This is the laundry facility. As a daily service for employees, we provide uniform cleaning services, mainly for those working on the shop floor.

When did the cleaning service start?

It started in 2003. Originally, employees washed their uniforms at home or in company dormitories, but oil stains would stick to washing machines and end up soiling other laundry. As a result, each department began purchasing washing machines to do the laundry on site.

And that led to another issue—organic matter being discharged into rivers through wastewater, right?

Exactly. Because of this, we consolidated the Works’ washing machines at the current location—the former women’s bath facility—which is connected to the sewer system, and that’s how the cleaning service began.

I imagine this service is greatly appreciated by employees. It truly contributes to their Well-being.

I’m glad to hear that. We want colleague to feel as comfortable as possible while they work.

About how much laundry do you handle in a day?

That’s a lot! The people working here must have a tough job.

The people handling the work here are from UACJ Green Net Nagoya, a UACJ Group subsidiary that promotes employment for people with disabilities.

So through this cleaning service, you’re also contributing to employment for a wide range of people. Employee Well-being and effective use of human resources—this really feels like a sustainability discovery.

From a Well-being perspective, we also put a great deal of thought into the factory cafeteria. Shall we take a look?

Guided inside, we arrived at the factory cafeteria, which boasts seating for more than 300 people. At lunchtime, it is bustling with employees.? How does Well-being take shape here?

We carried out the office renovation between 2021 and 2022. Before that, the office had a very traditional, “Showa-era” layout, with teams seated in separate clusters. Because of the building’s structure, there were also aspects that felt inconvenient, so we decided improvements were needed and launched the project.

The Works itself is old, so the office building is also quite aged. There wasn’t much storage, and we were struggling with clutter.

Why were the two of you selected as project members?

Representatives were chosen from each team. I think the reasons we were selected included a strong desire to make the office a more comfortable place to work with our own hands, the ability to reflect requests from each department, and an attention to detail.

Having employees themselves involved in a renovation project is unprecedented at the Nagoya Works, isn’t it? How did you go about moving it forward?

First, we identified the issues and areas we wanted to improve, then shared our requests with the renovation contractor and decided on a theme. That theme was “communication.”

Because our department is involved in process control for Works operations, we have many opportunities for daily communication. We wanted an office where we could easily see one another’s faces and communicate smoothly, so that’s what we asked for.

I see. The finished office certainly has an interesting layout.

We designed it with flowing circulation paths and tables arranged diagonally so that people’s lines of sight naturally intersect and faces are visible. At the same time, gentle partitions at each desk allow people to stay focused.

This is the layout for our department, but other departments on the second floor have different layouts tailored to their specific work.

So it’s about finding what’s “optimal” from the perspective of both the people working there and the nature of the work. What other points did you focus on?

There were many. Because our department often has personnel changes, we introduced mobile wagons that make it easy to rearrange seating. We also tried to keep items like helmets, documents, trash bins, and wiring out of sight as much as possible so the office wouldn’t look cluttered. I think it’s become much cleaner and more organized than before.

You also conducted an engagement survey after the renovation, and the results were positive, weren’t they? Scores related to job satisfaction improved as well.

Yes. As the working environment changed, our own mindset became more positive too.

While we led the project, we wanted everyone working here to feel involved in the renovation, so we asked each person to choose their chair in a color they liked.

You’re right—I can see that!

We’d be happy if this could become a workplace where even a small part of each person’s “personal preference” is reflected.

Triggered by the First Flat Rolled Products project, voices calling for renovation have been rising in other offices within the Works as well. I feel this is a very symbolic initiative that truly embodies Well-being at the Works. I’m glad we had the chance to hear about it.

The final place we visited was a shrine located within the Nagoya Works. Why is there a shrine inside a manufacturing site? Tracing the reasons behind it reveals yet another deep connection with the local community.