Yamaha Motor Monthly Newsletter

Transcription

1 Yamaha Motor Monthly Newsletter January 16, 2017 (Issue No. 49) The Rev in Yamaha s Businesses Yamaha Clean Water Supply System (YCW) Spreading the Joy of Clean Water One Community at a Time In recent years, businesses aimed at the bottom of the pyramid (BoP) low-income demographic in developing countries (about 70% of the world s population) have shown signs of expansion, but Yamaha Motor has been taking on such endeavors in Asia, Central & South America and Africa since the 1970s. We established our own business model of contributing to and creating value for local communities (business for societal value) by engaging in projects such as providing instruction in Japanese fishing methods and outboard motor servicing techniques (thereby creating sustainable demand for our outboards), and providing training in FRP boat manufacturing and technology in order to strengthen local fishing economies. In this issue, we introduce the Yamaha Clean Water Supply System as another example of these initiatives. In villages without access to potable water, we install this water purification system that brings smiles to people s faces by contributing to their daily lives and helping maintain their health and hygiene, while also spreading and deepening the value of and affinity for the Yamaha brand. Yamaha Motor Monthly Newsletter 1

2 YCW: A Source of Purified Water that Brings Smiles to People s Lives In the spring of 2016, a large container truck arrived at the village of Mont Ngafula located about a two-hour drive south from Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Immediately, the villagers gathered around and cheers went up as the unloading of the two containers began. One month later, a Yamaha Clean Water Supply System (YCW) composed of a number of big, blue FRP tanks was complete. After receiving certification of the water quality produced by the system from the relevant organizations and agencies, the system was officially handed over to the local community in a ceremony that brought another rush of bright smiles from the people. The key features of a YCW system are its slow sand filtration water purification method that doesn t burden the environment, its ease of daily maintenance and the low running cost. According to statistics released by WHO/UNICEF (as of 2015), there are more than 650 million people in the world today that don t have access to potable water, making this a critical social issue for the global community. Yamaha began development of its YCW system in the early 1990s, not long after the company began manufacturing and marketing household water purification devices based on concerns expressed by Yamaha Motor employees stationed in Indonesia with their families. We learned that many of the local employees working in the Yamaha factories in Indonesia lived in rural areas where there was not sufficient public water-utility infrastructure, which made it difficult for them to get potable water. Drawing water by bucket from the nearest river and carrying it back for household use every day is tougher than many would imagine, and it was a task usually left to women and children. The drawn water would be left for a while for the suspended matter to settle, and then the top layer would be boiled before use. However, the water was sometimes drunk straight as it came from the river and it was often the cause of ailments ranging from diarrhea and fever to gastric pains and skin inflammation. Seeking to remedy this problem for the people, the team at Yamaha in charge of water purifiers quickly set to work on developing a system with the capacity to purify enough water to supply an entire village. They finished the prototype and began installing them for testing in 2000, and other systems for practical trials were later installed in eight locations in six Asian countries. These systems were the basis for making further improvements and gaining know-how in their operation. Then in 2010, the system itself was commercialized by Yamaha s Overseas Market Development Operation Business Unit (OMDO) as the YCW Series, and as of August 2016, 21 systems (including the initial prototypes and trial-basis systems) have been installed in various parts of Asia and Africa. Slow Sand Filtration: Sustainable in Areas Lacking Finances and Resources The defining characteristic of the YCW Series is the slow sand filtration method it uses to purify water with a combination of physical (gravitational) filtering of the water through layers of gravel and sand and bio-filtration using microorganisms to naturally purify the water at the same time. This natural method of water purification has been used extensively in purification facilities in many parts of the world since the 19 th century, and this is why it has been possible for Yamaha to design its main YCW-008A system with the capacity to supply 8,000 liters of water a day (enough for approx. 400 households) while meeting WHO water Yamaha Motor Monthly Newsletter 2

