APU and the APU Asia Pacific Innovation Management Center (AP-IMAC) organized and held a seminar on "Modularity" with the cooperation of the Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
The Industrial Structure Research Support Institute (a public interest incorporated foundation) provided a research grant to Professor Yukihiko Nakata (as the lead researcher) of the APU College of International Management, Mr. Haruhiko Ando (Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry, University of Electro-Communications, Hitotsubashi University), and Mr. Tomoatsu Shibata (Professor of Tohoku University) to conduct a "Survey Analysis of the Effects of Business Architecture Changes on Industrial Structures".
Based on the research results, a seminar was held on February 7, 2015, at the Kikai Shinko Kaikan building (Tokyo). With the cooperation of RIETI and the support of numerous institutes, 127 participants attended the seminar which was sponsored by APU and the APU Asia Pacific Innovation Management Center (AP-IMAC).
After opening remarks from Professor Nakata, Mr. Hiroyuki Chuma (Professor of Seijo University) gave a keynote lecture on modularity in the Toyota production system, followed by a presentation from Mr. Tomoatsu Shibata on modularity at Nissan Renault.
Thereafter, APU Professor Nakata gave a lecture on “Integral” and crowd innovation in the liquid crystal industry, Mr. Koichiro Yoshida (President of CrowdWorks) spoke about crowd sourcing, and Mr. Ryota Matsuzaki (President of Kibidango, Inc.) discussed crowd funding.
Finally, a panel discussion and exchange of opinions was convened following the lecture by Mr. Haruhiko Ando.
The seminar was well received by attendees who commented that, "the participation of an academically and professionally diverse group provided a multi-faceted analysis and debate, and the entire seminar was well organized which made it enjoyable and interesting".
