast Asian economic crisis has taken its toll on Japan's auto industry, thus affecting steel demand.