3 quality standards and being compact enough to fit in a lot just 10 x 7 meters. The facility is mainly composed of FRP tanks that serve as the containers for filtration, water storage, etc., the piping to connect them, an electric pump to draw in water from a local source, solar panels in the case of locations without electricity supply, and the gravel and sand for filtration. The system s very simple construction was made possible with extensive Yamaha know-how. With the slow sand filtration method, the timing of the release of new water into the layer of bio-filtration microorganisms after other water has been cleaned must be correct for sufficient purification. To maintain the optimum flow rate through the filters of between 4 and 5 meters a day, achieve the desired volume of purified water and to also maintain the quality of the purified water, the required number and total capacity of the tanks were calculated. Also, Yamaha devoted special efforts toward constantly improving the quality and mixing ratio of the gravel and sand that are pivotal to the slow sand filtering process. There s no problem with getting the freshwater algae that the bio-filtration microorganisms live on because it s created naturally in the local water source, but it s not easy to get the right gravel and sand locally, says a representative of OMDO s YCW department. So, in order to ensure that we get exactly the right range of grain sizes necessary in the gravel-sand layers, we ship them all the way from Japan. Since the YCW system doesn t use chemical flocculation agents or filters like rapid filtration or membrane filtration systems do, once a YCW system is in place, it doesn t require any special technical knowledge or extra costs for performing maintenance and can be run sustainably with just the electricity to power the small water pump. The YCW-008A and YCW-002A models (400-household and 125-household water supply capacities, respectively) are our latest models and have been developed with the aim of being operable for over ten years even in regions with less than sufficient funds or resources. Pioneering New Markets: Developing Communities through YCW Self-Management Presently, Yamaha s Clean Water Project is being run with the support of public funding and in cooperation with the Japanese government, various NGOs, NPOs, international organizations and more. In the same way OMDO has conducted projects for Yamaha products like outboard motors, boats and motorcycles, the long-term vision of this initiative is to pioneer new markets in developing countries. A stable supply of clean water changes life in these villages and promotes community development, says the OMDO representative. And someday, the diverse range of other Yamaha products like generators, motorcycles, outboards and ATVs can bring further fulfillment in people s lives. These YCW facilities are what sow the seeds for that kind of future. An artist s image of the business for societal value that a YCW facility can bring The seeds he refers to sown by a YCW facility through the supply of potable water begin to sprout with the reduced incidence of sickness and the greater labor force of the village. The children liberated from the daily toil of drawing water can now spend more time at school. Selling surplus clean water to neighboring villages creates a business that can bring in new income. The YCW facility symbolizes the beginning of this positive cycle and we have already received reports of these kinds of successful developments from communities in Indonesia, Senegal and others. Yamaha Motor Monthly Newsletter 3

4 A lot of time and effort goes into selecting the candidate communities, conducting initial surveys on the ground, holding meetings to explain the project, installing the facility and then educating people on its operation. But, when we hold the ceremony to hand over the completed and functional facility, everybody cheers Thank you, Yamaha! over and over and it makes everything worth it. It s a truly rewarding Yamaha Revs your Heart moment, he continues. But if something breaks down or if management of the system goes awry after we ve left, everything will be for naught. That s why we never just install the facility. We instill in the villagers the desire to protect the facility, to try to make more effective use of it and to pass on the necessary skills and knowledge to keep it running. I believe that s the most important part of the job. For this reason, the villagers perform all the actual work, from the unloading of the parts and components from the trucks the day they arrive to the setup of the facility. Following the instructions of the OMDO staff, they line up the tanks, connect the piping and tighten bolts with unpracticed hands at first, but it is a learning experience that teaches them various aspects of the knowledge and technology involved. Once the facility is complete, a Water Committee is established to take responsibility for its ongoing operation Members of the local Water Committee take charge of operating and maintaining the facility. and management. And, rather than leaving the responsibilities up to community leaders like the mayor or village elders, it is important to get as many community members as possible involved. There are various jobs to perform, such as daily cleaning and inspections, water quality testing, supervision of the water dispensing area, water sales and distribution and management of the income. Having everybody in the village play a role helps build a sense of community solidarity and an awareness of autonomy and self-reliance. The OMDO representative explains: The most difficult part of our job is explaining to the villagers what kind of facility the YCW is and how to operate it until they get a full grasp of it. The environment, ethnicities, customs and values often differ village to village, and because each individual has different ways of thinking and time needed to understand, doing things by-the-book alone doesn t work. Each time we have to be creative and use different techniques. In 2016, plans were already underway to establish seven more YCW facilities, and even more are planned for the coming years. We don t want to become so concerned with the number of facilities we install that we forget our original purpose, states the representative. So, we try to do a thorough and meaningful job with each facility. There are a lot of other tasks necessary to make the project sustainable, such as visiting the existing facilities regularly to gather data, and designating local contractors that can repair the pumps or solar panels in the case of malfunction. It is a small team made up of two sales representatives and two engineers, but they are working every day and taking the YCW project to places around the world in order to bring safe, clean water to people and spread smiles where it really counts. Yamaha Motor Monthly Newsletter 4

5 Message from the Editor Yamaha Motor is a personal mobility manufacturer, but developed a water purification facility? The start of the year is still fresh in our minds and hopefully this issue provided you with an equally fresh surprise. In some regions, spreading the seeds for excitement begins with securing a source of safe water, a vital foundation of daily life. The work doesn t end with the YCW facility s installation; the villagers come together to maintain and operate the system themselves, and share the happiness and smiles that result. That s really the origin of the Kando we look to create at Yamaha Motor. For this year, we ll be preparing a lot of exciting content about the Rev we strive to put into people s hearts with our businesses! Ryoko Ota Planning Group, Corporate Communication Division, Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd Shingai, Iwata, Shizuoka, Japan TEL FAX ootar@yamaha-motor.co.jp *Prior to any use of the article(s) and photographs contained within this newsletter, please contact me. Yamaha Motor Monthly Newsletter 5