Two female managers hope for the development of industry in their home country of Thailand

Japanese companies in Asia are faced with the issue of localizing their executive staff, and Thailand is no exception. At B-EN-G Thailand, three of the eight managers are Thai. All of them are women, as if to symbolize the country's increasing participation of women in society. This time, we will introduce two of them, Aye and Bell.

A dependable fisherman's daughter

Kornnaran Panguthai was hired mid-career as a division manager three years ago. At my previous job, which I held for 12 years, I worked as a sales manager at a Singaporean IT company, and I am currently in charge of Solutions 2, which handles production management "mcframe CS" and IoT-related system "mcframe IoT" out of two divisions divided by product. Department. Watanabe, Deputy Managing Director, who was in charge of recruiting, says, ``I was shocked by the strength that the stingrays exuded,'' looking back on those days.

The scope of my duties has expanded from my previous job, including managing overall business numbers and budgets, as well as human resource development. At first, there were some situations where follow-up was required, but the scope of responsibility gradually expanded. What Watanabe particularly noticed was that he started doing business plans and planning that took into account synergies with other departments, rather than limiting himself to his own department. I am now able to see the needs of employees and customers who interact with the company's products from a broader perspective. Aye himself values team dynamics, saying, ``By maximizing the strengths of each member and the department, we can provide better solutions to our customers.'' Ms. Aye is the daughter of a fisherman. Perhaps his broad vision comes from his lineage of dealing with fish and weather in the ocean.

"He's like a father."

Bell (Somurai Krataytong), who joined the company seven years ago as a new graduate, works as a manager under Aye.

``Until my first and second years at the company, I complained a lot about work,'' Watanabe said, but little by little, his attitude began to change. It all started when I was given a job with a lot of responsibility. As he says, ``I am always conscious of the quality of my work,'' and his sense of responsibility for his work is stronger than most. Bell was chosen as manager for two reasons, one of which was his strong sense of responsibility. We approach our customers with the attitude of doing whatever it takes, from posing a problem to solving it.

Another factor is the accuracy of instructions given to subordinates. For example, let's say you have an employee who is not good at prioritizing tasks. When assigning three tasks to an employee, the method of ordering varies depending on the person, such as selecting one task at a time and giving instructions in turn. Watanabe laughs and says that these days, he treats his subordinates like a father.

Important project assigned

Although they are in different positions, Watanabe has raised them as if they were her own daughters, and says that she is not ashamed to show them anywhere. These two people were appointed to be in charge of technology targeting mid-sized manufacturing industries that has been jointly promoted by the Thai-German Institute (TGI), an organization under the Thai Ministry of Industry, and B-EN-G since 2018. This is a training project for people. (For details, see "Introducing IoT to Thailand's manufacturing industry, TGI and B-EN-G, leading the way in the era of Industry 4.0")

``I felt it was rewarding to be able to contribute to the development of my country's industry,'' says Bell, looking back on how he felt when he was assigned to the job. The details of the project will be discussed in the article above, but it is an important project that is directly connected to Thailand 4.0, the sophistication policy launched by the Thai government in 2015. While it is rewarding, the effort to improve work efficiency by converting the movements and postures of on-site workers into three-dimensional data using motion sensors is important. "We struggled to see if we could make any improvements because it was a new challenge for us," said Aye.

However, beyond the new challenge of data analysis, there were other points that were truly difficult. There are many stakeholders involved in this project, including the Department of Industrial Promotion (DIP), Ministry of Industry, TGI, Federation of Thai Industries (FTI), Digital Economy Promotion Agency (DEPA), private companies, and universities. At times, we were required to respond to short deadlines, and we had to use our wits and improvise to deal with sudden changes, making the work extremely difficult. Watanabe says, ``I am beyond grateful for the fact that I have been able to act as the face of the company in any situation and have earned the trust of B-EN-G as a company.'' Their excellence was evident in the tasks they performed as a matter of course.

For the development of home country industry

The two began to share the same passion through their experience working with Thai government agencies. ``We want to contribute to the growth of the Thailand factory through new IT innovations from B-EN-G,'' Bell said about his future work.``We will develop various solutions within the factory through ERP and IoT, which are our strengths. "We want to be the first choice for people who are looking for something," Aye continued.

In response to the two, new initiatives have also begun. In September of this year, ``SIMTec'', a technical training facility to develop advanced human resources in the manufacturing industry, was opened in Rayong Province in eastern Thailand. Sumipol Corporation Limited, a major machinery and tool trading company in Thailand, will be the initiative, with 14 public and private organizations providing support, and 18 private companies working together to develop engineers who will carry the future of Thai industry. B-EN-G is also participating as a technology partner, along with companies such as DENSO and Mitutoyo. As drivers of the development of their home country's industry, the opportunities for these two people to play an active role are steadily expanding.

(Interview cooperation: NNA/Supervision/Kyodo News Digital)
*This interview is current as of October 2019.

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