Breaking ground in soil and water research Daiki Rika Kogyo Co.,Ltd.

Many companies profess to value customer feedback, but at Daiki Rika Kogyo, customer voices are the primary engine for product development. From its launch, the company has created equipment-based on user needs-for scientific research into soil and moisture, resulting in an extensive lineup of predominantly original products.

Daiki Rika Kogyo traces its beginnings to March 1941, when its technicians repaired scientific test equipment. After World War II, the Japanese government set up a soil and fertilizer laboratory. But it's newly appointed scientists lacked the relevant tools. Daiki Rika Kogyo was tasked to build some equipment, and one request led to another; soon the company became an established name in the field of soil and moisture research. Its customer base included environmental organizations and universities. And despite its modest workforce of 16 employees, managing director Masayuki Ohishi says, "From Hokkaido to Okinawa, there isn't a single researcher involved with agricultural soil testing who doesn't know our name."

Most of Daiki Rika Kogyo's products have developed from customer issues research issues, efficiency and convenience. As one example, Ohishi highlights the Dust Shielded Automated Mill and Screen for Soil. Soil crushing and sieving is typically done by hand, but a customer processing over 10,000 samples a year requested specialized equipment to deal with such quantities while protecting the health of its operators. Daiki Rika Kogyo's machine dramatically sped up the process, while employing airtight containers to allow the development of a highly safe product that does not exert dust.

Overseas markets have taken to the aforementioned device, but they're also crazy about an automatic rain simulator that imitates weather patterns and droplet size, and a wireless ground-moisture sensor that can transmit data to laptops and smartphones. China accounts for 90 percent of export sales-followed by Korea and Malaysia-but Ohishi says the company is hoping to expand to the U.S., EU and Australia. The prognostics are good after enthusiastic trade-show receptions in those countries for the company's innovative, laborsaving devices.

Despite Daiki Rika Kogyo's original focus on soil and moisture analysis, Ohishi says the company has been responding to requests from companies in other industries, including automotive, construction and even healthcare. "Many products we devised for such companies have been to evaluate their own products," he explains. Greater use of the company's know-how for applications beyond soil and moisture is already prompting a rethink of the corporate mission. "We're considering expanding our focus into life sciences overall," says Ohishi. Nevertheless, what won't change is the Daiki Rika Kogyo's commitment to meeting the requirements of its customers.